Helena Vale Racecourse

The Helena Vale Racecourse was a Thoroughbred horse racing track in the eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia now known as Midvale. The course operated from the 1890s until the late 1960s.

Helena Vale Racecourse
LocationMidvale, Western Australia
Coordinates31°53′43.6″S 116°2′15.7″E
Date opened1898
Date closed1969

Early stages

The first meeting was held in April 1898.[1][2][3]

The racecourse complex included stables,[4] grandstand,[5] mounting yard and racing track.[6]

Patrick (Lucky) Connolly brought a controlling interest in the racecourse in the pre world war one era, and maintained an interest for over 30 years.[7]

First world war

The Helena Vale railway branch which started in the vicinity of Bellevue railway station was utilised to move troops from Blackboy Hill in the first world war.[8][9][10][11]

The racecourse was across the road to the Darling Range Hotel where the proprietor in the early stage advertised the capacity to hold horses in his hotel grounds[12] The railway branch was used to store ambulance train rolling stock in the second world war.[13]

Later years

Racing at Helena Vale stopped in 1969.[14]

The current development over the land that was the racecourse property was being investigated in the 1970s.[15]

The suburb of Midvale was named for its location between the racecourse and Midland.[16] The suburb later encompassed the area formerly occupied by the racecourse.

References
  1. "A new racecourse – the Helena Vale Race Club property". The West Australian. 31 January 1898. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  2. "Helena Vale Racecourse". Western Mail (Western Australia). Vol. XIII, no. 641. Western Australia. 8 April 1898. p. 40. Retrieved 13 March 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Helena Vale Race Club – to-day's inaugural race meeting". The West Australian. 9 April 1898. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  4. HRRC (1930), Helena Vale Racecourse saddling yard and stables, retrieved 2 April 2016
  5. "HELENA VALE RACECOURSE". Truth. No. 318. Western Australia. 31 July 1909. p. 6 (CITY EDITION). Retrieved 8 November 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. HRRC (1992), Helena Vale Racecourse, retrieved 2 April 2016
  7. "Connolly, Patrick Andrew (1866–1946)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  8. "HELENA VALE RAILWAY WORKS". The West Australian. Perth. 2 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 14 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia. – was being built in 1900
  9. The Bearer Section of the 3rd Field Ambulance at Helena Vale racecourse, near Blackboy Hill camp, before embarkation. The man wearing the field service cap second from the right in the second rank, retrieved 2 April 2016
  10. Officers and men of the 32nd Battalion Western Australia, 1914, retrieved 2 April 2016
  11. The 3rd Field Ambulance Bearer Section before and after Gallipoli, 1914, retrieved 2 April 2016
  12. ="THE EAST MIDLAND HOTEL". The Daily News. Vol. XXVII, no. 10, 403. Western Australia. 3 October 1908. p. 6. Retrieved 19 October 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. "CROWD AT HELENA VALE". The West Australian. Perth. 17 July 1933. p. 4. Retrieved 14 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. "Thoroughbred Racing in WA – History". Racing and Wagering Western Australia. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  15. Russell Taylor and William Burrell (Firm); Mundaring (W.A. : Shire). Council (1976), Midvale structure planning : preliminary investigations into the possible future use of Morrison Park, Helena Vale Racecourse and environs, West Perth (W.A.), retrieved 2 April 2016
  16. "Perth suburb names". Landgate. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
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