Million Dollar Races for Kembla and Newcastle

Media Release - Monday June 3
Spring racing in NSW will extend beyond the Everest Carnival in Sydney with Newcastle and Kembla Grange today announced as staging standalone Saturday race meetings with $1 million feature races.

The Hunter headlining the Newcastle meeting on Saturday 16 November 2019, and the $1 million The Gong being the feature race at Kembla Grange on Saturday 23 November 2019.

Racing NSW and the respective race clubs will target attendances of 20,000 on each race day.

The Hunter and Gong meetings will be a focal point of racing in Newcastle and Wollongong and Racing NSW will heavily support the promotion of these events. Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Kevin Anderson MP, said Racing NSW understands the need to grow the industry across the whole state, not just in the capital city, which is why this investment is so important.

"Strengthening the racing industry in NSW is more than investing in Randwick and Rosehill, we want to grow the footprint of racing beyond the city limits to Newcastle and Wollongong, and beyond to ensure every corner of the state sees the benefit of a strong racing industry," Mr Anderson said.

"These races will rival races across Australia and the world which in turn will provide a welcome boost to their local economies."

Racing NSW Chairman Mr Russell Balding AO said "These new race days will provide the chance for Newcastle and Wollongong to shine as the feature NSW meetings immediately following The Everest Carnival.

"Racing is a vital part of our social fabric and it is fitting that Newcastle and Wollongong as our next largest cities after Sydney will now have race days that they can be proud of.

"These meetings are a great opportunity for new racegoers in these cities to attend a feature event and see what racing is all about. Just as the Sydney public has embraced The Everest, we are confident that the Newcastle and Illawarra public will embrace The Hunter and The Gong as their race," Mr Balding added.

The $1 million Hunter will be a quality handicap race held at a distance of 1300m and may possibly attract runners from The Everest. The Gong will also be a quality handicap run for $1 million in prizemoney over a distance of 1600m.

The Newcastle Hunter meeting will also feature the Spring Stakes, Group 3 for three-year olds transferred from the existing Newcastle Cup meeting in September. Being the feature NSW meeting on the Saturday, both the Newcastle Hunter and The Kembla Gong race meetings will also carry support races of minimum of $125,000 in prizemoney.

In a further boost for provincial racing in NSW, the Gosford Gold Cup meeting will join the Hawkesbury Gold Cup as a standalone Saturday fixture following the conclusion of the Sydney Autumn Carnival. The Gosford Gold Cup meeting will be run on Saturday 9 May 2020.

Racing NSW Release
Advertisment
More Reading...
Sires With Winners - Saturday September 13
Here is the full list of 104 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Wootton Bassett Colt wins G2 Champagne
Wootton Bassett colt Puerto Rico picked a nice race in which to break his maiden landing the Group II Champagne Stakes (7f) at Doncaster overnight.
Cream of first crop a cornerstone for Aysar
Entries close today for the 2026 Perth Magic Millions Yearling Sale and among the highlights will be the cream of the first crop by Geisel Park sire Aysar.
Golden Path flies home in Flemington finale
Talented New Zealand-bred gelding Golden Path staked his claim for higher honours later in the spring with a strong-finishing victory to close out Saturday’s Flemington card.
Melbourne Cup Next - Al Riffa Wins G1 Irish St Leger for Australian Bloodstock
Currently standing at Coolmore Australia, Wootton Bassett (GB) is a stallion that can do a lot of things and quite possibly sire a Melbourne Cup winner with the Australian Bloodstock owned stallion Al Riffa now favourite for the race after scoring a dominant victory in the Group I Irish St Leger at The Curragh overnight.
Autumn Glow Leads Inglis Graduate Weekend Charge
The Autumn Glow phenomenon continued on its merry way at Rosehill today as the freakish mare made it six wins from six starts with a brilliant performance in the G2 Theo Marks Stakes.
Taking back The Cup! The Great Aussie Dream
Yesterday at Flemington, exciting galloper Revelare (So You Think) cruised into the 2025 Melbourne Cup, unleashing a display of classy staying power to win The G3 Archer (the old Hotham Handicap) over 2500m at Flemington.
VRC Derby Contender For Mosheen’s Grandson Kakkoii
The Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young stable are no strangers to Japanese bloodlines, having trained Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa) and Glint Of Hope (Jpn) (Deep Impact) to Group 1 success in Australia, and they look to have another smart one in Kakkoii (Kizuna) who broke his maiden over 1611m at Sale on Sunday.
Sires With Winners - Sunday September 14
Here is the full list of 72 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Godolphin 2YO SW Starspangledbanner
Godolphin splashed out for a 450,000 guinea Starspangledbanner colt at the Tattersalls October Book 2 Yearling Sale last year and Avicenna made it two wins in as many starts when taking out the Listed Flying Scotsman Stakes (7f) at Doncaster overnight.