Welcome to Avondale Jockey Club
Situated in Auckland’s central west, the Avondale Jockey Club (AJC) has been part of New Zealand thoroughbred racing for over 130 years. The racetrack is a right-handed turf track, 1800 metres, suitable for racing in all conditions and well regarded by jockeys and horse owners for high quality and consistency.
Where does the AJC turf track rate in terms of the best on offer in NZ? If you rate selecting ‘the best track’ as most important, then you are on a winner – the Avondale surface is one of only two or three great turf surfaces in the country. On the other hand, if your criterion is ‘quality of the racing’, there’s little to be had and naturally your favourites are elsewhere. The club’s racing is down to a handful of dates, with the bulk of competitors round the third tier (“industry days”).
Looking back to 1889, AJC and its predecessor clubs have a distinguished history. Traditionally our track attracted some of the country’s best horses, with famous owners’ and horses’ names among past winners of the Avondale Guineas and the Avondale Cup (2200m). Following a brief closure of the track in 2012 AJC lost its black-type races.
More recently, with the Code’s strategic plans looking for capital to fund renovations and brownfields projects, our venue will close permanently in late July 2026. Racing at Avondale has been steadily scaled back by the regulators to between 4 & 8 race meetings per season. Currently TABNZ has Avondale racing scheduled for four meetings in the 2025/26 season (1 Aug ’25 thru 31 Jul ’26).
Next race day: 6 November 2025
AJC News & Blog
Avondale Jockey Club Members to Host Community Groups
On race day Wednesday 16 July, financial members of Avondale Jockey Club (AJC) will be invited to a Members Luncheon where the President is hosting a get together for members to engage with guests from our local community. The event will: hear from community leaders/club reps about NZTR consultation regarding the closure
June Update
Avondale Jockey Club returned to the Trials track on Tuesday 24 June, after a sequence of consternation and controversy surrounding stop-start orders about the surface at the racetrack not being good enough for Trials. The weather in Auckland was fine and warm. The morning penetrometer reading was “Heavy 9; 0.5mm rain last
Community Forum – Looking to the Future
On 15 May 2025 a ‘working party’ of the Avondale Jockey Club committee (AJC) hosted a community forum – held in the Marshall Stand – where community groups/leaders could meet to discuss issues, ask questions and share their perspectives with AJC representatives about the future impact of the Racing Industry Act as