In Australia, horseracing is responsible for bringing in the most revenue from land-based and online betting practices. Horse racing takes place on a weekly basis with meetings conducted all around the country at Provincial, Metropolitan and Country race clubs. The Australian Racing Season kicks off on the 1st of August each year and concludes at the end of July the following year which means that punters have a full year of racing action to keep their wallets padded. While many major races are held on Saturday’s and public holidays, it is really the Racing Carnivals that really gets the action going.
Racing carnivals are held in every state in Australia and run throughout the year. The biggest racing carnival in the country is the Melbourne spring racing carnival held in Melbourne Victoria. The Showpiece race of the carnival is the prestigious Melbourne Cup. Next to the Melbourne Cup, the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate create the biggest stir. In autumn, New South Wales hosts the Sydney autumn racing carnival with the $4,000,000 ATC Queen Elizabeth Stakes being the highlight of the event.
Victorian Racing Carnivals
The first of the major carnivals in Victoria takes place at Caulfield in October. This is when the Melbourne Racing Club hosts a three-day carnival with the 2400m Caulfield Cup being the feature race. A few weeks later, Melbourne comes alive when the Victorian Racing club hosts the 4 day Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington Racecourse. The Carnival kicks off with the AAMI Victoria Derby followed up by the highlight race, the $6 million Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse.
New South Wales Racing Carnivals
In New South Wales, the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival gets things underway as the new racing seasons starts in August. The biggest race of the Sydney Carnival is the Group 1 Golden Rose held at Rosehill in late August. It offers up a whopping $1,000,000 in prizemoney and usually attracts the biggest crowd. The carnival finishes up one week before the Caulfield Cup commences in Melbourne. Sydney also host an Autumn racing carnival which takes place in April and May each year. Highlights of the Autumn Racing carnival are the Golden Slipper at Rosehill, the Vinery Club Stakes, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Australian Oaks and the Sydney Cup.
Queensland Racing Carnivals
Queensland racing kicks off with the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival in May and June each year. Major races at Brisbane include the Doomben 10,000, the Stradbroke Handicap and the Group 2 Brisbane Cup. Queensland also hosts the Magic Millions carnival which includes the Yearling Sale in January. The highlight of the carnival is the Magic Millions 3yo Trophy.
Notable Races
South Australia is well known for hosting some of the biggest https://bettingonline.nz/horse/ races in the country. The May carnival gets things going at Morphetville with the South Australian Derby and the Goodwood being the highlights of the horse racing of the event. South Australia also host the Oakbank Carnival which takes places in Adelaide Hills. In Western Australia, the Perth Carnival begins in late November with the Group 1 Railway Stakes taking centre stage. This second day sees the Group 2 Winterbottom Stakes keeping the action going before the Kingston Town Classic and the Perth Cup rounds things off.
