Australia has a rich heritage of horse racing, having produced many of the world’s greatest horses, jockeys and trainers. The country also stages iconic races such as the Melbourne Cup, which occupies a special place in Australian popular culture. Watching horse racing in Australia live remains one of the country’s favourite pastimes, with racing being the third most attended sport in the country behind rugby league and Australian Rules football.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at horse racing in Australia for you. We’ll start by telling you more about the great venues that Australian horse racing boasts, as well as about the iconic Australian horse races.
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Famous Australian racecourses
In this section, we’ll take a closer look at some of the most popular horse racing tracks in Australia. After all, if you want to watch horse racing in Australia live, you need to be at the track! Australia actually has more racecourses than any other nation. If you check out horse racing forums in Australia then these courses’ names may already be familiar to you.
- Flemington Racecourse: Fans of horse racing in Australia will be very familiar with the name of Flemington. First used way back in 1840, this venue hosts the Melbourne Cup, Australian Cup, and the Victoria Derby, among many other races. There is also a bronze statue of the famous New Zealand thoroughbred Phar Lap on the site.
- Geelong Racecourse: Like Flemington, Geelong Racecourse is located in the state of Victoria. Horse racing in Australia has been staged at Geelong since 1841. The venue has its own railway station.
- Randwick Racecourse: Located in the eastern suburbs of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Randwick Racecourse is known to many Sydney-based racegoers as ‘headquarters’. Situated just six kilometres from central Sydney, this venue hosted the inaugural edition of The Everest in 2017. This is the richest turf race in the world, with a prize pot of $10 million on offer.
Iconic Australian Horse Races
Anyone who wants to watch horse racing in Australia live should make sure that they try and get to a track to see on of these races. Australia is second only to the USA in terms of the number of horses that start races every year. The country is third behind only the USA and Japan in terms of the prize money that is distributed across the sport annually. No wonder then that there are so many great races for Australian punters to enjoy. We’ll cover a few of them here for you now.
- Melbourne Cup: The biggest race in horse racing in Australia. Betting on it is always lively, and it is the richest two-mile handicap race in the world. First held in 1861, it is an iconic part of Australian popular culture.
- Caufield Cup: This horse racing event in Australia is staged at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne in mid-October, it offers a prize pot of $5 million.
- The Golden Slipper: The Golden Slipper is another highlight of the year for fans of horse racing in Australia. Betting fans are keen on this race, which is held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney.
Where to find Australian horse racing tips and how to use them
If you’re looking for horse racing in Australia tips then there are a number of places where you can look. Social media channels such as Reddit can be a great way of picking up tips and other insights from more experienced punters. Often, the best way of finding solid tips is to talk to other horse racing fans who have followed the sport for years, and social media offers you a way of doing this relatively easily. Looking at online horse racing forums in Australia can be another useful way of acquiring this kind of insight.
The best way to gain knowledge and insight into racing, however, is to do your own careful and thorough research. You should study the form of horses, jockeys, and trainers, and make careful note of their significant results. Past results are a great indicator of how a horse is likely to perform. You should also note what type of ground on which a horse tends to do well, as well as following which horses do well when ridden by specific jockeys. Trainers also play a significant role in making a horse successful.
Conclusion
As you can see, Australian horse racing offers some great races and venues, and the sport is hugely popular in the ‘Lucky Country’, with hundreds of thousands of people attending race events every year.