Club History

Steeped in history, the Pakenham Racing Club was formed in 1875, racing annually on the Bourke’s paddock.

Renowned for being a progressive race club, Pakenham has been at the forefront of many advances in racing including; the first race meeting in Australia where decimal currency was used and a fact which is unknown to many that colour TV was experimented at a Pakenham race meeting on 15 June 1967. Only a select few witnessed the scene where the cameraman focussed his camera on a woman admiring some flowers. Officially colour TV came to Victoria on March the 1st 1975.

The Pakenham Racing Club is proud to be associated with the race that stops a nation. In 1943 Pakenham Trainer, Ray Webster trained Dark Felt to win the Melbourne Cup. During the War the owners received war bonds instead of the coveted cup. When the Melbourne Cup visited Pakenham as a leg of the Melbourne Cup Tour in 2007, it was fitting that Racing Victoria presented the Webster Family with a Retrospective Cup.

A new chapter in Pakenham’s history will commence in 2013 when the club relocates to a new world class venue on 580 acres in Nar Nar Goon.