[1] Townsville was founded in 1864 by partners John Melton Black and Robert Towns as a port and commercial centre for the pastoral industry north of the Burdekin.

Dr Frost and Mr A.H. Rourke of the Townsville Turf Club proposed a change of site for the course so that advantage could be taken of this rail service.

Cluden Park had been established on the south side of Ross River in the early years of settlement and was about three miles from Townsville by rail.

In spite of reservations about the move from members and patrons, the vastly improved accessibility of the new course made it successful from the start.

The Annual Townsville Turf Club Race Meeting was scheduled for 14 July and the committee decided that it would attempt to rebuild the course in time for this.

The new facilities, especially the grandstand and the well-ventilated and commodious lunch room and bar underneath it were much appreciated by the public and highly praised in the press.

Even "Feminine" who provided social notes for the North Queensland Herald, commented approvingly on the wide aisles and more spacious seating, because "in this age of large sleeves and full skirts, we require rather more than elbow room"; an interesting comment in the light of the opinion of the racing press that levels of female attendance had a strong effect on the success or otherwise of a race meeting.

The system works on the principle of totalling the bets made on a particular race and then dividing this sum, less a percentage for the operator, amongst those selecting the winning horse in proportion to the amount of their wager.

In 1913 an Australian, George (later Sir) Julius, invented a fully automated system which was introduced at Randwick in September 1917 and was soon widely in use in Australia and overseas.

A lower tier of seating, which was not undercover, was originally at the front of the grandstand, but seems to have been removed at an early stage in favour of a sloping lawn.

[1] Major repairs were needed to the grandstand following Cyclone Leonta which struck Townsville with devastating effect in 1903 and a new members bar was added in 1923 by Charles Venden Rees.

[1] In spite of upgrades to facilities made over the years and repairs following at least two cyclones, the grandstand has retained its character and has a continuity of usage.

[1] The totalisator is a timber-framed building clad with weatherboard and fibro set behind and to one side of the grandstand and can be clearly recognised from early photographs.

[1] A wide verandah with a concave corrugated iron roof supported on timber posts surrounds the building and has been partially built in on two sides.

The outer side has the words "Townsville Turf Club" over the entrance and each ticket office has two grilled windows to the street and a door to the rear.

[1] The grandstand, former totalisator building and main entrance gates at Cluden Racecourse were listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.

The breeding, training and racing of horses has been important in Queensland as an industry in its own right and the quality of facilities on an early racecourse such as Cluden demonstrates this.

These buildings were designed by Walter Howard Tunbridge, one of North Queensland's most notable architects, and the aesthetic qualities of the grandstand in particular have been generally admired by the public.

The buildings, in spite of assaults by the cyclones which are part of the region's weather patterns, have survived in regular use on this important course for over a hundred years.