Top Australian Horse Racing Tracks

Australian horse racing is one of the largest racing communities in the world and as such can be overwhelming to navigate and keep track of the most premium races and where they are taking place. Only racing covers all the top racing tracks in Australia as well as their listed races so that you are always on top of your horse racing bets. 

Queensland’s fore frontal racecourses are largely thought to be Doomben and Eagle Farm. Their biggest races are the group 1’s of the Doomben cup / Doomben 10,000 and for Eagle Farm the Stradbroke Handicap. All these take place during Brisbane’s autumn carnival. 

As for New South Wales, the prominent race tracks are Randwick racecourse, Warwick Farm and Canterbury. However, Royal Randwick is the outstanding force in NSW and Australian racing, host to some of the biggest races in the world and home to some of the best horses in the southern hemisphere. The most prominent races at the track would be the lucrative TAB Everest and the Golden Slipper.

Victorian Horse racing is the joint leader in the country’s racing scene with Caulfield, Flemington and Sandown park being the major Victorian horse racing tracks. At Caulfield the biggest race is the long-distance group 1 Caulfield cup, one of the major listed races in the country. However, the most weighty and largest race in the country is home to Flemington, being the Melbourne Cup, where some of the best long distance horses race every November.

Address: Gate 22 Station St, Caulfield East VIC 3145

Caulfield Racecourse is located in Melbourne’s south-east just 9km from the capital and is operated by the Melbourne Racing Club. Caulfield is one of Australia’s most famous tracks able to hold a crowd of 50,000+. It is the host of the major listed race ‘The Caulfield Cup’ where the best long-distance runners in the country go head to head for a portion of the $5 million prize money.

Prominent races:

• Group 1 Caulfield Guineas 1600m $3,000,000 3YO
  The Group 1 Caulfield Guineas is a 1600m race with $3,000,000 prize money for three-year-olds that marks the beginning of the spring carnival, it is accompanied on race day by the Caulfield stakes and Toorak Handicap, both of which are $1,000,000 prize money Group 1 races.
• Group 1 Caulfield Cup 2400m $5,000,000 HCP
  The largest event at Caulfield racecourse in the Melbourne spring racing calendar is none other than the Group 1 Caulfield Cup, ran over 2400 metres, pitting the best long-distance runners against each other in a bid for a share of the $5,000,000 prize money. It is on the final day of the Caulfield spring carnival in early October.

Address: 591-659 Princes Hwy, Springvale VIC 3171

Sandown Racecourse, colloquially known as “Ladbrokes Park” is one of Melbourne’s primary three racecourses in the south-east of Melbourne city centre. It is primarily used for metro grade racing which occurs midweek. In addition to the racecourse, Sandown racecourse features a car racetrack on the outside of the horse racing course as well as the nearby Sandown park, a greyhound racing track.

Prominent races:

• Group 2 Zipping Classic 2400m $750,000 WFA
  The zipping classic is held each November, it is a listed group 1 race that has a total prize pool of $750,000 and features the fastest long distance runners in the country over 2400 metres. It is accompanied on race day by the prestigious group 2 Sandown Guineas for three-year-olds.
• Group 1 Underwood Stakes 1800m $1,000,000 WFA
  The next most prominent meeting in regards to Sandown racing is the Underwood stakes. Held on the final Sunday of each September, this meeting was formerly run at Caulfield but the mid-distance weight-for-age race has now become a central attraction race at its new home. It features some of the better mid distance horses in the country over 1800 metres as they contest for a share of the $1,000,000 prize pool.

Address: 448 Epsom Rd, Flemington VIC 3031

Flemington racecourse is the premier race track in Victoria, it is the longstanding connotation when speaking of Victoria’s racing scene. It has been hosting racing since the 1860s making it the oldest standing course in the country. It is part of the four metropolitan tracks that compose Melbourne’s famous Racing carnivals. It is responsible for several the most important races in the country, the most prominent of which is the Melbourne Cup, being the biggest race in Australia for long distance horses and one of the biggest in the world.

Prominent races:

• Group 1 All-Star Mile $5,000,000 Public-vote-for-entry WFA
  The recent yet prestigious All-Star Mile race is held during the Melbourne Spring racing carnival where the top mid-distance runners in Melbourne and the rest of the country are pitted against each other for a share of $5 million in prize money over 1600 metres. 
• Group 1 Victoria Derby 2500m $2,000,000 3YO
• Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes 1200m $2,000,000 3YO
  Victorian Derby day is arguably one of the most exciting and high level race days in the calendar racing year in Australia. Its core features are the two group 1 races both with prize money of $2 million. The first of which is the Victoria Derby, where racing fans get to witness the best three-year-olds compete in a long-distance trot. 
  The Coolmore Stud Stakes is the second of which, where fans watch the best young sprinters perform over the 1200 metre on the Flemington straight.
• Group 1 Melbourne Cup 3200m $7,750,000 HCP
  The Melbourne cup, a meeting that all racing fans eagerly anticipate year-round, is held on the first Tuesday of November each year. It is a historic race, dating back to 1861, as 24 of the best long-distance runners in the world compete for a share of the world’s richest handicap race, standing at a total prize pool of $7.75 million.

Address: 230 Lancaster Rd, Ascot QLD 4007

Eagle farm racecourse is Brisbane’s city racecourse, located just under 8 km's from the CBF it is one of the largest and most beautiful tracks in the country. As such, its status parallels this as it hosts some of the biggest Australian group 1 races on the Calendar. Its infield consists of 400 stables and training facilities, the largest viewing screen in the southern hemisphere, pedestrian tunnels, and a multi-purpose entry pavilion. There is also an on-course swimming pool for patrons as well as a plethora of other features.

Prominent races:

• Group 1 J J Atkins 1600m $1,000,000 SW
  The Group 1 JJ Atkins features the nation’s most promising juvenile horses in the final listed G1 race of the two-year-old season as they go head-to-head over the 1600 metre distance in contesting the $1 million prize money
• Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap 1400m $1,500,000 HCP
  The biggest race of the Queensland Winter carnival is the Stradbroke Handicap. It is run over 1400 metres at Eagle farm racecourse and attracts some of the best sprinters in the country. The total prize pool is $1.5 million with $900,000 going to the first-place runner.

Address: Alison Rd, Randwick NSW 2031

Randwick Racecourse is one of the leading courses in the country, being the largest turf racecourse in NSW. It has been a key part of NSW culture since its establishment in 1833, hosting some of the most historic and prestigious races in the country. These include the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the fourth richest race in the country and its recent crowning as the host for the TAB Everest, the richest turf race in the world with a purse of $14 million. It is safe to say that this is one of the most exciting racecourses in the country. 

Prominent Races:

• Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2000M $4,000,000 
  The Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a $4 million mid-long distance runner race that is the richest weight-for-age race in the world. It is held on championship day 2 of the Sydney Spring carnival in early April and also sees the support of the premier staying race for three-year-olds in Australia, the Australian oaks. This is a group 1 race over the 2400 metre distance that celebrates the growth of thoroughbred racing since its early imposition in Australia during the mid 1800s.
• The Everest 1200m $15,000,000 
  Tab Everest day is a unique and ever exciting race day in Australia, where the infant race is composed in the style of owners paying $600,000 for a spot in the sprint, whereby the fastest sprinters in the world go head to head, with owners picking their runner to line up in the 1200 metre weight-for-age race for three-year-olds in the richest race in the world, at a staggering $15 million total prize money.
• The Kosciuszko 1200m $1,300,000
  This day is further host to the elite Kosciuszko which follows a similar concept of entrance. It should be noted that neither Everest nor Kosciuszko are listed races, however the weight of these races in the Australian horse racing sphere is evidently clear.

Address: 79 Morphett Rd, Morphettville SA 5043

Morphetville racecourse, known as Allan Scott Park Morphetville held its first race meeting in 1875. It is a large track with a circumference of 2,339 metres with an impressive 334 metre straight. There is some bias on the track that is explored in our individual Top track pages. It plays host to 43 days of racing throughout the year and is further a multi-purpose venue, able to host events of all occasions weeklong. They are host to the prestigious morphettville spring racing carnival each year.

Prominent races:

• The Goodwood 1200m Group 1 $500,000 SW
  The Goodwood race day is a staple of the South-Australian Autumn carnival, a listed group 1 race run under set weights where the premium sprinters of the country face off for half a million dollars in prize money towards the end of spring. It is ran over a distance of 1200 metres
• The South Australian Derby 2500m Group 1 $500,000 SW
  The South Australian derby occurs just a week later, also a Group 1 race that is run under set weight conditions. This race sees some of the best long distance three-year-olds over the 2500 metres competing for their share of the half a million dollar prize. 

Address: 71 Grandstand Rd, Ascot WA 6104

Ascot racecourse was established in the early 1900s, with its first prominent rise under Sir Ernest Augustus Lee-Steere as Chairman of the WA racing club from 1919-1940. However, it was under his dual position as Lord Mayor of Perth that his impact on the course was cemented as under his watch Belmont park surface was re-laid, making it one of the world’s best wet weather tracks. 

The Ascot racecourse and Belmont Park racecourse together play host to a busy 130 meetings during the racing calendar year. However, Ascot functions beyond just a racecourse as it is a training facility for over 500 horses during an average week. It has demonstrated its facilitation of champions such as two-time Cox Plate winner Northerly and the Fighting Tiger, the latter of which has a statue in its honour at the course main lawns.

Prominent races:

• The Railway Stakes 1600m Group 1 $1,000,000 OH
  Ascot is host to a few prestigious group 1 races a year, the most prominent of which is the $1 million Railway Stakes. It marks the beginning of the Group 1 race season in WA as mid distance runners compete over the 1600 metre distance in a bid for the majority share of the prize money
• The Kingston Classic 1800m Group 1 $1,000,000 WFH
  The next most prominent race held at Ascot is the Early Summer december Group 1, The Kingston Town Classic. It is a staying race under weight-for-age conditions that is run over the 1800 metre and is also a $1 million race. A trend over the years is that horses often try to attain the Railway Stakes, Kingston Town Classic double as the races take place within a few weeks of each other. This makes for unrivalled exciting race viewing in the early Western Australian summer.