There were motorcycle races well before Maitland's speedway began, started immediately after the motorcycles came out of the factories. So why do many, around the world, credit Maitland with starting motorcycle speedway?

In Maitland when speedway started, there was regularity to the racing. It was held every week on a regular basis each season, only postponing for wet weather or not scheduled because of public holidays.

The prize money was significant enough for a rider to live off his winnings. The sport in Maitland was organised and professional before it achieved these things elsewhere.

Maitland's race meeting on December 15, 1923 was a charity event to raise money for local orphanages. No officials or attendants were paid or fees collected.

The event was held under electric light as power had been connected to the showground in February of the same year. Motorcycle events were the stars of the program that night, but they shared the spotlight with other events.

It was a large program running late into the night. The Kurri Kurri Band attended and it was also the last appearance of Tom Hanley's buckjumpers. Billy cart races and wrestling on horseback featured, then came the sporting events: the 100 yard race, the high jump and the pole vaulting. These were followed by two trotting events all before the bikes hit the same track.

Then the moment many were waiting for - four heats of motorcycle racing.

The starter, big Jim Cameron, rammed a charge of powder and a wad of paper into his huge muzzle-loading starting gun. It was a two-mile handicap race of six riders, all tensed up and impatient to start.

"BANG!" went the gun and they were off.

When they got to the first corner they were nearly all off. The inside footrests dug into the green turf of the trotting track and over went the riders. The crowds gasped. But the riders remounted and carried on.

In the first heat were Charlie Datson, William (Bill) Crampton, H Phillips, B Russell, W Cogan and S Pinfold. Crampton finished first on a 31/2 horsepower Norton by 10 seconds from Datson on a Harley 7/9 horsepower bike. Datson was 45 seconds ahead of Pinfold, riding a 23/4 horsepower Douglas.

Heat 2 comprised P Webb, A Schaeffer, G Hughes, W Brown and P Wells. Heat 3 saw L Peterson, F Harwood, W Bell, M Spohr and L Upfold in action. The fourth heat was made up of W Thomas, J Phillips, H Slade, A Roper and W Hammond.

At the end of the meeting, the riders wheeled their mounts, if they were still wheelable, to the shelter of the cattle pens and horse boxes, too exhausted to care.

The Maitland Daily Mercury reported on the following Monday that the night was a big success although there were complaints of it running too late into the night.

The bikes never had to share the program again with other events, eliminating this problem.

Speedway racing had well and truly arrived on the Maitland scene. It was to run until March 29, 1952.