Historical Facts about Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival

One of the fastest-growing sports in Australia is thoroughbred horse racing. It even comes close to some of the top-ranking sports like Australian Football and Rugby League. Over the years, the sport has grown to become a leading entertainment source for a growing audience in the country. Horse racing fans come from all sports divides, such as basketball and rugby enthusiasts. Horse racing generates millions of dollars for both punters and bookmakers.

The history of horse racing began when the first horse – Lady Penrhyn – arrived in January 1788. The horse was in the company of other horses in the First Fleet, which contained four manes, a yearling, a filly, and a stallion. Records show that the heap originated from Cape Town, South Africa. Thereafter, there was an increase in the number of horses entering the country in the century. By the year 1810, there were over 203 horses in New South Wales.

The emergence of Horse Racing as a Sport

Horse racing became a popular sporting activity in the country, although more needed to be done to make the sport accessible to everyone. One of the things that prohibited most people from engaging in it was that it was expensive. The other thing was a scarcity of horses to meet the needs of the targeted audience. As the populace continued to gain interest in the sport, there was a need to take it to other parts of the country apart from Sydney. The impact of the diversified relocation was felt as every town had a racer club such as the Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne, which had its first horse race in 1859.

Races at the Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival

The carnival is normally held every year in February and March at Moonee Valley, Caulfield, and Flemington racecourses in Melbourne. Three race clubs prominently feature in the carnival; Moonee Valley Racing Club, Melbourne Racing Club, and the Victoria Racing Club.

Although the Melbourne autumn carnival does not rank as high as the spring extravaganza, it has some interesting Group 1 races. Some of the races include the Global Sprint Challenge’s first leg with $750,000 Lightning Stakes held in February at Flemington.

The Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) hosts its main race in February with the Group 1, Blue Diamond Stakes, worth $900,000 in prize money for two-year-old gallops. The horses have to cover a sprint distance of 1200m. Geldings and colts in the race should carry 55.5kg in weight, while fillies carry 53kg. Other than the prize money, the winner also receives a $15,000 trophy.

Special Events

There is a special race day that is held in March called “Super Saturday”. The Super Saturday is one of the main race’s days at the Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival. There is a total of two race groups that will be featured on this day. The two race groups are Newmarket Handicap and The Australia Cup. The Newmarket Handicap is a 1200m event and is worth $1.25 million dollars. The Australia Cup is a 200m and over the event and is worth $1.5 million.

Watch Online

If you have internet access you can enjoy the Melbourne Autumn Racing events in the comfort of your own home. Live horse racing can be viewed from different betting sites. Two sites that are highly recommended are bet365 and Sportsbet. Go to horse racing live streaming hub for more information. Also, you can also live stream on your mobile device.

The Future of Horse Racing

The advancement of thoroughbred horse racing has continued over the years to one of the most thrilling sporting activities in the country. Nonetheless, you need to have an eye for details if you are to win big from it. Radical changes have been witnessed in areas such as funding. Moves are underway to merge racing clubs to function under a single body.

As such funding of the races is slowly moving to the administration of racing clubs from government support. This has seen a rise in the number of race meetings in the country.