2026 - The Provincial-Midway Championships
The Provincial-Midway Championships series will now comprise seven $150,000 qualifying races leading to the $1 million Final at Royal Randwick on Saturday 11 April 2026.
The qualifying races will comprise :
- Three races for Provincial-trained horses only, with first and second placegetters qualifying for the final
- Three races for Provincial-trained and also Midway eligible horses, with first and second placegetters qualifying for the Final
- One Wild Card race open to horses that had competed in one of the qualifying races, with the first three placegetters qualifying for the Final.
The qualifying races will continue to be Class 5 races with runners having had a maximum of 20 starts prior to the race.
The qualifying series is as follows.
2026 Provincial-Midway Championship Race Clubs
The Provincial-Midway Championships Series is hosted across the 5 idyllic provincial race clubs on the fringe of Sydney. Select a club below to find out what you need to know about visiting the club. The Series begins in Hawkesbury and the road ends at Royal Randwick.
THU 19 FEB
HAWKESBURY
About one hour’s drive from the centre of Sydney, with the backdrop of the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury Race Club offers the perfect location for racing and for your event.
Hawkesbury is one of Australia's oldest settlements, first explored by Governor Phillip in 1789, and the racecourse is located a stone’s throw from Clarendon train station making access easy.
The club, which holds 25 race meetings a year, was the first provincial club to be granted a metropolitan Saturday meeting as its Hawkesbury Guineas program directly follows the Sydney Autumn Carnival.
Hawkesbury Race Club can cater for most events, whether it is a conference, convention, meeting or wedding reception and it offers a 4 star Motel, which includes 30 luxuriously appointed rooms, adjacent to the course
SAT 28 FEB
NEWCASTLE
Newcastle Racecourse, in the suburb of Broadmeadow about 160km north of Sydney, is home of the Newcastle Jockey Club and is the social hub of Newcastle.
Racing is held 24 Saturdays a year, along with the Group 3 Newmarket Race Day in March, as part of the Autumn carnival, the 2 day Spring Racing Carnival in September featuring the Newcastle Cup and the spring showpiece $1 million The Hunter Race Day – a stand alone Saturday meeting in November.
Newcastle Racecourse hosts a number of other major race days including the famous Boxing Day race meeting each December and the Pink Race Day in July to raise funds for the Hunter Breast Cancer Foundation.
In operation for over 100 years, the Newcastle Racecourse is the largest and premiere provincial club in NSW and is home to arguably the state’s best racing surface.
SAT 14 MAR
GOSFORD
Located just minutes from the M1 and about an hour’s drive from Sydney, The Entertainment Grounds (previously known as Gosford Race Club) is the premier events precinct on the Central Coast.
As one of the leading provincial race clubs in NSW, The Entertainment Grounds hosts around 24 race meetings a year, offering a selection of delicious hospitality packages, held in one of the many function spaces overlooking the racecourse and mountainous backdrop.
In 2013, Gosford Race Club celebrated 100 years as a racing venue, undergoing a $4.8 million redevelopment of the Members Grandstand and surrounding spectator precinct.
The Entertainment Grounds hosts a variety of non-race specific events each year including the Aussie Nightmarkets (held on the first Friday of every month) as well as birthday parties and special occasions, weddings, business meetings, conferences, trade shows, exhibitions, festivals and more.
SAT 21 MAR
KEMBLA GRANGE
Home of the $1 million The Gong, the race that brings the Sydney Spring and Everest Carnivals to an end, Kembla Grange is located at Wollongong about 120m south of Sydney.
Archives reveal that race meetings were staged by the original Illawarra Turf Club as long ago as 1834 on the site of the present day Wollongong Golf Course, 26 years before racing began at Royal Randwick.
However, early in the 20th century Kembla Grange estate, the present site of Kembla Grange Racecourse, was purchased by the Hon. Joseph Carruthers who designed a course almost identical in size and shape to Randwick.
Kembla Grange is also a fully licensed Function Centre – perfect for any type of Wedding, Party, Trade Show, Convention, Conference and much more.
SAT 28 MAR
WYONG
Wyong Race Club hosts 22 annual race meetings on one of the best provincial racecourse surfaces for thoroughbred horse racing.
The racecourse, Function & Events Centre is conveniently located right near Wyong train station and couldn’t be better serviced with regular trains from both Newcastle and Sydney.
The Carlton Draught Wyong Gold Cup Carnival is one of the highlights of the racing calendar. Held across two days in August or September, it’s a prestigious showcase of thoroughbred racing talent.
