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Racecourse Hill
Description
NameRacecourse Hill 
DescriptionAccording to L. G. D. Acland (1946), Racecourse Hill was originally one of the early Canterbury stations, made up of runs 49 and 65 (taken up in 1852), with run 50 (known as Ledard) added in 1960 or 1861. By 1855, farmers J. C. Watts Russell and R. A. Creyke, who farmed the runs together, had 2524 sheep on the station, and these had increased to 6300 by 1858.
For a time the station was known as Wantwood, probably because of the treelessness of the country. About 1859 Creyke moved the homestead to its first site, and ever since the station has been called Racecourse Hill. The second location of the homestead, built in 1912, is opposite the former Racecourse Hill railway station site on State Highway 73.
Racecourse Hill had a railway station on the Midland Line from 1874 to 1973, and for a short time in the 1860s had its own post office.
Racecourse Hill became notable for horses bred at the homestead stables from the 1920s by Harry A. Knight, of which Ballymena and Limerick were the most successful.Date Established1852
DescriptionAccording to L. G. D. Acland (1946), Racecourse Hill was originally one of the early Canterbury stations, made up of runs 49 and 65 (taken up in 1852), with run 50 (known as Ledard) added in 1960 or 1861. By 1855, farmers J. C. Watts Russell and R. A. Creyke, who farmed the runs together, had 2524 sheep on the station, and these had increased to 6300 by 1858. For a time the station was known as Wantwood, probably because of the treelessness of the country. About 1859 Creyke moved the homestead to its first site, and ever since the station has been called Racecourse Hill. The second location of the homestead, built in 1912, is opposite the former Racecourse Hill railway station site on State Highway 73.
Racecourse Hill had a railway station on the Midland Line from 1874 to 1973, and for a short time in the 1860s had its own post office.
Racecourse Hill became notable for horses bred at the homestead stables from the 1920s by Harry A. Knight, of which Ballymena and Limerick were the most successful.
Date Established1852Image
Racecourse Hill . Selwyn Stories, accessed 17/04/2026, https://selwynstories.selwynlibraries.co.nz/nodes/view/6666
