Homebush Racecourse
by Cathy Jones
The first Sydney Racecourse was located at Homebush, around the area where Ismay
Avenue Homebush stands today. Homebush Racecourse operated from 1841 to 1859, when it
then moved to Randwick.
The Homebush Racecourse was located on part of William Wentworth’s estate, which
he inherited from his father, the original grantee D’Arcy Wentworth. D’Arcy
Wentworth [1762? – 1827] arrived with the Second Fleet in 1790 as ship’s surgeon
on the Neptune. After Macquarie became governor, Wentworth was made principal
surgeon and chief magistrate in the colony. He also received a grant of 920
acres at the head of the present Homebush Bay, located between Powell’s and
Haslam’s Creek. .
Wentworth called his grant ‘Home Bush’, his home in the bush. This name was
later adopted in the 1878 subdivision of the Underwood Estate called the
‘Village of Homebush’, which is actually located south of the railway line and
ironically not part of the original Wentworth grant. Wentworth developed an
interest in horsebreeding, importing horses from India and South Africa.
Wentworth’s son, William Charles Wentworth [of one of the three Blue Mountains
explorers] shared his father’s interest in turf racing that continued after
D’Arcy Wentworth’s death in 1827. Therefore, in 1841 William Wentworth agreed to
lay down a course, fence enclosures and build a stand for a new racecourse on
the cleared land of the Homebush Estate. This would be located where Ismay
Avenue is located today. The establishment of the Homebush railway station in
1855 provided access to the racecourse.
A special ferry was established for racedays along the Sydney to Parramatta
route. The services were advertised as:
‘THE STEAM PACK RAPID….will start from the Commercial Wharf at Ten O’Clock
precisely on each day of the Races – land Passengers at the Course and return
with them to Sydney each night. FARES – four shillings each.’
The river transport depended on the tides for Homebush Bay, which were fringed
with mangroves along the shore and mud flats around the Powell Creek entrance
prevented a wharf or jetty being built. At low tide ferry boats had to stop at a
distance from the shore and racegoers had to wade through a stretch of mud to
get to the racecourse.
The racecourse operated until 1859 and in 1860 moved to Randwick. The old course
continued as a training ground and later became a market garden. Some old maps
of Homebush include reference to the Chinese Market Gardens at this site.
This article was first published in Strathfield Scene April 2005
© Cathy Jones 2005