StateLibQld 1 291059 Scene at Eagle Farm racecourse, Brisbane, 1900

StateLibQld 1 112128 Grandstand at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Brisbane, ca

Eagle Farm Racecourse is a

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many i ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

venue in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Queensland, Australia. It is located at the northern end of

Racecourse Road Racecourse Road is a road in the suburb of Hamilton in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is a dining, shopping and entertainment precinct in Brisbane, that connects Kingsford Smith Drive and the Eagle Farm Racecourse. Geography ...

in the suburb of Ascot, from the

Brisbane central business district Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD" or "the city". It is located on a point on the northern bank of the ...

. The turf track is wide, with a circumference of and a

home straight {{about, the element of a track, , Straight (disambiguation) In many forms of racing, a straight or stretch is a part of the race track in which the competitors travel in a straight line for any significant time, as opposed to a bend or curve. The ...

of . Races are run in a clockwise direction. Doomben Racecourse is located nearby in the same suburb.

History

The Eagle Farm Racecourse was established in 1863 and it is now the premier

racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

in Brisbane. In 1889–1890, the architecture partnership

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and Corrie and architect

John H. Buckeridge John H. Buckeridge (1857–1934) was an English-born Australian architect, who built about sixty churches in Queensland and is also remembered for remodelling the interior of the Macquarie era church of St James', King Street, Sydney. Life J ...

jointly designed the grandstands, known as the ''Paddock Stands''. They also designed stables and sheds. In 1941 the racecourse was taken over by the military authorities to house thousands of

American troops The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

during the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

. It was then known as U.S. Camp Ascot.

Heritage listing

A combined entry Eagle Farm Racecourse and Ascot Railway Station was listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. ...

in 2004.

Transport

Ascot railway station has direct access to the racecourse and is located on the Doomben line. The racecourse can also be accessed by bus and, from

Bretts Wharf Bretts Wharf is a ferry terminal on the northern bank of the Brisbane River in the suburb of Hamilton in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It serves patrons from nearby Racecourse Road and Portside Wharf, as well as visitors to Eagle ...

, by

CityCat RiverCity Ferries is a public transport company which commenced operating ferry services in Brisbane on 4 November 2020. It is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group. RiverCity Ferries operates 32 vessels serving 21 wharves on the Brisbane River u ...

Races

The following is a list of Group races which are run at Eagle Farm Racecourse:

References

External links

Brisbane Racing Club
{{Coord, -27.427738, 153.06736, type:landmark_region:AU_dim:4km, display=title Horse racing venues in Australia Sports venues in Brisbane 1863 establishments in Australia Queensland Heritage Register John H. Buckeridge buildings Leslie Corrie buildings Henry Hunter buildings Sports venues completed in 1863 Ascot, Queensland