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The Melbourne Cup is Australia's most famous annual Thoroughbred horse race. 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 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 an important 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.
The Spring Racing Carnival is the name of an Australian Thoroughbred horse racing series held annually in Melbourne during October and November.
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 LKS Mackinnon Stakes, raced as the Paramount+ 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$2,000,000.
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 Melbourne, Australia scheduled annually on the first day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival. Total prize money for the race is A$2,000,000.
The VRC Sprint Classic, registered as the Victoria Racing Club Stakes, is a Victoria Racing Club Group One Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over, under weight for age conditions, over a distance of 1200 metres held at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia on the last day of the VRC Spring Carnival. Total prize money for the race is A$2,000,000.
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 Cantala Stakes, raced as the Kennedy Cantala Stakes, is a registered Victoria Racing Club Group 1 quality handicap Thoroughbred horse race run over 1,600 metres at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia on AAMI Victoria Derby Day during the Melbourne Cup Carnival. Total prize money is A$2,000,000
The Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a registered Victoria Racing Club Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over, under quality handicap conditions, over a distance of 2600 metres at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia on the last day of the VRC Spring Carnival in early November. Total prize money is A$300,000.
The Coolmore Stud Stakes, registered as the Ascot Vale Stakes, is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, at set weights, run over 1200 metres at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia on Victoria Derby Day. Total prize money is A$1,500,000.
The Linlithgow Stakes, is a registered Victoria Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred open handicap horse race raced as The TAB Stakes (2018), over a distance of 1200 metres held annually at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne during the VRC Spring Racing Carnival. Total prize money for the race is A$300,000.
The Danehill Stakes is a Victoria Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race held at set weights conditions, with penalties, for horses aged three years old over a distance of 1100 metres. It is held annually at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in October. Total prizemoney for the race is A$300,000.
The Chatham Stakes is a registered Victoria Racing Club Group 3 Thoroughbred open handicap horse race raced as the Paramount+ Chatham Stakes, over a distance of 1400 metres held annually at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia during the VRC Spring Racing Carnival. Total prize money for the race is A$200,000 and $1,500 trophy.
The Ottawa Stakes, is a Victoria Racing Club Group 3 Australian Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old fillies, run at set weights, over a distance of 1,000 metres at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in November during the VRC Spring Racing Carnival on Melbourne Cup day. Total prizemoney is A$200,000.
The Begonia Belle Stakes, raced as Furphy Sprint (2019) is a registered Victoria Racing Club Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race for mares aged four years old and upwards, run at set weights with penalties, over a distance of 1100 metres, held annually at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in November during the VRC Spring Carnival on Victoria Derby Day. Total prize money for the race is A$200,000.
References
- ↑ "Significant changes to the Melbourne Cup Carnival". Just Horse Racing Australia. 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.