The Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival is a

horse-racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

meeting held over two days by the Oakbank Racing Club at the

Oakbank Racecourse Oakbank Racecourse, also but less frequently known as the "Onkaparinga Racecourse", is home of the Oakbank Racing Club, a club which, until 2009, raced just twice annually, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday at the Oakbank Easter Racing Carniv ...

located in the Adelaide Hills in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The carnival is a mixture of flat and jumping races with between two and four jumps races on day one and two feature jumping races on day two. Day one is held on Easter Saturday and is one of the highest attended race days in Australia. The Von Doussa Steeplechase (named after founder

Alfred von Doussa Heinrich Albert Alfred von Doussa (27 April 1848 – 1 August 1926) was an Australian businessman and politician. He was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1901 to 1921, representing Southern District. History Von Doussa w ...

) takes place on day one and is a preliminary to the

Great Eastern Steeplechase The Great Eastern Steeplechase was an Australian Thoroughbred steeplechase horse race held annually at Oakbank, South Australia on Easter Saturday and Monday at the Oakbank Racecourse as part of the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival. The first fixt ...

held on Easter Monday. A "classic" hurdle race takes place on Monday as does the feature flat race, the Onkaparinga Cup. The meeting is conducted by the Oakbank Racing Club and is popular with families and groups. Although ostensibly a horse race meeting, Oakbank is an event in itself with carnival rides, picnics and other activities. Many families camp for the whole weekend in the paddocks adjacent to the track, and some have done so all their lives. Patrons travelled by train from Adelaide to nearby

Balhannah railway station Balhannah railway station is a disused railway station on the Adelaide-Wolseley line. The station is in the Adelaide Hills town of Balhannah, and is located 45.8 kilometres from Adelaide station at an elevation of 339 metres.SAR Timetable 1 ...

, from the course, from 1884. When the

Mount Pleasant railway line The Mount Pleasant railway line is an abandoned South Australian line. It was opened between Balhannah and Mount Pleasant in September 1918 and ran until March 1963 as a freight and passenger service.

opened in 1918, a platform was constructed adjacent to the course, permitting special race trains to run direct to the course the following Easter. The line to Mount Pleasant closed on 3 March 1963, thus the race trains ran no more. On October 1st 2021 it was announced that jumps racing will no longer be conducted in

mainly due to the small number of South Australian jumps horses. There were plans to run the Great Eastern and Von Doussa Steeplechase as a flat race. However on 3rd March 2022 it was announced that would not happen. However, many jumps racing supporters attempted to keep jumps racing at Oakbank and that fight went into the South Australian Court System. That would result in an election occurring which the anti-jumps faction won but debate surrounding that vote spilled into more legal action. But not long after the South Australian Government stepped in and outlawed jumps racing in the state.

References

External links

Entrance to Oakbank racecourse - Google Street View
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