Although ostensibly a horse race meeting, Oakbank is an event in itself with carnival rides, picnics, and other activities.
Patrons travelled by train from Adelaide to nearby Balhannah railway station, 2 miles (3.2 km) from the course, from 1884.
When the Mount Pleasant railway line opened in 1918, a platform was constructed adjacent to the course, permitting special race trains to run direct to the course the following Easter.
[4] That would result in an election that the anti-jumps faction won, but the debate surrounding that vote spilled into more legal action.
[5] However, only a short time after, the South Australian Government stepped in and outlawed jump racing in the state.