Horse racing was important to sport and social life in Barcaldine. The first horse races began at Lagoon Creek and finished in front of the Shakspeare Hotel but by July 1887 Barcaldine Central Racing Club had laid out a course about two miles north of town where the first annual meeting was held.
Before the second annual meeting a grandstand was constructed by Meacham and Leyland. J. P. Petersen was the first secretary of the club.
The black soil was not suitable for racing so a better site west of town was surveyed by J. V. S. Desgrand in 1894. It was fenced and improvements made for the first meeting there on December 26/27 of 1894. The first race was won by ‘Mavis’, a mare owned by Saltern Creek Station.
There was an exciting race day at Barcaldine course on 23 June 1904 when local horses competed for a gold cup worth £105. It was presented to Barcaldine Central Racing Club by F. Foy of Garches, Brixton, and was won by H. J. Sealy’s ‘Cameo’.
A new grandstand was built at the course in 1905 by Meacham & Leyland, described in the Western Champion as ‘worthy of the chief town of Central Queensland’.
In September 1913, the Central Queensland Racing Club held its twentieth annual meeting in Barcaldine with representatives from 12 other centres including Rockhampton. A report of proceedings took two full pages of the Western Champion. In 1924 £800 was spent at the racecourse to provide better facilities for stewards, jockeys and patrons of the tote were built. William McBride was Secretary of the Club from 1919 until his death at the age of 78 in 1953.
The Barcaldine Central Racing Club managed to run horse races even at the worst of times, although an account of a 1932 meeting during the Depression stated the course ‘had a depression appearance’ and only £14.7.6 was taken at the gate. The Champion declared:
Followers of horse racing seem to prefer the precincts of a wireless plant.
In 1937 Barcaldine became the headquarters of Central Queensland Racing Association with T. O’Connell as secretary. Thereafter, meetings with representatives from many different clubs, became important annual events.
Horse racing underwent changes of rules in 1955, in a move away from the hack system. In the same year, mobile starting stalls were introduced but weren’t very satisfactory at first. The new race course (current) was opened near the showgrounds in August 1977. The last race at the old course west of town was November 1976, won by ‘Buller Rep’, owned by J. J. Lyons and R. J. Kelly.
Old course in disrepair after move to course at Showgrounds in 1977.Race crowd Barcaldine 2005
Horse racing, so long the premier social and sporting event for country towns faced change in 2008 with race meetings reduced from seven to five a year and Barcaldine had only one trainer, Todd Austin.
The black soil was not suitable for racing so a better site west of town was surveyed by J. V. S. Desgrand in 1894. It was fenced and improvements made for the first meeting there on December 26/27 of 1894. The first race was won by ‘Mavis’, a mare owned by Saltern Creek Station.
There was an exciting race day at Barcaldine course on 23 June 1904 when local horses competed for a gold cup worth £105. It was presented to Barcaldine Central Racing Club by F. Foy of Garches, Brixton, and was won by H. J. Sealy’s ‘Cameo’.
A new grandstand was built at the course in 1905 by Meacham & Leyland, described in the Western Champion as ‘worthy of the chief town of Central Queensland’. 
In September 1913, the Central Queensland Racing Club held its twentieth annual meeting in Barcaldine with representatives from 12 other centres including Rockhampton. A report of proceedings took two full pages of the Western Champion. In 1924 £800 was spent at the racecourse to provide better facilities for stewards, jockeys and patrons of the tote were built. William McBride was Secretary of the Club from 1919 until his death at the age of 78 in 1953.
The Barcaldine Central Racing Club managed to run horse races even at the worst of times, although an account of a 1932 meeting during the Depression stated the course ‘had a depression appearance’ and only £14.7.6 was taken at the gate. The Champion declared:
Horse racing underwent changes of rules in 1955, in a move away from the hack system. In the same year, mobile starting stalls were introduced but weren’t very satisfactory at first. The new race course (current) was opened near the showgrounds in August 1977. The last race at the old course west of town was November 1976, won by ‘Buller Rep’, owned by J. J. Lyons and R. J. Kelly.
