Race.com.au
Every country cup on the Australian calendar β the NSW circuit from Moree in September to Gulgong in June, and the Queensland Country Cups Challenge chasing a Doomben final. Dates from the official state racing calendars, with track guides, fields and odds for every meeting.
The state's premier country series: 16 qualifying cups across regional Queensland, with horses accumulating series points toward the $200,000 Country Cups Challenge Final (1600m) at Doomben on George Moore Stakes Day β Saturday 5 December 2026.
The sprinting counterpart: another 16 regional qualifiers feeding the $105,000 Country Stampede Final (1110m), also decided at Doomben on Saturday 5 December 2026. Speedsters from Cairns to Cunnamulla chase the final berth.
A seven-heat series through the Wide Bay and Burnett region, culminating in a $20,000 Benchmark 60 Handicap Final (1200m) at Nanango on Saturday 12 December 2026.
Qualifiers crisscross the state β Longreach, Barcaldine, Hughenden, Pentland and Einasleigh in the outback; Charleville and Cunnamulla on the Warrego; Moranbah in the north; Yeppoon, Bundaberg and Burdekin on the coast; Gatton, Chinchilla, Nanango, Eidsvold, Oak Park and Bell in between. Check our Cunnamulla track guide for a typical qualifier day.
Season order from the Racing NSW race dates calendar. Dates are the scheduled cup days β confirm on the track's race card as acceptances are declared.
| Date | Cup | Track |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 12 | Narrandera Cup | Narrandera |
| Aug 2 | Forbes Cup | Forbes |
| Aug 7 | Coffs Harbour Cup | Coffs Harbour |
| Aug 21 | Murwillumbah Cup | Murwillumbah |
| Aug 23 | Narromine Cup | Narromine |
| Sep 6 | Moree Cup | Moree |
| Sep 11 | Tuncurry-Forster Cup | Tuncurry-Forster |
| Sep 13 | Bathurst Cup | Bathurst |
| Sep 25β26 | Lismore Cup | Lismore |
| Sep 26 | Jerilderie Cup | Jerilderie |
| Sep 27 | Dubbo Cup | Dubbo |
| Oct 4 | Cootamundra Cup | Cootamundra |
| Oct 9 | Port Macquarie Cup | Port Macquarie |
| Oct 11 | Coonamble Cup | Coonamble |
| Oct 16 | Taree & Krambach Cups | Taree |
| Oct 18 | Deniliquin Cup | Deniliquin |
| Oct 25 | Coonabarabran Cup | Coonabarabran |
| Nov 1 | Greenwell Point Cup | Shoalhaven |
| Nov 6 | Kempsey Cup | Kempsey |
| Nov 8 | Warren Cotton Cup | Warren |
| Nov 13 | Snake Gully Cup | Gundagai |
| Nov 27 | Queanbeyan Cup | Queanbeyan |
| Dec 4 | Mudgee Cup | Mudgee |
| Dec 13 | Nowra Cup | Shoalhaven |
| Dec | Wellington Summer Cup | Wellington |
| Jan 3 | Gilgandra Cup | Gilgandra |
| Jan 4 | Moruya Cup | Moruya |
| Jan 15 | Ballina Cup | Ballina |
| Jan 17 | Cowra Cup | Cowra |
| Jan 31 | Bega Cup | Sapphire Coast |
| Feb 5 | Walcha Cup | Walcha |
| Feb 19 | Quirindi Cup | Quirindi |
| Mar 12 | Armidale Cup | Armidale |
| Mar | Wellington Boot | Wellington |
| Mar 19 | Albury Cup | Albury |
| Apr 2 | Muswellbrook Cup | Muswellbrook |
| Apr 16 | Orange Cup | Orange |
| Apr 23 | Tamworth Cup | Tamworth |
| May 1 | Hawkesbury Cup | Hawkesbury |
| May 7 | Wagga Wagga Gold Cup | Wagga Wagga |
| May 14 | Scone Cup | Scone |
| May 16 | Parkes Cup | Parkes |
| May 23 | Gunnedah Cup | Gunnedah |
| May 28 | Beef Week Cup | Casino |
| Jun 13 | Gulgong Cup | Gulgong |
| Jun 13 | Wauchope Cup | Wauchope |
| Jun 19 | Talmoi Winter Cup | Queanbeyan |
In-depth guides to the circuits that host Australia's great bush cups β track character, barrier bias, who trains the winners and when the cups are run.
Country cup punting rewards a different skill set to metro racing. The markets are thinner β there's no flood of big-money information β so local knowledge is priced slowly. The reliable angles: course-and-distance form (horses proven at the very track, even months earlier), trainer patterns (country trainers target their home cups and rarely win at neighbouring tracks by accident), and fitness (cup-day fields are usually deep in genuinely-raced horses, so recent starts beat fresh legs).
Watch the track condition. Country circuits change character dramatically with rain β a leader's track one meeting becomes a swooper's paradise the next β and the locals handle their own going best. Follow the live fields and odds on our racing today page on cup day, and read our form guide guide before tackling the bush form.
Country cups are feature races staged by non-metropolitan race clubs across regional Australia β from Dubbo and Scone to Cunnamulla and Longreach. Each club hosts a cup day, usually once or twice a year, with the meeting doubling as the region's biggest social event. Country cups range from $20,000 country-class events to feature cups worth $100,000 or more.
The $200,000 Country Cups Challenge Final (1600m) is run at Doomben on George Moore Stakes Day, Saturday 5 December 2026. Horses qualify by earning series points across 16 regional qualifiers during the year β including cups at Cunnamulla, Charleville, Barcaldine, Longreach, Hughenden, Eidsvold and Yeppoon.
Dubbo Cup Day is held in late September each year, followed by Dubbo Gold Cup Day in early October β Gold Cup Day falls on Friday 2 October 2026. Both meetings are centrepieces of the NSW central-west racing calendar.
Every licensed Australian bookmaker and the TAB offers markets on country meetings. The winning angles differ from metro racing: course-and-distance form at the same track is the strongest guide, local trainers know their home circuits, and markets carry less big-money influence β read our country track guides and check live fields and odds on race day.
The Wellington Boot is the celebrated feature race of the Wellington Race Club in the NSW Central West, run each March. It's one of country racing's most coveted trophies, fiercely contested by the region's bush stables alongside the club's December Summer Cup.
Fields, odds and results for every country meeting update live on our racing today page β 10 meetings currently listed.