HISTORY OF RICHMOND RACE CLUB LTD

Richmond was issued its first Galloping and Trotting licence in December 1911 and the first meeting at the Londonderry track was conducted on Tuesday 17th December, 1912 and apart from the grimmest years of the great depressions during 1931-35 when they did not function, the Club has continually staged racing events. The Club generally held four or five meetings a year with saddle horses racing there against horses driven in sulkies until the late 1930s. Galloping events ceased in 1952 and the Club existed only on its Trotting licence.   In October 1955 Greyhound racing was introduced on the straight track racing on Saturday afternoons over two distances. The property, 110 acres, was purchased by the Club from the estate of the late Mr. P. Duffy in 1958 at the cost of seventeen and half thousand pounds, which included a cottage and land opposite the racetrack. Soon after the purchase, the Londonderry Trotting and Race Club Limited was formed in February 1958.   After nine years the club changed its name to the Richmond Race Club Ltd in July 1967, and continued running Greyhound and Trotting races. With the introduction of off-course TAB betting, Richmond developed a new grass circle track in 1968 and commenced racing on a non TAB basis, until 28th March, 1969 when full TAB coverage was granted. Two years later Trotting was also given full TAB coverage. The Club was the leading provincial club in New South Wales, if not Australia, from the early 1970's with the administrative efforts of Elwin Holmes and John Varley and Frank Kennedy's promotional flair contributing a lot to this.  Because of Kennedy, Richmond was the first greyhound club to have their races on television.  Channel 7 showed replays of the Richmond events on Punters Post Mortem…..a show Kennedy hosted. In 1987 the Richmond Committee had discussions with the NSW Harness Racing Authority over the future of their 1312 metre circumference right-handed grass track and the changes they wanted to make. The track was closed for six months in August 1987 and re-opened on the new left-handed track on March 28th. Ten years later the Club conducted its last Harness meeting on Tuesday 30th December 1997. A full ring with in excess of 20 bookmakers was commonplace and TAB turnover was only slightly inferior to the Saturday night metropolitan meetings. On June 4,1999, grass racing ceased, and the loam circuit commenced racing with a non-TAB meeting on Sunday, September 5th 1999. The first TAB meeting was held on Friday, September 10th. Monday night racing commenced on October 5th 1999.  The Club now conducts 103 Greyhound meetings throughout the year and has given both Greyhound and Harness racing enthusiasts many years of memories going back to the early days when the greyhounds raced down the straight and the Club started some 35 horses from the shutes of the Richmond Paceway. Like most race clubs in Australia, Richmond has suffered a downturn in on-course patronage and turnover since the introduction of Sky Channel and the additional competition for the entertainment dollar from other areas. The past decade has not been an easy time for the Club but the current Committee is leaving no stone unturned in raising the profile of Richmond in the hope of a return to the "glory days" of years gone by. 2004 promises to be a huge year for Richmond, which recently celebrated the running of the Club's 31st Derby Final. A number of improvements around the complex have received favourable comment from on-course patrons. The efforts over the years of former president John Mccombe were recognised at the recent Bi-annual meeting when he was elected the first ever patron of the Richmond Race.

ARIAL SHOT OF THE RICHMOND TRACK

RICHMOND DERBY WINNERS
1974 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984* DEAD HEAT 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991	ROOMATIC WADE PARK WOODBURN WONDER OPAL COLUMBUS LEON KULEY MAJOR WILLA PAPUANA TIMEACLOG PETER GLIDER CREAMY KOKO BINDALL'S HOPE RAPID SUPREME TIGER COUNTRY BUKE SUNSET MAGGIORE RUMPUS BRANDY WHISKY BALE KEDO'S IMAGE	1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008	TALLEST PEER NATIONAL LEADER WILJARRA FABIAN ANTIQUE VISION SPANISH MASTER MURPHY'S BENJI ROYAL PILGRIM STATELY BIRD ZINGALONG RED TOURIST DAN CYRUS THE VIRUS SPRING SECRET GOZO MASTER COOL MATT LAURIE'S TIGER MANDAGERY MAN