When Did Horse Racing Start In Australia

Controversy broke out in Australian horse racing early in 2018. A group of 8 trainers and stablehands were accused of cheating by means of feeding racehorses baking soda, an age-old tactic used to increase a Thoroughbred’s stamina on the track.

It should be no surprise that trainers from down under would know every trick in the book, though. They’ve had a long time to learn.

Organized racing. Charles II (reigned 1660–85) became known as “the father of the English turf” and inaugurated the King’s Plates, races for which prizes were awarded to the winners. His articles for these races were the earliest national racing rules. The horses raced were six years old and carried 168 pounds (76 kg), and the winner was the first to win two 4-mile (6.4-km) heats. Photo: Horseracing in Australia has its roots dating back to the first colony. An artist's impression of Carbine winning the 1890 Melbourne Cup against 38 rivals. Horses Race on Grass in Australia. In Australia all horse racing is conducted on grass surfaces.

Horse racing in Australia is a booming business in the 21st century. But colts, geldings, stallions, and fillies have been racing in the Land of the Southern Cross since the late 1700s.

In fact, it can be argued that Australia is the bright spot of the Southern Hemisphere when it comes to horse racing, a sport which is dominated by America, Asia, and Europe. The scope of equine competition is impressive, with markets dedicated to flat tracks, harness racing, and jump racing.

Aussies spend a great deal of time betting on the races, too. Studies show that as of 2015, nearly 1,000,000 Australians were playing the ponies.

Scroll and read ahead for a history of horse racing in Australia.

How It All Began

We have all seen movies where a group of prisoners are sent to an island and wind up founding a civilization of their own. Many westerners are probably not aware that Australia is a real-life version of that very Hollywood trope.

Britain founded a convict settlement at Botany Bay in 1788. Convicts could no longer be sent to the American colonies due to the Revolutionary War. The United Kingdom did not have high hopes for the prisoners who were shipped to the southerly continent, and they documented the move as an attempt to relieve overcrowding among convicts and not to develop an agricultural or commercial colony.

The 736 men and women who landed there had other ideas. Captain Cook found a more suitable harbor 10 miles from the original landfall, and the alternate shipping dock would become known as Sydney Cove. The settlement would begin to flourish within a generation.

The outback surrounding Botany Bay was so intimidating that no horseback expeditions were deemed worthwhile, and men traveled by foot and hand-drawn carriage. That changed by the early 1800s as enthusiastic breeding increased the local horse population to over 1000 animals.

Informal match races began to take place. The stallion Rockingham, thought to come from a Thoroughbred bloodline, had arrived in Sydney Cove some years earlier and was immediately put out to stud.

The forward-thinking governor Lachlan Macquarie assumed control of the colony in 1810 and signaled a new era of farming and social life. Soon the British military would help to organize a festival in which horse racing would play an integral role.

Progress and Conflict in the 1800s

A 3-day celebration organized by the British 73rd Regiment climaxed in a horse race meeting at Hyde Park, now a modern-day landmark in the city of Sydney. Races continued annually until 1813.

By the 1820s, a new governor had assumed control of the colony. Governor Thomas Brisbane was not a fan of horse racing, as he considered the festival atmosphere a threat to public safety and morality. But in 1825, the Sydney Turf Club was formed, resulting in a minor controversy.

Brisbane was persuaded to attend a race and surprised everyone by falling in love with the sport. He began to welcome the races and became a fixture at competitions held at modern-day Bellevue Hill and Camperdown. But soon he was replaced by General Ralph Darling, who renewed restrictions on racing horses. Members of the Sydney Turf Club fought him to preserve their growing sport.

Horse racing would gain momentum again with the importation of 4 famous horses, including Arabians Rainbow and Iris and Thoroughbreds Theorem and Emigrant. An early version of the Australian Jockey Club held its first meeting in 1840 and drew 17,000 of the colony’s 45,000 residents. An overwhelming number of colonists wanted to take part in the races. The government gave up any efforts at trying to tamp down the fad.

Modern Racing Landscape Begins to Form

The first St Leger Stakes was held in 1841. The Champagne Stakes began at Randwick in the 1860s and would flourish for the next 80 years and beyond. 1943 was the next historic date, as a new incarnation of the Sydney Turf Club purchased the Canterbury Racecourse and the Rosehill Race Club.

Juvenile horse racing blossomed with the inauguration of the Golden Slipper Stakes, allowing breeders to develop young colts in competition and thus improving the overall quality of Australian track racing.

By the 1970s, Australia was known for producing some of the finest jockeys in the world. Thoroughbred racing reached into new lands in the 20th century with the founding of the Darwin Turf Club in the Northern Territory in 1955.

In present-day, it is estimated that almost 20,000 races take place in Australia annually, contested by almost 40,000 horses for 3000+ trainers and almost 500 bookies, generating billions of dollars in gambling and commerce.

It is now estimated that Australia has the most racecourses of any country on Earth.

Types of Horse Racing in Australia

Australia may be the most balanced of any horse racing market in the 21st century. America is obsessed with flat track races like the Kentucky Derby. England is consumed with steeplechases such as the annual Grand National at Aintree. Continental Europe is focused largely on trotters.

Australian horse race enthusiasts are fans of it all. From dirt tracks to hurdles to harness racing, the country offers thrills for bettors of all tastes.

Thoroughbred Racing

Thoroughbred racing has become the 3rd most attended spectator sport on the continent, just behind rugby and Australian Rules Football. As many as 2 million customers attend the races each year. Thoroughbred colts compete on flat tracks as well as hurdle, fence, and other obstacle courses.

Flat track racing is held mostly on grass. Most racecourses are 5 furlongs to a mile. Hurdle races are popularly known as “jump” races and take place between March and August, mostly in Victoria and in South Australia.

Steeplechases in Australia

The steeplechase is a friendlier event for horses down under when compared to the arduous obstacles of Aintree and other tracks in the Northern Hemisphere. Aussie steeplechases are contested over a distance of 3200 meters or more with a minimum handicap weight of 62 kilograms.

Animal rights activists have protested hurdle racing in Australia for many years. Some jockeys are of the opinion that the popular racing style will soon be abolished. Racecourse officials have adapted by setting strict standards for obstacles, which may only reach 1.15 meters in height.

“The changed obstacles have made a big difference,” jump-racing trainer Brett Scott told ESPN in 2017. “But a big change has been that the riders are now being more conservative. Where in the early 1990s it was frowned upon if you pulled up a tiring horse, now you get a pat on the back. The horse’s welfare is front of mind.”

Stewards have also taken to issuing suspensions to jockeys who refuse to pull up on a tired Thoroughbred during a jump race.

Harness Racing in Australia

Known casually as trotting, harness racing is a major spectator sport in Australia. Nearly 100 harness racing tracks are home to around 3000 drivers. About 5000 new racehorses are registered for the trotting races each year.

The races are conducted by horses pulling a driver around a flat track in a 2-wheeled cart called a sulky, a gig, or a bike. Racehorses compete at different gaits called pacing (the more popular variety) and trotting.

Standardbreds are raised to compete in trotting and pacing competitions. Less temperamental and easier to teach than Thoroughbreds, the breed is perfect for the precise style and finesse needed for harness racing.

Pacing races are held over distances ranging from 1,609 meters, or 1 mile, to 2,650 meters. Harness racing tracks usually measure from 700 to 1,000 meters.

Harness racing in Australia is overseen by Harness Racing Australia, or HRA. Races usually happen at night, with weekends seeing the hottest ticket sales and betting action.

The Biggest Horse Races in Australia

Here are just a handful of the most prestigious races in the land down under.

Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup can be called the Kentucky Derby of Australia. It has been called the ultimate test of stamina, contested over a grueling 2-mile course for a fantastic purse. The Melbourne Cup is a handicap race with the faster and slower horses evened out by handicappers, making it a challenging yet popular horse racing event on which to place bets.

Inter Dominion

The crown jewel of harness racing in the Southern Hemisphere, the Inter Dominion has been contested in Australia and New Zealand since 1936. The competition is held in a series of stages over 2 weeks and rotates between as many as 6 different racecourses.

Victoria Derby

This turf-track race for Thoroughbreds is the height of Australian pomp and circumstance. The Melbourne Cup Carnival begins with the Victoria Derby each season, with the day being commonly known as Victoria Derby Day.

Henry Ford once said you could get a Model-T in any color as long as it was black. Well, at the Victoria Derby, you can wear any color you like, as long as it’s white, black, or grey. Men are expected to dress in tailored suits, while women are given a bit more leeway. The event has become a fashion holiday in addition to an important horse race.

Golden Slipper Stakes

The Golden Slipper Stakes is a turf race for juvenile racehorses, contested with set weights. It is not technically a handicap race except for a slight advantage being given to all fillies, who wear 2 kilograms less weight than 2-year-old colts.

Purses are set at several million dollars for the sweepstakes, which is the world’s richest purse for young Thoroughbreds.

The Great Eastern Steeplechase

Australia’s most prestigious jump race is held annually at the Oakbank Racecourse in South Australia on Easter Saturday and Monday as part of the Oakbank Easter Racing Carnival. The Great Eastern Steeplechase is a true endurance test at a length of almost 5000 meters.

The Oakbank course is known for a “fallen log” jump which is an actual log with a height of around 1 meter. Following the current trend, the height of many jumps has been shortened to reduce risk to the animals and quiet protests surrounding the event.

Notable Australian Racehorses of the Modern Era

The aptly-named Emigrant and other legendary Thoroughbreds of the 19th century fostered a lineage of many great Australian horses. Here are just a few standouts from the past 100 years.

Kingston Town

Kingston Town remains the only Thoroughbred to win Australasia’s most noteworthy weight-for-age handicap, the Group 1 Cox Plate, in 3 different seasons. The racehorse finished last in his maiden try, underwent a sex change to gelding, and returned to win the race at incredibly long odds.

Kingston Town’s major wins included the Spring Champion Stakes, the Sydney Cup, and the Queensland Derby. The celebrated horse was an inaugural inductee in the Australian Racing Hall of Fame alongside just 4 other Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds.

Makybe Diva

Known as one of the greatest racing mares of all time, Makybe Diva won 3 Melbourne Cups in the early 2000s. No other Thoroughbred has come close to the feat. The daughter of Desert King also won the Sydney Cup in 2004 and the Australian Cup in 2005.

The mare holds the Australian record for winnings earned, totaling more than $14 million. She won an incredible 15 times and placed 7 times in 36 starts over her career.

Black Caviar

Another mare who rivaled the greatest colts and geldings of all time, Black Caviar is thought by experts to have been a close second to Makybe Diva in speed and form. But the impression she left on Australian racing is second to none.

Black Caviar’s career was defined by a brilliant unbeaten streak which was never broken. Though she often competed in smaller stakes than the 3-time Melbourne Cup winner, her record of 25 wins in 25 starts may never be equaled by another racehorse. She attracted sold-out crowds in Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia, and made the front pages of newspapers with her victories. Black Caviar was also shipped to England for another series of highly-publicized victories.

Tulloch

A study in heart and courage, Tulloch’s record stood at 21 wins in 29 starts in 1958. Soon he contracted a rare stomach disorder that nearly took the Thoroughbred’s life.

Somehow, Tulloch returned in 1960 and won the 10-furlong VRC Queen’s Plate in what is considered the most remarkable comeback story in the history of Aussie horse racing.

Winx

Australia Horse Racing Picks

This currently-active mare may surpass both Black Caviar and Makybe Diva’s accomplishments before she is finished racing. In fact, many handicappers already consider Winx to be the greatest animal in Australian horse racing history.

Australia Horse Racing Results

Winx won the Cox Plate in 2015 in a record time. The following year, she pulled a Secretariat and won the race by the largest number of lengths in its history. The mare is known as an extremely versatile galloper who has won at every famous course of any length Australia has to offer, including famous venues Caulfield and Flemington in Melbourne and the Rosehill racecourse in Sydney.

When Did Horse Racing Start In Australia Start

Her greatest accomplishment occurred in 2018 as she tied Black Caviar with a 25-race unbeaten streak that is still active. Fans can follow Winx on Twitter at the hashtag #GoWinx.

Betting on Horse Races in Australia

There are 4 common avenues for Thoroughbred and Standardbred betting in Australia. Licensed bookies offer simple odds for in-person wagers at each track, but usually only on wins and places. The majority of Australian horse race betting is conducted off-track as of 2018.

Off-track betting was once controlled by government through a group called the “Totalisator Agency Board,” or TAB. Much of the wagering has now been privatized. Pubs are encouraged to offer betting services tied to the private companies.

Elsewhere in Australia, there has been a tradition of black market betting known as SP bookmaking, comparable to bootlegging liquor and other goods in times of prohibition in America and England. Unfortunately, such under-the-table bookies have often engaged in bribing police officers and rigging races.

Australia Live Horse Racing

The internet has become a popular venue for betting exchanges, or private person-to-person odds and payoffs. Members can set their own betting lines for users but also must give up a commission on their earnings to the hosting website.

Future of Horse Racing and Track Betting in Australia

Turf and harness racing should only continue to grow in the Southern Hemisphere. Meanwhile, steeplechases are surviving somewhat tenuously with the times. The practice of strictly monitoring jockeys in the cause of racehorse safety is a positive development that may allow jump races to continue for decades.

After gambling losses totaled 18.2 billion dollars in 2016, the Australian government banned gambling advertisements during the broadcast of live sports between 5 AM and 8:30 PM for many television and radio markets.

Anti-gambling activists have protested the use of paid gaming representatives who critics say often pose as network employees. Defenders of the casino industry have countered that the representatives are there to provide accurate odds and resources for gamblers and that TV executives have every right to maintain a mutually-beneficial relationship with racebooks.

Online gambling will continue to grow as bettors look to avoid red tape and legal headaches. Sports gambling is the fastest-growing betting market in Australia, with casinos offering state-of-the-art mobile apps to players.

80% of Australian citizens gamble. The government is clearly involved in a losing cause trying to stamp out alternatives for those who play the ponies. Hopefully, over time, the prohibitions will be revoked in the interest of safety and honesty between legal bookies and bettors across the continent.

Thoroughbred horse racing is an exceptionally popular sport in Australia, with only Australian football and rugby league commanding higher attendances in the country.

There are over 300 racecourses, more than any other country in the world, and only the United States can claim to have more horses starting races every year.

Australia is also third in terms of the amount of prize money awarded annually, behind the US and Japan.

The vast majority of racing is on the flat, just like in the US, but in Victoria and South Australia there is some racing over fences and hurdles. As with other nations where horse racing is popular, betting on the sport is commonplace and an important part of the sport.

We have provided a range of information on horse racing in Australia, covering topics such as its history, its regulation, the betting, and the major races. You can find this information below, with links to additional pages where relevant.

History of Horse Racing in Australia

Horse racing was one of the earliest sporting activities to take place in Australia. When British ships arrived in the country to establish a new colony they brought horses with them, and it wasn’t long until races were taking place and further horses were imported. It was a few more years until organized racing took off though.

The first officially sanctioned race was held in 1810, at Hyde Park in Sydney. Racing was already a popular activity in a few parts of the country, but it was relatively informal up until that point.

Subsequently, it became much more organized and spread to most of the populated regions within Australia.

The Australian Jockey Club was founded in 1842 and a number of other racing related clubs and organizations were also formed. There were a number of stud books created for specific regions and these were then replaced in 1878 when the Australian Stud Book was created.

This body is still responsible for maintaining the Thoroughbred breed registry in the country today.

By the start of the 20th century horse racing was firmly established as part of Australian sporting culture and it has continued to grow ever since.

There are several regulatory bodies for horse racing in Australia. Ultimate responsibility sits with the Australian Racing Board (ARB) which, among other things, enforces the nation’s rules of racing. The Australian Stud Book and the Registrar of Racehorses, although independent, report to the ARB.

There are also the Principle Racing Authorities and these manage the sport at a state level. Each state also has a Principal Club, and some of them have other official clubs as well, which organize the races taking place in their region.

Betting is an important part of horse racing in Australia, and a significant reason for its popularity. There are several ways that you can place wagers in the country, both on and off the courses.

On course you will find licensed bookmakers offering fixed odds betting and Totalisator Agency Boards (TABs) offering parimutuel betting.

TABs can also be found off course in many different locations, even including pubs and bars. There are a number of telephone betting services that can be used to place wagers too. In relatively recent years, the most popular way to bet has been to use the internet.

Betting online is easy, fast and convenient and there are many gambling sites that accept wagers on horse racing. These offer a few advantages to traditional forms of betting but it’s important to use one that is reputable and trustworthy.

Australia is home to a number of major races each year. Most notable is the Melbourne Cup, known as the “race that stops a nation” such its popularity. This race gets attention from all over the world and has one of the largest prize pools in Thoroughbred racing.

We have provided further details on the Melbourne Cup and some of the other important races on the following pages.