Flemington Racecourse is a major
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 p ...
venue located in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It is most notable for hosting the
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...
, which is the world's richest handicap and the world's richest 3200-metre horse race. The racecourse is situated on low alluvial flats, next to the
Maribyrnong River
The Maribyrnong River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the northwestern suburbs of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria.
Course
The Maribyrnong River draws its headwaters from near ...
. The area was first used for horse racing in March 1840.
[
]
Overview
The Flemington Racecourse site comprises 1.27 square kilometres of Crown land
Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...
. The course was originally leased to the Victoria Turf Club in 1848, which merged with the Victoria Jockey Club in 1864 to form the Victoria Racing Club
The Victoria Racing Club was founded in 1864. It was formed following the disbanding of the Victoria Turf Club and the Victoria Jockey Club. A legacy passed from the Victoria Turf Club was the annual "race that stops a nation", the Melbourne Cup ...
. The first Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...
was run in 1861. In 1871 the Victoria Racing Club Act was passed, giving the VRC legal control over Flemington Racecourse.
The racecourse is pear-shaped, and boasts a six-furlong (1,200 m) straight known as 'the Straight Six.' The track has a circumference of and a final straight of for race distances over . Races are run in an anti-clockwise direction.
The course has a crowd capacity of over 120,000 and contains three grandstands. The biggest ever attendance was on Victoria Derby Day in 2006 when 129,069 people saw Efficient win the Victoria Derby
The Victoria Derby, also known as the Penfolds Victoria Derby, is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held under Set Weights conditions over a distance of 2,500 metres at Flemington Racecourse, in Melbourn ...
.[100,000 and more – but nobody's counting]
On 28 November, 1986, Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
celebrated the Mass on the racetrack inner oval. The racecourse has undergone a facelift in recent years, with the opening of a new $45 million grandstand in 2000 and the opening of a new members' grandstand in 2018. It also contains a bronze statue of the famous racehorse Phar Lap
Phar Lap (4 October 1926 – 5 April 1932) was a champion New Zealand–bred Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as New Zealand's greatest racehorse ever. Achieving incredible success during his distinguished career, his initial ...
, which was donated to the Club as part of Australia's bicentenary celebrations in 1988. Also in celebration was the commission of Harold Freedman
Harold Emanuel Freedman O.A.M. (21 May 1915 – 16 July 1999) was an artist from Victoria, Australia, renowned as an illustrator and lithographer, as an official war artist, and for his work in public murals.
Early life
Harold Freedman's ...
's seven panel mural which traces the History of Racing. The mural is housed is in The Hill Stand, built in 1977.
Flemington Racecourse was added to the Australian National Heritage List
The Australian National Heritage List or National Heritage List (NHL) is a heritage register, a list of national heritage places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia, established in 2003. The list includes natural and ...
on 7 November 2006, announced during the 2006 Melbourne Cup. The site is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register
The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. H ...
.[
]
Flemington Racecourse today hosts many of Australia's top races, including the Melbourne Cup, Victoria Derby, VRC Oaks, Mackinnon Stakes, Newmarket Handicap, Australian Cup and Lightning Stakes.
Transport
The site has its own railway branch line, which operates on race days, bringing visitors to the adjacent railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
. Originally, it was serviced by Salt Water River station, before that was demolished in the 1860s and replaced with a station on the present site. Trains depart from platforms 8 and 9 at Flinders Street Station.
The No. 57 tram from the City (Elizabeth and Flinders Streets) stops at the Epsom Road entrance.
Car spaces for the disabled are available and taxi ranks are located adjacent to the main entrances.
Shuttle buses run from Epsom Road to the main turnstiles of the racecourse.
Lift access is available in the Prince of Wales Stand and to the first floor of the Members Stand.
Races
The following is a list of Group races
Group races, also known as Pattern races, or Graded races in some jurisdictions, are the highest level of races in Thoroughbred horse racing. They include most of the world's iconic races, such as, in Europe, the Derby, Irish Derby and Prix de l'A ...
which are run at Flemington Racecourse. All races in metres.Australian Group races
Key
* hcp -
handicap
* qlty - quality handicap
* sw - set weights
* sw+p - set weights with penalties
* wfa -
Weight for Age
{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022
Weight for Age (WFA) is a term in thoroughbred horse racing which is one of the conditions for a race.
History
The principle of WFA was developed by Admiral Rous, a handicapper with the English Jockey Club. Rou ...
Gallery
See also
*
Australian horse-racing
*
Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival The Spring Racing Carnival is the name of an Australian Thoroughbred horse racing series held annually in Melbourne during October and November.
The Carnival and its status in the wider community
Although racing in Australia is held every day excep ...
References
External links
Victoria Racing Club - official website*
Horse racing results at Flemington Racecourse{{MelbourneRacing
1840 establishments in Australia
Australian National Heritage List
Horse racing venues in Australia
Sports venues in Melbourne
Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne
Tourist attractions in Melbourne
Sports venues completed in 1840
Flemington, Victoria
Sport in the City of Melbourne (LGA)
Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)