The Lismore Turf Club will host one of the most prestigious days in Country Racing next year, when the club hosts the Northern Rivers Qualifier for the Country Championship Series in 2024.

The Lismore event will be held on Saturday 17 February, with horses, jockeys and trainers vying for a spot in the Country Championships Final, worth $1,000,000 at Royal Randwick during The Championships in April.

Racing NSW this week announced the 2024 dates and venues for the Newhaven Park Country Championships Series. 

In 2024, the series of seven regional qualifiers and two Wild Card races of $150,000 prizemoney will culminate in a Final with $1 million in prizemoney. 

Total prizemoney, for the Country Championships series in 2024 will be a record $2.35 million. 

“The Country Championships have been a tremendous success since their inception. This will be the tenth running in 2024 which is being marked by prizemoney for the Final increasing to $1 million,” said Racing NSW Chief Executive, Mr Peter V’landys AM. 

Lismore Turf Club Secretary Manager Scott Jones was excited about the announcement. "This is the culmination of a lot of hard work in securing the event."

"It is a prestigious day on the Country calendar and we are very proud to be hosting the Northern Rivers Qualifier over 1400m in February."

"The meeting will attract high profile horses and trainers, which in turn brings quality jockeys to the meeting, and we are looking forward to hosting a big crowd on the day."

The qualifying series in 2024 will again be run on six Sundays and two Saturdays and a Friday. 

The full list of Newhaven Park Country Championships dates follows: 

17 Feb 2024 Saturday Lismore Northern Rivers $150,000 

18 Feb 2024 Sunday Albury Southern Districts $150,000 

24 Feb 2024 Saturday Tuncurry-Forster Mid North Coast $150,000 

25 Feb 2024 Sunday Mudgee Central Districts $150,000 

3 Mar 2024 Sunday Moruya South East $150,000 

10 Mar 2024 Sunday Tamworth Hunter & North West $150,000 

17 Mar 2024 Sunday Coonamble Western $150,000

22 Mar 2024 Friday Scone Northern Wild Card $150,000 

24 Mar 2024 Sunday Goulburn Southern Wild Card $150,000 

6 Apr 2024 Saturday Royal Randwick Final $1,000,000 

The Newhaven Park Country Championships commence on Saturday, 17 February 2024 with Lismore (Northern Rivers) hosting the region’s qualifier for the first time followed by Albury in the Southern Districts on Sunday, 18 February 2024. 

The series then features another double header on the weekend of 24 and 25 February 2024 at Tuncurry-Forster (Mid North Coast) and Mudgee (Central Districts). 

Moruya again hosts the South East qualifier on Sunday, 3 March 2024, followed by Tamworth on Sunday, 10 March 2024, with the regional qualifiers again finishing in the Western region at Coonamble on Sunday, 17 March 2024. 

Northern and Southern Wild Card races will be staged with the winners qualifying for the Final. The Northern Wild Card is scheduled for Scone Racecourse on Friday, 22 March 2024. The Southern Wild Card is to be held at Goulburn on Sunday, 24 March 2024. 

More information will be available shortly on the Lismore Turf Club website and social media pages.