Part 1 | The Coffs Harbour Cup 2026
The Town That Refused to Give Up
Sometimes the best journeys don’t begin at the racecourse.
Great Country Cups are built on great communities, businesses and the people who choose to support them.
A town built by timber cutters chasing red cedar
The Pacific Highway stretched north beneath the tyres of Kenny’s old LandCruiser as another Country Cup adventure rolled into view.
Tommy sat quietly in the passenger seat, one arm resting on the open window. Every now and then the salty breeze found its way inside, carrying with it that unmistakable smell of the sea.
“Smells different already,” Kenny said, easing off the accelerator as the road began to drop towards Coffs Harbour.
Tommy smiled.
“That’s because every Country Cup has its own heartbeat.”
Kenny laughed.
“You’re getting philosophical in your old age.”
“Nah,” Tommy replied. “I’ve just learnt that if you rush straight to the races, you miss half the story.”
This week, that story was Coffs Harbour.
A town built by timber cutters chasing red cedar.
A harbour that gave shelter to weary ships.
A place where bananas became as famous as beaches, and where generations of locals quietly refused to let their race club disappear.
There have been closures.
There have been rebuilds.
There have been moments when many thought racing here might never return.
Yet every time life knocked the club down, someone rolled up their sleeves and helped lift it back onto its feet.
Tommy reckoned there was something rather Australian about that.
Some reunions are planned. The best ones aren’t. Finn introduces Tommy and Kenny to Freja, whose first Australian Country Cup adventure is about to begin.
A Familiar Reunion
Kenny pulled into the car park of their favourite old-style watering hole for the afternoon.
No fancy cocktails.
No dress code.
Just cold beer, honest meals and plenty of racing talk.
Exactly the sort of place Tommy loved.
As they walked inside, Kenny stopped in his tracks.
“You’re kidding…”
Standing near the bar, wearing a grin as wide as the Pacific Ocean, was Finn.
Beside him stood a tall blonde woman with bright eyes and an amused smile.
“Thought we’d surprise you,” Finn laughed.
“And before you ask,” he added, “this is Freja.”
Freja reached out to shake Tommy’s hand.
“It’s lovely to finally meet the famous Tommy and Kenny.”
Kenny looked at Finn and raised an eyebrow.
“I thought you were backpacking around Europe.”
Finn grinned.
“Mate… we’ve upgraded.”
Tommy raised an eyebrow.
“Upgraded?”
Finn nodded proudly.
“No more twenty-dollar backpacker hostels.”
Freja laughed.
“In Sweden we call it…”
She searched for the right English words.
“…a little bit fancy… but not too fancy.”
Finn winked.
“Flash packing.”
We call it flash packing,” Finn laughed. Freja couldn’t wait to show the boys why Opal Cove had already stolen a little piece of her heart.
Freja unlocked her phone.
“Oh Tommy… look.”
She held it out for everyone to see.
“There are palm trees everywhere… two swimming pools… a lovely sauna… and our balcony looks over the ocean.”
She smiled.
“This morning I even had fresh mango with breakfast.”
Kenny looked at Tommy.
“We had instant coffee.”
Tommy nodded.
“And half a packet of stale Scotch Fingers.”
Everyone laughed.
Freja covered her mouth, trying not to giggle.
“But backpacking was wonderful too.”
She slipped her hand into Finn’s.
“We slept in little rooms with people from everywhere.”
“Sometimes eight people.”
“One time…”
She laughed again.
“…Finn snored so loudly, two Canadians asked for another room.”
Finn protested.
“It wasn’t me.”
“It was the bloke from Germany.”
Freja shook her head.
“No…”
“It was definitely you.”
Tommy chuckled.
“Well, Kenny and I don’t have that problem.”
Finn looked puzzled.
“Why?”
Tommy took a sip of his beer.
“Because if one of us snores…”
“…the other one throws a boot.”
Kenny laughed.
“We’re on the top floor of the pub.”
“Two single beds.”
“One noisy ceiling fan.”
“And a bathroom that was probably built when Phar Lap was still racing.”
Tommy smiled.
“But somehow…”
“…we always sleep like kings.”
Freja looked around the old pub.
Then back towards Finn.
“You know…”
“I think I like this place even more than the resort.”
Tommy tipped his hat.
“Now you’re starting to understand Country Cups.”
While the horses stretched their legs at sunrise, Finn filled another page of his notebook. Freja quietly watched on, discovering that behind every Country Cup is a town with a story worth telling.
More Than Another Country Cup
The first rays of sunlight crept across the course as a handful of horses rolled quietly through their morning gallops.
Finn sat with his notebook open, stopwatch resting beside his coffee.
Without saying a word, Freja slipped her arms gently around his shoulders and watched the horses with him.
For a minute neither of them spoke.
Finally she smiled.
“I think this is my favourite part.”
Finn looked up from his notes.
“The racing?”
She shook her head.
“No…”
“The quiet before everybody arrives.”
A horse thundered past, its breath catching the cool morning air.
Freja watched until it disappeared into the mist.
“How long have they raced here?”
Finn smiled.
“I looked that up last night.”
“The very first race meeting was back in 1885.”
Her eyes widened.
“Really?”
He nodded.
“About four or five hundred people turned up.”
She looked across the course.
“But… this was only a little timber town.”
“Exactly.”
Finn closed his notebook for a moment.
“Back then that was almost the whole town.”
Another set of horses swept past, hooves drumming softly on the turf.
“The Coffs Harbour Cup itself didn’t begin until 1949,” Finn continued.
“But racing had already become part of the town’s heartbeat.”
“There were years when everything was going well.”
“And there were years when the club almost disappeared.”
Freja looked towards the grandstand.
“It closed?”
“For several years.”
“But every time people thought it was finished…”
“…the locals brought it back.”
She smiled softly.
“That sounds very Australian.”
Finn laughed.
“I reckon Tommy would agree with you.”
He glanced once more towards the track.
“Today it’s worth around one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
“And for one horse…”
“…it’s another step towards the Big Dance.”
Freja rested her chin lightly on his shoulder.
“So it isn’t really just another Country Cup…”
Finn looked out at the sunrise spreading across the racecourse.
“No.”
“It’s a town that never stopped believing in itself.”
For a few quiet moments they simply watched the horses disappear into the golden morning.
Some traditions can’t be avoided. Finn insisted on another selfie. Kenny pretended he hated every second of it. Tommy wasn’t fooling anyone… he loved it too.
One Giant Banana
“You can’t come to Coffs without stopping,” Finn declared.
“Oh no…” Kenny sighed.
“The Big Banana.”
Freja laughed.
“I’ve already taken fifty photos.”
Tommy tipped his hat back and smiled.
“Then we’d better make it fifty-two.”
The four of them wandered across for the obligatory photograph.
Kenny muttered something about looking ridiculous.
Finn made sure he stood front and centre.
Freja laughed so hard she nearly dropped her phone.
Tommy simply folded his arms and smiled.
“Every town has something that makes people smile,” he said.
“Coffs just happened to build theirs a little bigger.”
Tommy’s first morning in Coffs Harbour. Coffee, the form guide and a quiet sunrise over the Jetty. Every Country Cup begins with a little homework… and a lot of dreaming.
Tommy’s Notebook
As the afternoon drifted towards evening, Tommy closed his notebook and looked out towards the ocean.
“You know what I like most about places like this?”
Kenny shook his head.
“The race gives us a reason to visit.”
He paused for a moment.
“But it’s the people who give us a reason to come back.”
Tomorrow, Kenny would wander the Jetty, discover a few local secrets, catch up with familiar racing faces and begin piecing together the final field for Friday’s Coffs Harbour Cup.
But tonight…
Tonight was simply about arriving.
Because every good Country Cup adventure deserves a quiet beginning before the gates open.