Gawler Racecourse is within easy reach of Adelaide as it is located on a main railway route with its own dedicated station. Horse racing began in Gawler in the 1840s and in those early years hosted South Australia’s principal race meeting over three days. The current Gawler racecourse was established in the 1880s and the Gawler race club was founded in 1891. During the Second World War all Gawler meetings were allocated to Victoria Park or Morphettville racecourses due to the military taking over the Gawler racecourse as a camp. Gawler Jockey Club was classified as a legal metropolitan club from 1936 until 1967.

In 1960 the South Australian Licensed Victualler’s Racing Club and Barossa Racing Clubs combined to race as Barossa Valley Racing Club and they eventually amalgamated with Gawler Jockey Club to become the Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club in 1971. It became a provincial club in 1968. In 1977 the Kadina & Wallaroo Jockey Club also amalgamated with the Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club.