Horse racing was enormously popular in Hawke's Bay with European and Maori, and the first race meeting was thought to be held at Waipureku (East Clive) in February 1856.
The Hawke's Bay Jockey Club was formed in 1866, and later moved its races away from Meeanee in 1879, to its present location in Southland Rd, Hastings, where it leased land from the Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society (A & P Society).
In 1886, the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club bought the land from the A & P society and leased it back to them to hold their annual show, until the event shifted to the Tomoana Showgrounds in October 1925.
In 1897 a swamp at the Hastings racecourse was turned into a small lake (pictured) and named Jubilee Lake to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign that year.
The Hawke's Bay Jockey Club was a Napier organisation, and while it held its races at its Hastings racecourse, the offices were still situated in Napier.
