Sandown Racecourse (also known as Ladbrokes Park due to naming rights) is a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

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 ...

race track administered by the

Melbourne Racing Club The Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) is one of three metropolitan horse racing clubs in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It began life as the Victoria Amateur Turf Club, in 1875 with Mr. E.C. Moore as the club's first Secretary. The Dowling Forest Racec ...

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 situated 25 kilometres south-east of the Melbourne CBD on the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

in the suburb of Springvale in the

City of Greater Dandenong The City of Greater Dandenong is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of just under 130 square kilometres (50 sq mi) and 166,094 residents in 2018. 29% of its land area forms par ...

History

Built for the Victoria Amateur Turf Club, Sandown is the only metropolitan racecourse built in the 20th century and was opened before a crowd of 52,000, in June 1965. The original course was a turfed oval shape, 1892 metres in circumference and 30 metres wide, with sweeping cambered turns and an uphill

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 407 metres. With the increase in the number of overseas horses being attracted to the

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 ...

Quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

Centre was established at Sandown Racecourse and used for the first time in 1997. The Sandown Racecourse also features a motor racing circuit on the outside of the racecourse, referred to as

Sandown Raceway Sandown International Raceway is a motor racing circuit in the suburb of Springvale in Melbourne, Victoria, approximately south east of the city centre. Sandown is considered a power circuit with its " drag strip" front and back straights be ...

. A

Greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

facility also called Sandown Park is just to the south-west on the opposite side of Lightwood Road.

Redevelopment

In October 2001, the

commenced the redevelopment of Sandown Racecourse. This consisted of an additional 30 metre wide home turn and widening of the main straight from 30 to 45 metres, and widening of the turn out of the straight from 30 to 45 metres. This created two turf tracks. The course using the outer home turn and outside 30 metres in the main straight was named Sandown Hillside, and the course comprising the reconfigured inner home turn and full 45 metres wide straight was named Sandown Lakeside. The Lakeside course has a circumference of 1857 metres and a home straight of 407 metres and the Hillside course is 2087 metres in circumference with a home straight of 491 metres. Racing on the reconfigured tracks commenced on 25 January 2003 with the number of meetings hosted at Sandown being increased from 32 to 41 per season. The

traditionally closes with the Sandown Carnival, one week after the final day of the Flemington carnival, and features the

Sandown Guineas The Sandown Guineas is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race for three year olds at set weights run over a distance of 1600 metres at Sandown Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in mid November. Prize money is A$300,000. History T ...

and

Zipping Classic The Zipping Classic, is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race held under weight for age conditions over a distance of 2400 metres run at Sandown Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in mid November. Prize money is A$750,000. Hi ...

in November each year. In 2008 the MRC changed the name to Sportingbet Park. In 2015 the track was again renamed to William Hill Park and in 2016 it was changed to Ladbrokes Park.

Transport

The racecourse can be reached directly by

suburban rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

in 40 minutes from Melbourne's central

Flinders Street station Flinders Street railway station is a train station located on the corner of Flinders Street, Melbourne, Flinders and Swanston Street, Swanston streets in the Melbourne city centre, central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria (Austral ...

, via Sandown Park railway station on the Pakenham/

Cranbourne railway line The Cranbourne line is a commuter rail service operated by Metro Trains Melbourne in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates along the inner section of the former South Gippsland line. The service is part of ...

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 Ladbrokes Park.

References

{{coord, display=title, -37.952523, 145.166817, type:landmark_region:AU Horse racing venues in Australia Sports venues in Melbourne Sports venues completed in 1965 Sport in the City of Greater Dandenong Buildings and structures in the City of Greater Dandenong