BEFORE Mallawa came along in 1930 and joined Talmoi and Moree picnic race clubs on bush racing’s Golden Triangle, meetings were held a short distance away at Spring Plain during the very early 1900s.

There is also evidence of picnic racing at Bullarah as far back as 1915.

But at Spring Plain, about 28 miles south of Mallawa, race-days held on Easter Monday each year were a little different to the mainstream.

The Spring Plain Easter Amateur Sports Club’s Rule No. 3 stated: “No bookmakers, betting, sweeps, or alcoholic liquor allowed on the ground. Offenders will be disqualified.”

The annual meetings generally programmed eight races as well as two bending races and two flag races, with about £50 in prize money distributed.

All that changed in 1927, when betting was given the heads-up by the committee.

More than 500 spectators arrived at the track, not far from Spring Plain homestead, keen to try out the on-course totaliser.

The system issued 1605 tickets, and 351 of those were wagered on the Spring Plain Ladies’ Bracelet won by Irish Descent, which defeated Leo Lillyman’s Whoa Sir.

Lillyman saddled up Whoa Sir two races later and reversed the placings in the Sunnyside Handicap.

Media reported “the racing was excellent, and although the fields were not large, great enthusiasm was displayed over each race”.

“Most of the visitors stayed for the ball, and the hall, decorated in white and blue streamers, was crowded. Dancing continued until after midnight, concluding with the singing of Auld Lang Syne. Dawn was almost breaking when the last cars left the hall.”

The following year, the tote was again well-received, with turnover exceeding £500.

A total of 27 horses were paddocked for the meeting, and seven trophies offered.

The Spring Plains Stakes saw Honey Jock and Walsal dead-heat after a soul-stirring head-and-head battle the entire length of the Spring Plain straight – a result that would’ve given totaliser cashiers a few post-race headaches.

By 1930, the year Mallawa joined the fold, the Spring Plain crowd topped 1000, with newspapers reporting “the bright sunshine filtering through a mesh of tree foliage upon the grass beneath portrayed a vivid picture of Australian al fresco spirit. Keenness was displayed in all events as the fields were good”.

Picnic racing became fully established west of Moree when Mallawa Amateur Picnic Race Club “dropped the flag and said go” on Monday, May 12, 1930.

But there is evidence of racing being held on the property Narba as early as 1925, under the auspices of the Mallawa Picnic Race Club.

On Saturday, February 7, 1925, Gilded won the two-furlongs Narba Plate and Coomba won the Elsieville Flutter over three furlongs.

Sunburst and Chanalto dead-heated in the four-furlongs Mallawa Stakes – no camera needed – with Chanalto winning the run-off.

The local rules of racing stated “horses must be put in the paddocks at either Cooma, Burrendoon, Corrah, Coringa, Mayfield or Carrol by January 10 and handed back to their owners on January 31”.

One week after the 1925 Mallawa races, Bullarah Picnic Race Club held its annual meeting at Meroe in aid of Moree Hospital.

Rancher wrote in the Moree Gwydir Examiner and General Advertiser: “Favoured with a glorious season, the run from Moree in the early morning was most enjoyable. Luscious feed everywhere (we shut our eyes to the Bathurst burr along the route), fat stock in abundance, and so we come to that pretty track on a rise on Brettoneux. Beautiful shade trees, spared by the woodman’s axe, and a car or two beneath each tree, made the sight worthy of the pen of Banjo: ‘For the bushman’s life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know’.”

In 1949, Mallawa Amateur Picnic Race Club president Max Grace, secretary Murray Fairbairn and treasurer Les Boland welcomed more than 1000 patrons to the races – the club’s first meeting in 10 years.

World War II had all but stopped racing across Australia during the 1940s and the club hadn’t staged a meeting since June, 1939, when “the ball continued till an early hour on Thursday morning and the dancers who stayed till the end found the heavy fog that enveloped the district quite an inconvenience.”

In 1949, jockey Bruce Hunt rode three winners at the club’s first post-war meeting – Plymouth Belle, Best Left and dead-heater Courtelle.

Fast-forward the calendar a few decades and the Mallawa Amateur Picnic Race Club will stage its popular meeting next Saturday, June 7.

A special race-day bus will leave the Royal Hotel in Moree at 11am and depart the racecourse at around 6pm.

There will also be a barbeque picnic lunch, fully licensed bar, ATM on course and live music with SAX Appeal from 6pm.

Night function tickets for members and guests are available at Pitman Deakin on Balo Street in Moree.

Online race-day ticket options available here: Mallawa 2025 Race-Day Tix.

Nominations for Mallawa picnic races close at 11am on Monday, June 2 with final fields declared at 9am, Thursday, June 5.

Six races are programmed, including the $10,000 Mallawa Bracelet and $12,000 Mallawa Cup.

Acceptances are due Thursday, June 8 by 9am.

Supporting races, each worth $7000, include a 1200m maiden plate, 1400m class B handicap, 1000m class 2 handicap and a 1200m class 3 handicap.

Major sponsors include B&W Rural, Kenway and Clark, Air Cair Aviation, Nutrien Ag Solutions, RDO Equipment, Titan Ag Crop Protection, Badengi Engineering, Irritek, Entegra Signature Structures, Australian Food & Fibre, Namoi Cotton, Girard Grader Hire, Wathagar Ginning Company, Boland Petroleum, MHVP Pty Ltd, LiuGong and McGregor Gourlay Agricultural Services.

Mallawa Picnic Races

When: Saturday, June 7, 2025

Where: Mallawa racecourse

Time: From about 11am

Ticket options: Mallawa 2025 Race-Day Tix

Night function tickets: Pitman Deakin on Balo Street

After-party entertainment: SAX Appeal