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 Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under handicap conditions, although the Melbourne Racing Club is in the process of turning the race into weight for age (WFA) conditions. This is for all horses aged three years old and older. It takes place over a distance of 2400 metres at the Caulfield Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in mid October. The prize money is 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.
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.
Damien Oliver is an Australian 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.
Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing located in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse is Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club and known to many Sydney racegoers as headquarters. The racecourse is located about six kilometres south-east from the Sydney Central Business District in the suburb of Randwick. The course proper has a circumference of 2224m with a home straight of 410m.
Vain was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse that dominated Australian sprint racing in the period 1968–70, when he won 12 of the 14 races he contested and ran second in the other two. He went on to become a leading sire in Australia.
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.
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.
Ajax was a champion Australian bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, who won 18 consecutive races before he was defeated at the odds of 40/1 on, causing a huge racing sensation. He had wins from 5 furlongs (1,000 metres) to 1½ miles (2,400 metres), equalled the Australasian record for a mile (1,600 metres), and created three new race records. At stud in Australia, Ajax proved to be a good sire. He was then sold as a 14-year-old horse and exported to the United States before he was later sold to Bing Crosby and Lin Howard. Ajax was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.
Sandown Racecourse is a Thoroughbred horse racing race track administered by the Melbourne Racing Club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is situated 25 kilometres south-east of the Melbourne CBD on the Princes Highway in the suburb of Springvale in the City of Greater Dandenong.
The Peter Young Stakes, registered as the St George Stakes, is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race held under weight for age conditions over a distance of 1800 metres at Caulfield racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in late February. Total prize money is A$300,000.
The Herbert Power Stakes is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race held under quality handicap conditions, for horses aged three years old and older, over a distance of 2400 metres. It is held at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia. Prizemoney is A$300,000.
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.
Manitoba (1930-1951) was a British bred Thoroughbred racehorse that was a race winner in England before he was exported to Australia where he was a leading sire.
Eurythmic (1916–1925) was a versatile Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who had the ability to produce a brilliant finishing run in staying races and he also won important sprint races, too. At four he won 12 of his 13 starts including the Caulfield Cup and Sydney Cup. When Eurythmic finished racing he was the greatest stake-winner in Australia. He 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.
Hall Mark (1930−1953) was a versatile chestnut Thoroughbred stallion. He performed in Australia, trained by Australian Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jack Holt. He raced from a two-year-old to a five-year-old, recording 18 wins from 6 furlongs to 2 miles. Ridden mostly by champion jockeys Bill Duncan and Frank Dempsey. Hall Mark was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2019.
Winooka was a bay Australian thoroughbred stallion who raced for 5 seasons from a two-year-old to a six-year-old including America recording major wins from 6 furlongs to 1 mile and winning jockeys being Stan Davidson from Newcastle and Sydney Australian Racing Hall of Fame inductees Jim Pike and Edgar Britt.
