Globe Derby | |
 2007 Interdominion Championships at Globe Derby Park | |
| Location | 1 Globe Derby Drive, Globe Derby Park, South Australia 5110 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°47′41″S138°35′35″E / 34.79472°S 138.59306°E Coordinates: 34°47′41″S138°35′35″E / 34.79472°S 138.59306°E |
| Owner | Harness Racing SA |
| Operator | Harness Racing SA |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1968 |
| Opened | 24 June 1969 |
Globe Derby Park is a Standardbred harness racing venue in South Australia. It is located 15 kilometres north of the Adelaide CBD.
The first public meeting was held on the afternoon of 24 June 1969. Globe Derby Park was named after the stallion Globe Derby, who was considered the most influential Standardbred sire in Australian and New Zealand during the late 1960s. Harness racing in Adelaide was previously held at the 510-metre long Wayville Showground from 1934 until all Adelaide meetings moved to Globe Derby Park on 14 April 1973. This was necessary as unlike Wayville, Globe Derby did not have lights installed for night racing until that date. Since then, Globe Derby has hosted the Inter Dominion championship on five occasions – 1976, 1984, 1990, 1997, and 2007. [1]
The track has a crushed granite surface and is 845.50 metres in circumference, with the length of the straights being 150.90 metres. [2] Races are run in an anti-clockwise direction.
Race meetings are held at Globe Derby Park every Saturday night and Monday afternoon of the week, and Friday nights as well during winter. Races are held all year round. Major race events include the Summer Carnival being held in January, Ladies Night Out in March, the Media Cup Night every May, and the Trotters Carnival held every June. [1]
There are full TAB facilities and bookmakers on site. Meetings are broadcast on Radio TAB.
Other facilities include a large grassed area close to the action, trackside dining, and a bar. [3]
In 2014, plans were drawn up to develop a portion of the Globe Derby Park land alongside Port Wakefield Road. [4] In December 2017, the South Australian Harness Racing Club voted to sell off 70 per cent of Globe Derby Park to investment company GIC. This was a much larger land area than the initial plans in 2014 included, and it led to protests by some local residents. [5]
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been unchanged since at least classical antiquity.
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait. They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia and New Zealand, races with jockeys riding directly on saddled trotters are also conducted.
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Maori's Idol was an Australian Standardbred racehorse. He was the first Australian trotter to break two minutes with a time of 1:59.3 on 19 November 1977 at Moonee Valley. Maori's Idol became one of Australia's greatest trotters, with a record 24 successive race victories before placing third in the 1978 Melbourne Inter-Dominion Final. He is still the trotting record holder with 22 wins in a season. He was so superior to his rivals that he may have gone through his career unbeaten had he been placed to advantage by his connections.
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