Where Country Life Meets the Racing Tradition
Discovering the Southern Highlands’ horse-racing culture
Just beyond Sydney, the Southern Highlands offers a very different version of Australian horse racing.
Here, racing is surrounded by rolling countryside, historic properties, thoroughbred farms and small communities where horses have long been part of the local landscape.
The region’s connection with racing is perhaps best represented by the Bong Bong Picnic Races, an event with a history stretching back to 1886. The original meeting was held at Throsby Park near Moss Vale, before moving to Wyeera Racecourse at Bowral.
A racing tradition with character
The Bong Bong Picnic Races are unlike the enormous metropolitan carnivals.
There is still plenty of excitement, but the atmosphere is more intimate and distinctly regional.
The event has become a fixture on the Southern Highlands social calendar, bringing together locals and visitors for an afternoon that combines racing, fashion and country hospitality.
At its peak in 1985, the meeting attracted around 35,000 people, making it one of the world’s largest picnic race meetings at the time. Attendance restrictions were later introduced, but the event continues to attract a dedicated audience.
More than a racecourse
What makes the Southern Highlands particularly interesting is that racing is only one part of its wider equestrian culture.
The region supports dressage, polocrosse, pony clubs, riding schools and other equestrian activities. Bong Bong Racecourse itself is home to organisations including Bowral Dressage and Burradoo Polocrosse.
This creates an environment where horses are not simply associated with race day.
They are part of the lifestyle.
The business behind the horses
There is also a serious business story beneath the picturesque landscape.
The Southern Highlands has developed a significant thoroughbred breeding and spelling sector, with major studs operating in the region. A recent regional business report identified around seven major local studs and highlighted Milburn Creek and Silverdale Farm among the area’s leading operations.
The same report recorded local yearling sales at major national auctions rising from approximately $18.4 million in 2018 to $32.8 million in 2023.
That makes the Highlands more than a scenic backdrop for racing.
It is part of the commercial infrastructure behind the Australian thoroughbred industry.
Why the landscape matters
There is a practical reason horses fit so naturally into the region.
The Southern Highlands offers open land, established agricultural properties and a climate suited to horse keeping and training. Farms such as Fox Hill Farm in Canyonleigh provide spelling and pre-training services for thoroughbreds, using the region’s pasture and facilities as part of the preparation process.
For a young thoroughbred, time away from the racetrack can be just as important as time on it.
The quiet paddocks and rolling countryside provide a very different environment from the intensity of metropolitan racing.
A different kind of race day
That difference is also visible when race day arrives.
At Bong Bong, racing is intertwined with the traditions of a picnic meeting. Fashion, socialising and the atmosphere of the Southern Highlands become part of the experience.
The club has even incorporated historical themes such as 18th-century fashions on the field and the Australian Light Horse, showing how strongly the event connects racing with local history and heritage.
It is racing, but it is also a celebration of place.
The future of the Highlands
The region’s racing story is not simply about preserving the past.
As Australia’s thoroughbred industry becomes increasingly sophisticated, the Southern Highlands has an opportunity to play an even larger role in breeding, spelling, pre-training and equestrian tourism.
Its advantage may be precisely what makes it different from Sydney’s major racecourses.
There is space.
There is history.
There is an established horse culture.
And there is a community that understands the appeal of gathering around horses.
Where racing feels personal
Perhaps that is the real charm of Southern Highlands racing.
At a major metropolitan carnival, thousands of people may watch the same race.
In the Highlands, the connection can feel much closer.
The horse may have been bred nearby. The trainer may be known locally. The property where it was prepared might sit just beyond the next stretch of countryside.
The race becomes part of a much bigger story.
And somewhere between the paddocks, historic properties and racecourse, the Southern Highlands offers a reminder of what Australian racing looked like before it became a global business — while quietly showing where it could be heading next.