Horse Racing in Australia
Horse racing is such a huge event in Australia that some of their race events can actually put the whole nation to a stop. Attending horse race events, as well as placing wagers on them, is an Australian tradition and people have been doing this ever since horse racing reached the shores of this great nation.
From 2009 to 2010, the amount of money placed with
bookmakers on the races went up to A$14.3 billion, proving that most of the people in Australia take their horse races seriously. There are even horse race events that are prioritised first before other popular sporting events such as rugby and football. In Australia, there are two kinds of thoroughbred horse racing: flat racing and horse racing over hurdles and fences. The latter kind of races are usually held in Victoria and South Australia.
Back then, punting on horse races were limited to placing bets at the racecourse, but with the advent of the internet scores of online bookmakers have emerged and any punter from any place in Australia or in the world could place bets on any of the horse races in the Land Down Under.
Australia holds a lot of horse races but there are a few that are deemed to be the most important of all the races throughout the year. The most important horse race events in Australia are the
Melbourne Cup, the Victoria Derby and the Crown Oaks (formerly known as VRC Oaks) race meets. These three race events command the highest attendees during race time and they often garner the highest amount of wagers among all the race events in Australia.
Melbourne Cup
This race event is Australia's most important thoroughbred horse race. Most Aussie's deem this event as “the race that stops a nation” and there are even times when important issues or decisions involving the whole nation are announced on this day, such as the announcement on the changing of the official cash rate by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Melbourne Cup's race event is a 3,200 meter sprint for three-year-old horses and over. This race is considered to be the richest “two-mile” handicap in the whole world and it is also one of the richest turf race events. In 2011, the Melbourne Cup had a prize money of A$6,175,000 and trophies worth about $125,000. The Victoria Racing Club manages the Melbourne Cup and the race is held in the Flemington Racecourse where racing starts at 3pm (daylight saving time) every first Tuesday in the month of November.
Melbourne Cup started in 1861 and back then the race was over two miles, but when Australia adopted the metric system during the 1970s the distance of this race was changed to 3,200 meters. The current record holder of the Melbourne Cup is Kingston Rule who won it in 1990 with a time of 3 minutes and 16.3 seconds.
Victoria Derby
This race event is also an important event in Australia and it is held yearly on the first day of the Spring Racing Carnival of Melbourne. The Victorian Derby Day is held in the Flemington Racecourse, also in Melbourne, and it is a Group One race reserved for three-year-old horses. The race is done on a left-handed turf course with a distance of 2,500 meters. The Victorian Derby also serves as the start of the Melbourne Cup Week since the Victorian Derby Day is held on a Saturday before Melbourne Cup Day. Winners of this race event could take home a whopping A$1,500,000 and trophies worth about $10,000.
Earlier races of the Victorian Derby covered a distance of 1½ miles, but in 1972 it was adjusted to 2,400 meters when Australia adopted the metric system. However, changes in the distance resulted in potential risks to the horses due to it having too short a run from the beginning up to the first bend and because of this the distance was adjusted again in 1973 to 2,500 meters, which has been the distance of the Victorian Derby up to this day.
Crown Oaks or VRC Oaks Race Meet
This race event is held on the third day of the Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne and the races are done at the Flemington Racecourse. The Crown Oaks is held on the Thursday after the Melbourne Cup Day and the first race was held in 1861.
Even though this horse racing event is held on a work day many people still come to the racecourse to watch the races or place their bets. About 70,000 punters come to the Flemington Racecourse for the Crown Oaks every year. This race event is a Group One for three-year-old fillies and the distance of the race is over 2,500 meters.
