History of the Goldfields Tattersalls Club

Tattersalls Clubs across the nation have been a traditional meeting place for horse racing enthusiasts throughout the 20th century. Alfred Levy, who was a prominent bookmaker in the early days of Goldfields racing, established the Goldfields Tattersalls Club around 1905. When he died, Alfred entrusted the club to the Goldfields people on the proviso that it always be used as a sportsmen’s club. The club was eventually purchased from the Levy estate in October 1970, however, the tradition that Alfred Levy envisaged continues to this day.

The Goldfields Tattersalls Club has had a very long association with the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Racing Club. In fact, it is a relationship formed over a hundred years ago and is never more evident than in the week of the annual Goldfields Racing Round. It is here that the Tatts Club as it is more widely known to locals, holds the long established ‘Calcutta Sweeps’, which today is amongst the biggest in Australia.

Originally from Calcutta (Kolkata today), India where this technique was first recorded by the Colonial British, the Calcutta is a unique type of raffle in that the total prize money paid out is invariably greater than the actual amount from ticket sales.  It is held on the eve of a feature horse racing event, most popularly The Hannans Handicap and the Kalgoorlie Cup and is a type of lottery with two distinct parts – the draw and the “auction”. Essentially, it is possible for a person to purchase just one ticket and by drawing the right horse, could win a substantial sum of money. Goldfields Tattersalls Club is the premier place for calcuttas during the Kalgoorlie Race Round.

The Tatts Club also sponsors The Tattersalls Club Cup, which is a $30,000 race, held in August of each year to specifically encourage local horses to partake with the winner an automatic entrant into the Kalgoorlie Cup.