The High Country picnic race season comes to an end at Swifts Creek on Sunday with the running of the 2026 Tambo Valley Cup.
Racing at Swifts Creek offers a great value mix of exciting horse races, family entertainment, and good old-fashioned country hospitality, racing the way it’s meant to be, offering up a great way to cap off a busy Easter weekend in East Gippsland.
Crowds have flocked to Buchan and Hinnomunjie and it will be Swifts Creek’s turn on Sunday, as they host their local version of the Melbourne Cup, the race that stops the region.
They will come from Melbourne and the Latrobe Valley, over the mountain from Mansfield and down from New South Wales all mingling and catching up with the local and
East Gippsland folk who trek up the hill each year to enjoy one of the great days on the Victorian racing calendar.
Such is the pull of the three High Country picnic racing days in this region, Hinnomunjie, Buchan and Swifts Creek, they attract similar crowds to the region’s most lucrative meeting, which hosts the $70,000 Bairnsdale Cup.
This year will be the 130th year running of the $10,000 Tambo Valley Cup, a race is steeped in history with plenty of famous racing names saluting at the event.
Tambo Valley Racing Club’s committee has been hard at work getting things in order for race day, which will see six races, the main event kicking off at 3pm with racing starting at 1pm.
Fashions on the Field are always popular, as are the kids activities, including the famous Easter Egg Hunt in the middle of the track.
The infamous Ricky’s Rooster Crow is not to be missed, the locals have been practicing for months.
Last year’s event was huge, delighting organisers, with more than 1000 punters dressed up in their finest and invading Victoria’s only privately owned race track, enjoying great weather and entertainment.
The feature race, the Tambo Valley Cup, is run over over 1600 metres, which is a great spectacle for racegoers, who get to see the horses thunder past twice.
Last year’s event was won by Cent to War for Yvonne Harvey and popular picnic circuit Dani Walker.
Dylan Dean rode four winners on last years card and he now rides as an apprentice jockey on the professional circuit.
Free buses will operate from Dinner Plain (10.45am), Benambra (11am), Omeo (11.20am), Ensay (11.30am), Tambo Valley Golf Course (12pm) and Swifts Creek (12pm).
All roads will lead to Swifts Creek, and if it isn’t on your bucketlist, it should be.
