Ballina Boxing Day races 2022 | Photos
Hundreds flocked to the Ballina Jockey Club for the Boxing Day race meeting. See all the photos of the locals dressed for success.
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The Boxing Day Race meet at the Ballina Jockey Club was buzzing, with over 500 prepaid ticketholders plus walk-ins packing the grounds.
The annual event is one of the region’s largest social drawcards during the holidays with families meeting up to share a fun day in the sun.
Punters lined up to place their bets, picking their favourite horse to take it home while children frolicked among the crowd on the ample green and play areas.
Ballina Jockey Club general manager Matthew Bertram said the day was the busiest they’d had in a “very long time”.
“Based on this year’s figures the crowd was up 40 per cent,” Mr Bertram said.
“Last year’s Boxing Day races were not too bad,” he said, “it was a Cup Day where Covid had taken a bit of an organic sort of hold on the event.
“Everyone opened up and by Christmas, Boxing Day was okay but coming into the new year there was a lot of Covid around.
“Boxing Day last year was actually quite good but this year was much, much, much bigger.
“It was an excellent day all around.”
Wendy Smith was celebrating her 50th birthday with family. She went to the 2021 Boxing Day races and had a great time, deciding it would be the perfect place for her 50th.
A lovely ‘country race’ the annual Ballina Boxing Day races attracted trainers from Ballina and Grafton to the Gold Coast.
The six race event is the prelude to the Ballina Cup which will be held on Friday, January 13.
Two local bookies: Mark Simpkins and Jeff Conroy - have been bookmaking for around 40 years.
Mr Simpkins said the Ballina Race Day used to be huge back in the ’80s, with the crowd shoulder-to-shoulder, but times had changed.
“Back in the day if you wanted to back something at Ballina, you’d have to go down to the bookie,” he said.
“But now you can sit in your home and bet on your phone.”
Ballina racecourse is the home of the Ballina Jockey Club, a major race club located on the NSW North Coast.
The land for the racecourse was granted in 1888, and racing began in the 1890s. The Ballina Turf Club, the first of many clubs to use the course, was formed in 1900.
The current Ballina Jockey Club has been the sole tenant of the racecourse since it was formed in 1950.
Ballina racecourse is a tight turning track of 1600 metres circumference, 20 metres wide with a home straight of 350 metres.
Ballina is also a major regional training centre. The course supports more than 200 horses in training with local trainers.
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