The Spring Racing Carnival is the name of an Australian Thoroughbred horse racing series held annually in Melbourne during October and November.
Although racing in Australia is held every day except Good Friday and Christmas Day, the Group One races in Melbourne are held almost exclusively throughout the carnival, which is traditionally placed between the football and cricket seasons. During the winter (where football is dominant), and summer (where cricket is dominant), racing takes a 'back seat' position in relation to the cricket or football in terms of media coverage and attendances. However, in spring and autumn, the mass media turns its attention to the racing. There is also an Autumn Racing Carnival, a time where Group One races are also held.
The Spring Racing Carnival is a major contributor to the Victorian economy. According to a study conducted by market research company IER, the 2022 Spring Racing Carnival was estimated to have delivered $422.1 million in gross economic benefit to Victoria in 2022, with the Spring Racing Carnival contributing more than $3.6 billion in gross economic benefit to Victoria in the past decade, almost $1 billion more than the Australian Open tennis reported for the same period. [1] [2] [3]
The 2017 Spring Racing Carnival injected $444.5 million into the Victorian economy, and created jobs for more than 20,000 staff and contractors, in addition to providing boosts to the retail and hospitality sectors. [4]
The 2018 Spring Racing Carnival provided an economic return to the state of $447.6 million, with the event also directly employing more than 21,000 staff and contractors who worked for more than 800 companies in the lead-up and during the event. [5]
The 2019 Spring Racing Carnival has been credited with injecting US$196.2 million directly into the Victorian economy; when considering total spending by all attendees at the Spring Racing Carnival, the event generated a gross economic benefit of US$521.8 million. [6]
Year | Derby Day | Melbourne Cup | Oaks | Stakes | Melbourne Cup Carnival Total | Caulfield Cup [8] | Cox Plate [9] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 | 81,612 [10] | 91,168 [11] | 50,873 [12] | 62,022 | 285,675 [13] | 25,676 | |
2023 | 73,056 | 84,492 | 46,596 | 58,021 | 262,165 | 25,121 | 21,021 |
2022 | 71,327 | 73,816 | 45,046 | 54,019 | 244,208 | 24,289 | 19,000 |
2021 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 0 | 0 |
2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | 80,214 | 81,408 | 57,296 | 57,268 | 276,186 | 28,000 | 24,648 |
2018 | 91,194 | 83,471 | 61,355 | 67,567 | 303,587 | 30,000 | 38,035 |
2017 | 87,526 | 90,536 | 63,673 | 68,873 | 310,608 | 30,000 | 32,617 |
2016 | 90,136 | 97,479 | 60,888 | 70,351 | 318,854 | 26,000 | |
2015 | 85,943 | 101,015 | 57,560 | 68,711 | 313,229 | 30,000 | 27,620 |
2014 | 90,244 | 100,794 | 64,430 | 70,051 | 325,519 | 32,000 | 28,216 |
2013 | 95,223 | 104,169 | 66,757 | 65,047 | 331,196 | 33,056 | 30,986 |
2012 | 98,823 | 106,162 | 71,825 | 74,546 | 351,356 | 35,500 | |
2011 | 92,336 | 105,979 | 71,659 | 85,112 | 355,086 | 30,097 | 30,000 |
2010 | 90,361 | 110,223 | 75,088 | 77,506 | 353,178 | 23,697 | 31,546 |
2009 | 108,178 | 102,161 | 80,112 | 78,478 | 368,929 | 43,210 | 31,000 |
2008 | 117,776 | 107,280 | 89,338 | 81,652 | 396,046 | 51,328 | 34,000 |
2007 | 115,705 | 102,411 | 95,230 | 84,067 | 397,413 | 48,529 | 34,561 |
2006 | 129,089 | 106,691 | 104,131 | 78,158 | 418,069 [14] | 47,551 [15] | 34,256 [16] |
2005 | 115,660 | 106,479 | 100,263 | 61,382 | 383,784 | 52,000 | 44,189 [17] |
2004 | 115,542 | 98,161 | 110,677 | 45,734 | 370,114 | 51,015 | 32,187 |
2003 | 97,059 | 122,736 | 101,179 | 55,793 | 376,767 | 46,873 | 30,109 |
2002 | 101,898 | 102,533 | 103,269 | 47,593 | 355,293 | ||
2001 | 93,029 | 92,477 | 101,201 | 42,760 | 329,467 | ||
2000 | 92,581 | 121,015 | 96,406 | 42,311 | 352,313 | ||
1999 | 76,514 | 104,028 | 83,870 | 31,728 | 296,140 | ||
1998 | 75,805 | 100,607 | 77,301 | 31,249 | 284,962 | ||
1997 | 64,528 | 94,143 | 75,482 | 26,357 | 260,510 | ||
1996 | 64,099 | 90,149 | 67,086 | 25,736 | 247,070 | ||
1995 | 60,404 | 74,843 | 62,388 | 25,318 | 222,953 | ||
1994 | 54,467 | 81,650 | 50,176 | 22,624 | 208,917 | ||
1993 | 49,029 | 74,766 | 46,744 | 22,162 | 192,701 | ||
1992 | 45,729 | 86,206 | 50,925 | 21,495 | 204,355 | ||
1991 | 46,781 | 94,632 | 54,023 | 22,587 | 218,023 | ||
1990 | 47,497 | 92,536 | 50,196 | 21,414 | 211,643 | ||
1989 | 47,226 | 96,722 | 51,673 | 23,712 | 219,333 | ||
1988 | 44,848 | 93,440 | 48,490 | 23,341 | 210,119 | ||
1987 | 41,878 | 81,012 | 45,329 | 22,196 | 190,415 | ||
1986 | 42,824 | 87,129 | 42,649 | 21,051 | 193,653 | ||
1985 | 40,522 | 79,126 | 39,051 | 18,675 | 177,374 | ||
1984 | 39,771 | 82,740 | 40,812 | 19,739 | 183,062 | ||
1983 | 40,017 | 80,776 | 38,633 | 22,162 | 181,588 | ||
1982 | 42,519 | 91,152 | 37,028 | 19,725 | 190,424 | ||
1981 | 39,729 | 87,641 | 37,353 | 24,378 | 189,101 | ||
1980 | 38,032 | 101,261 | 37,098 | 25,262 | 201,653 |
The carnival, and particularly the Melbourne Cup attracts the interest of many people otherwise uninterested in horse racing, and special forms of very low-stake gambling are often used for this event. One common form for groups such as office staff is the "sweep", where each participant adds a small fee to a "pot" and draws the name of a horse like a raffle. Prize money is distributed to the person who draws the winning horse (occasionally smaller prizes are awarded to placegetters and the last-placing horse). A more complex and high-stakes form of the sweep is the "Calcutta", often held as a fundraising event for community organisations, which begins as in the sweep (though usually with a much higher initial stake), but which allows ticket holders to trade their tickets through an auction system.
For the fashion part of the Spring Racing Carnival many special guests over the years have come to the races. Paris Hilton, Nicky Hilton, Carson Kressley, Eva Longoria, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Naomi Campbell, Nicole Kidman, Gigi Hadid and Hilary Swank.
The Spring Racing Carnival is made up of meetings held by the metropolitan clubs, where Group One races take place, and also at Geelong and Bendigo. With numerous group races during August and September at metropolitan tracks Flemington, Caulfield and Moonee Valley, the Spring Racing Carnival officially starts on the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes Day at Flemington, one week after the AFL Grand Final. The Spring Racing Carnival officially ends on the final day of the carnival at Sandown in mid-November.
The Melbourne Racing Club holds three race meetings at Caulfield Racecourse, each with major Group one races.
The Geelong Racing Club hosts its Group 3 Geelong Cup at the Geelong Racecourse on the Wednesday between the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate. The meeting also has a couple of Listed races, The 3YO Geelong Classic and The Rosemont Stud Stakes. The day is a public holiday in Geelong's metropolitan area.
The Moonee Valley Racing Club holds a two-day carnival at the Moonee Valley Racecourse. The Manikato Stakes is held on the Friday night following the Caulfield Cup. The club's highlight is the Weight for Age Cox Plate race held on the next day with a host of other Group races including the Moonee Valley Gold Cup, Crystal Mile and Moonee Valley Vase.
The Bendigo Jockey Club hosts its Group 3 Bendigo Cup on the Wednesday between the Cox Plate and the VRC Derby Day.
The Victoria Racing Club's meetings attract the most attention from the media and the wider community.
The Melbourne Racing Club holds the last official meeting of the Spring Racing Carnival at Sandown Racecourse. This day includes the Group 2 Sandown Guineas and the Group 2 Zipping Classic and occurs in mid November, one week after Mackinnon Stakes day.
The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. It is the richest two-mile handicap in the world and one of the richest turf races. The event starts at 3:00 pm on the first Tuesday of November and is known locally as "the race that stops the nation".
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, which was first contested in 1861.
Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, 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 area was first used for horse racing in March 1840.
Thoroughbred horse racing is a spectator sport in Australia, and gambling on horse races is a very popular pastime with A$14.3 billion wagered in 2009/10 with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). The two forms of Thoroughbred horseracing in Australia are flat racing, and races over fences or hurdles in Victoria and South Australia. Thoroughbred racing is the third most attended spectator sport in Australia, behind Australian rules football and rugby league, with almost two million admissions to 360 registered racecourses throughout Australia in 2009/10. Horseracing commenced soon after European settlement, and is now well-appointed with automatic totalizators, starting gates and photo finish cameras on nearly all Australian racecourses.
The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres, that is held by the Moonee Valley Racing Club at Moonee Valley Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in late October. The race has a purse of A$5,000,000.
Caulfield Racecourse is one of Melbourne, Australia's best-known horse-racing tracks. Commonly known as "The Heath" by local racegoers, It is home to the Melbourne Racing Club.
Makybe Diva is a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who is the only horse to win three Melbourne Cups and the only mare to win it more than once. She achieved the feat in 2003, 2004, and 2005. She also won the 2005 Cox Plate. She was the highest stakes-earner in Australian history, winning more than A$14 million.
Damien Oliver is an Australian retired thoroughbred racing jockey. Oliver comes from a racing family; his father Ray Oliver had a successful career until his death in a race fall during the 1975 Kalgoorlie Cup in Western Australia. In 2008, Oliver was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. In August 2023 he announced that he would retire at the end of that year's spring carnival.
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 E.C. Moore as the club's first Secretary. The first VATC race meeting was held at Dowling Forest Racecourse in Ballarat, on Friday, 24 March 1876. Within six months, the VATC was granted use of Crown land at Caulfield as a permanent home in Melbourne.
Manikato (1975–1984) was a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse of the late 1970s and early 1980s. He established new track records in three races and was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. Manikato was the second Australian horse, after Kingston Town, to win $1 million in stakes, and, by today's standards, won 20 races which are currently (2012) classed as Group One (G1) races.
Rising Fast was a champion New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who is the only horse to complete the Spring Grand Slam, winning the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, and Cox Plate in 1954. He also won the 1955 Caulfield Cup and came second in the 1955 Melbourne Cup.
The VRC Champions Stakes, registered as the LKS Mackinnon Stakes, is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run under Weight for Age conditions over a distance of 2000 metres at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia on the last day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, the Saturday after the Melbourne Cup. Total prize money is A$3,000,000.
The VRC Stakes day, is the final day of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival at Flemington Racecourse. Stakes Day is held on the Saturday directly following Melbourne Cup Day. The 'Stakes' were first run in 1881 as the Coburg Stakes. In 2016 the LKS Mackinnon Stakes was moved from the VRC Victoria Derby day and renamed to the Emirate Stakes. The original "Stakes" were in turn moved to the first day of the carnival and renamed as the Longines Mile.
Poseidon was an Australian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. He won 19 races over distances ranging from five furlongs to three miles. Sixteen of these wins were "Principal Races", eight of them now of Group 1 (G1) status.
The Queen Elizabeth Stakes, first known as Queen's Plate (1854-1872), and then by various other names at different times in its history, is an Australian horse race run in Melbourne, Victoria.
Tranquil Star was one of the hardiest and best performed Australian-bred Thoroughbred race-mares. She is the only mare to have won the double of the Caulfield Stakes, now known as the Yalumba Stakes, and the Cox Plate, which is the most prestigious weight-for-age (wfa) race in Australia. Tranquil Star had 111 starts and won over distances ranging from 5 furlongs to 14 furlongs. She was later inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.
Merman (1892–1914) was a Thoroughbred racehorse, one of the finest racehorses in Colonial Australian racing history that raced in Europe. He won at distances from 5 furlongs to 21⁄2 miles. In 2016 Merman was inducted to the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.
Suavito is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse formally trained by Nigel Blackiston at Flemington Racecourse. She was bred in New Zealand by IDL Racing Ltd, and was raced throughout her entire career in Australia. She was a multiple group winner and won over $1,000,000 in prize money.
Ultra Thoroughbred Racing Pty Ltd are breeders of thoroughbred racehorses based in Melbourne, Australia. The company is owned by Sean Buckley, with land holdings in Victoria and the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. The business has racing interests primarily in Australia and New Zealand.
Ron Hutchinson is a retired Australian jockey, who won over 1000 races in Europe. In a 37-year racing career, he was successful across three continents.