Williamstown Racecourse was a

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 ...

track located at

Altona, Victoria Altona is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Altona recorded a population of 11,490 at the . Altona is a large suburb c ...

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 ...

. Located south of

Kororoit Creek The Kororoit Creek is a perennial stream, watercourse of the Port Phillip catchment, rising in the outer north western suburbs of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Location and features The Kororoit Creek r ...

, the racecourse was opened in 1869, following the establishment of the Williamstown Racing Club the previous year. In 1885, the

Williamstown Racecourse railway station Williamstown Racecourse is a demolished station on the former Altona railway line, now part of the Werribee railway line in Melbourne, Australia. It was located in the suburb of Altona, immediately south of the Kororoit Creek Road level cross ...

was opened as the terminus of a branch line from the main Geelong line, providing passenger services on race days. In 1931,

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 ...

won the

Underwood Stakes The Underwood Stakes is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race, run over 1800 metres under weight-for-age conditions, held at Caulfield Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in late September each year. Total prize money for the ra ...

at the venue. The last recorded horse race at Williamstown was on 10 February 1940, after which the army commandeered the racecourse for the remainder of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1947, fire destroyed both the public and members grandstands. The following year, the Williamstown Racing Club was forced to merge with the Victorian Trotting & Racing Association to form the new

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 ...

. In 1949 Williamstown Racecourse was sold for “surplus building materials” and became home to displaced World War II veterans. A 4-metre sculpture called Requiem for a Champion, created by the artist Yvonne George, featuring a bronze

stint A stint is one of several very small waders in the paraphyletic ''"Calidris"'' assemblage – often separated in ''Erolia'' – which in North America are known as peeps. They are scolopacid waders much similar in ecomorphology to the ...

perched on top of a galloping horse, was installed to commemorate the location of the former Williamstown racecourse.

References

{{MelbourneRacing Sports venues in Victoria (state) 1869 establishments in Australia Defunct horse racing venues in Australia