Big Orange winning the Gold Cup (Group 1)
Big Orange winning the Gold Cup (Group 1) Picture: RacingandSports

Racing in Orange Racecourse in the central west of NSW is conducted a Towac Park racecourse at the base of the landmark Mt Canobolas. Orange is located 260km west of Sydney between Bathurst and Dubbo on the Great Western Highway and has been one of the central west’s major racing venues ever since gold was discovered in the region in the 1850s. Previously the Orange Jockey Club, the local race club is now known as Racing Orange and conducts 10 race meetings each season with the highlight being the Orange Gold Cup meeting in April.

Racing Orange came into being in 2011 with the support of Racing NSW and Orange City Council aimed at reinvigorating racing at Towac Park after a failed merger of the Orange Jockey Club and Bathurst Turf Club under the banner of the Golden West Race Club. Towac Park race course at Orange is a spacious circular track of 1800 metres circumference with a 350m home straight. A long starting chute joining the back of the course at the 1000m provides starting points for races over 1200m, 1300m and 1400m before fields start a long turn from the 800m. There is a downhill run from the 1600m starting chute before a rise in the back straight.



 
Racing and Sports