Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, which is the world's richest handicap and the world's richest 3200-metre horse race. The racecourse is situated on low alluvial flats, next to the Maribyrnong River. The area was first used for horse racing in March 1840.
Overview The Flemington Racecourse site comprises 1.27 square kilometres of Crown land. The course was originally leased to the Victoria Turf Club in 1848, which merged with the Victoria Jockey Club in 1864 to form the Victoria Racing Club. The first Melbourne Cup was run in 1861. In 1871 the Victoria Racing Club Act was passed, giving the VRC legal control over Flemington Racecourse.
The racecourse is pear-shaped, and boasts a six-furlong (1,200 m) straight known as 'the Straight Six.' The track has a circumference of and a final straight of for race distances over . Races are run in an anti-clockwise direction.
The course has a crowd capacity of over 120,000 and contains three grandstands. The biggest ever attendance was on Victoria Derby Day in 2006 when 129,069 people saw Efficient win the Victoria Derby.100,000 and more – but nobody's counting On 28 November 1986, Pope John Paul II celebrated the Mass on the racetrack inner oval. The racecourse has undergone a facelift in recent years, with the opening of a new $45 million grandstand in 2000 and the opening of a new members' grandstand in 2018. It also contains a bronze statue of the famous racehorse Phar Lap, which was donated to the Club as part of Australia's bicentenary celebrations in 1988. Also in celebration was the commission of Harold Freedman's seven panel mural which traces the History of Racing.Insight into a nation's track record The mural is housed is in The Hill Stand, built in 1977.
Flemington Racecourse was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 7 November 2006,Flemington Racecourse National Heritage Listing announced during the 2006 Melbourne Cup.Flemington now a National Treasure The site is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Flemington Racecourse today hosts many of Australia's top races, including the Melbourne Cup, Victoria Derby, VRC Oaks, Mackinnon Stakes, Newmarket Handicap, Australian Cup and Lightning Stakes.
Transport
The site has its own railway branch line, which operates on race days, bringing visitors to the adjacent railway station. Trains depart from platforms 8 and 9 at Flinders Street Station. The No. 57 tram from the City (Elizabeth and Flinders Streets) stops at the Epsom Road entrance.
Originally, it was serviced by Salt Water River station, before that was demolished in the 1860s and replaced with a station on the present site.
Car spaces for the disabled are available and taxi ranks are located adjacent to the main entrances. Shuttle buses run from Epsom Road to the main turnstiles of the racecourse. Lift access is available in the Prince of Wales Stand and to the first floor of the Members Stand.
Races The following is a list of Group races which are run at Flemington Racecourse. All races in metres.Australian Group races
Grp Race name Age Sex Weight Distance Date1Ascot Vale Stakes3YOOpensw1200November1Australian CupOpenOpenwfa2000March1Australian Guineas3YOOpensw1600February1Black Caviar LightningOpenOpenwfa1000February1Makybe Diva StakesOpenOpenwfa1600September1Cantala StakesOpenOpenhcp1600November1Empire Rose Stakes3YO+F&Mwfa1600November1LKS Mackinnon StakesOpenOpenwfa2000November1Melbourne CupOpenOpenhcp3200November1Newmarket HandicapOpenOpenhcp1200March1VRC Sprint ClassicOpenOpenwfa1200November1Turnbull Stakes4YO+Opensw+p2000October1Victoria Derby3YOOpensw2500November1VRC Oaks3YOFilliessw2500November2A.V Kewney Stakes3YOFilliessw1600March2Blamey Stakes3YO+Opensw+p1600March2Edward Manifold Stakes3YOFilliessw1600October2Gilgai StakesOpenOpensw+p1200October2Linlithgow StakesOpenOpenhcp1200November2 Matriarch Stakes4YO+Mareshcp2000November2Rose Of Kingston Stakes4YO+Maressw+p1400October2VRC Sires' Produce Stakes2YOOpensw1400March2Wakeful Stakes3YOFilliessw+p2000November3Aurie's Star HandicapOpenOpenhcp1200August3Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes2YOFilliessw+p1200March3Bobby Lewis QualityOpenOpenqlty1200September3Chatham StakesOpenOpenhcp1400November3Frances Tressady Stakes4YO+Maressw+p1400March3Hotham HandicapOpenOpenqlty2500November3Maribyrnong Plate2YOOpensw+p1000November3Matron Stakes4YO+Maressw+p1600March3Let's Elope Stakes4YO+Maressw+p1400September3Standish HandicapOpenOpenhcp1200January3C S Hayes Stakes3YOC&Gsw+p1400February3The VanityThe Vanity 2008 result 3YOFilliessw+p1400February3VRC Carbine Club Stakes3YOOpensw+p1600November3VRC Queen Elizabeth StakesOpenOpenqlty2600NovemberLVRC St Leger Stakes3YOOpensw+p2800April
Key hcp - handicap qlty - quality handicap sw - set weights sw+p - set weights with penalties wfa - Weight for Age
Flemington Racecourse (Car Park) To the north of the racecourse and south of the rail line and station, lies a car park, on non race days, it is sometimes used for other events, mainly music festivals and concerts, but has also been used for other events including car shows and local markets
The location typically goes by Flemington Racecourse, but some festivals use different names, Laneway Festival refers to it as "Flemington Park", Tell No Tales festival refers to it as "The Nursery"
History Small local events have been hosted at the site for many years, as early as 1996 with a local market that offered fresh foods, jewellery, distinctive clothing, Australian-made art and craft
In the mid 2000s, around 2005-2007 the racecourse was redeveloped, The VRC wanted to increase and diversify their revenue, and to maximize the use of their facilities beyond race days. This redevelopment however, did not rebuild the car park itself.
In March 2008 the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria hosted the RACV Classic showcase. On 20 July 2008, the car park hosted the 4th Shannons car show.
On 17 May 2009, the RACV Classic Showcase was once again held at the venue,also on the, 29 April 2012, 21 April 2013, 30 March 2014,,10 April 201619 February 2017 and finally
Shannon's also hosted other car shows in 2014.and on 19 April 2015 and on 1 May 2016
Circuses have run at the car park a few times, including in 2015 with TOTEM 2024 with LUZIA and in 2026 with KOOZA
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria it was proposed to have drive-in concerts at the venue with 12 concerts, plus a movie and comedy night proposed However, due the 2nd lockdown in Melbourne, the events where canceled
+List of EventsDateFestival / Headline ArtistFestival Headliner / SupportCrowdRef16 January 1999Warped Tour 1999Suicidal Tendencies, Pennywise, Grinspoon MxPx6 April 2002Warped Tour 2002Guttermouth, 28 Days28 January 2008Big Day OutRage Against the Machine, Björk, Arcade FireBig Day Out lineups26 January 2009Big Day OutNeil Young, The Prodigy, Arctic MonkeysBig Day Out lineups15 February 2009Good Vibrations Fatboy Slim, Q-Tip and The Presets.25,0008 March 2009Future Music FestivalJames Taylor, N.E.R.D.,Basement Jaxx26 January 2010Big Day OutMuse, PowderfingerBig Day Out lineups21 February 2010Good VibrationsThe Killers, Salt-N-Pepa, Kid Cudi, Art vs. Science15,0007 March 2010Future Music FestivalThe Prodigy, Franz Ferdinand, Empire of the Sun David Guetta30 January 2011Big Day OutTool, Rammstein, The Stooges, M.I.A.52,000Big Day Out lineups13 February 2011Good VibrationsFaithless, Mike Posner, Ludacuris13 March 2011Future Music FestivalThe Chemical Brothers, Art vs. Science, Binary Finary, Cosmic Gate29 January 2012Big Day OutKanye West, Soundgarden42,000Big Day Out lineups4 March 2012Future Music FestivalSwedish House Mafia, New Order, Fatboy Slim, Paul van Dyk9 March 2012Good LifeSteve Angello, Skrillex, Tinie Tempah20,000+26 January 2013Big Day OutRed Hot Chili Peppers, The Killers50,000Big Day Out lineups1 March 2013SoundwaveMetallica, Linkin Park and Blink-182,8 March 2013Good LifeAvicii, Psy, Hardwell, Zeds Dead, Timmy Trumpet10 March 2013Future Music FestivalAvicii, The Prodigy, The Stone Roses, Psy, Bloc Party24 January 2014Big Day OutPearl Jam, Arcade Fire, Blur26,00028 February 2014SoundwaveGreen Day and Avenged Sevenfold7 March 2014Good LifeDeadmau5, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Rudimental, Martin Garrix9 March 2014Future Music FestivalDeadmau5, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Phoenix Hardwell, Eric Prydz8 March 2015Future Music FestivalDrake, Avicii, The Prodigy, Afrojack, Martin Garrix, Example9 March 2015Good LIfeAvicii, Afrojack, Martin Garrix, Will Sparks B2B Timmy Trumpet B2B Joel Fletcher Havana Brown (musician)3 December 2016Tell No Tales26 November 2017Creamfields AustraliaDeadmau5, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Don Diablo, Fedde Le Grand7 December 2018Good ThingsThe Offspring, Stone Sour13 January 2019FOMONicki Minaj, Rae Sremmurd, Lil Pump, Mura Masa23 February 2019Ultra AustraliaAdam Beyer, The Chainsmokers, Dubfire, Illenium, Marshmello, Martin Garrix6 December 2019Good ThingsParkway Drive, A Day to Remember7 December 2019Kockout OutdoorsAngerfist, Darren Styles19 September 2021Reminisce CarnivaleJohn Course, The Presets, Northeast Party House8 March 2020Ultra AustraliaAfrojack, DJ Snake, Eric Prydz, Zedd13 March 2022KarnivalAngerfist, Ben Nicky, Darren Styles2 April 2022SubcultureAly & Filab b2b John O'Callaghan , Bryan Kearney Giuseppe Ottaviani17 September 2022TransmissionFerry Corsten Markus Schulz Vini Vici26 November 2022Festival XCalvin Harris, Don Toliver2 December 2022Good ThingsBring Me the Horizon, Deftones15 & 16 December 2022Rüfüs Du Sol11 February 2023Laneway FestivalHaim, Joji, Phoebe Bridgers12 March 2023KarnivalAtmozfears, Brennan Heart, Hixxy, Miss K823 April 2023Carl Cox PURE22 March 2023DreamsateBen Nicky, Cosmic Gate, Maddix24 March 2023KnotfestSlipknot, Parkway Drive, Megadeth25 November 2023Christina Aguilera26 November 2023DreamstateAbove & Beyond, Vini Vici, Billy Gillies1 December 2023Good ThingsFall Out Boy, Limp Bizkit Devo9 December 2023Zach Bryan10 February 2024Laneway FestivalStormzy, Steve Lacy, Dominic Fike10 March 2024TransmissionAndrew Rayel Cosmic Gate Markus Schulz Paul van Dyk21 March 2024KnotfestPantera, Disturbed13 April 2024Ultra AustraliaZedd, and Carl Cox14 September 2024Marlo, Elements of Unity25 & 26 October 2024Cold ChiselThe Cruel Sea, Karen Lee Andrews23 November 2024Anyma's GENESYS6 December 2024Good ThingsKorn, Violent Femmes, Electric Callboy13 & 14 December 2024Dom DollaFlight Facilities9 February 2025DreamstateAbove & Beyond, Billy Gillies, Ben Nicky14 February 2025Laneway FestivalCharli XCX, Clairo, Beabadoobee28 February 2025KnotfestSlipknot, A Day to Remember12 April 2025Ultra AustraliaMartin Garrix and Axwell6 September 2025Marlo Altitude: Without Limits30 November 2025HypersonicArmin van Buuren, Alesso and Steve Aoki5 December 2025Good ThingsTool, Weezer8 February 2026DreamstateBen Hemsley, Ben Nicky, Vini Vici13 February 2026Laneway FestivalChappell Roan, Alex G, Benee, Cavetown14 March 2026안녕, Hello Music FestivalEnhypen, Treasure, Taemin2 April 2026Keinemusik11 April 2026Ultra AustraliaThe Chainsmokers, DJ Snake and Zedd46,0005 September 2026Marlo: The Decade28 November 2026CORE7 February 2027 DreamstateTiësto (Trance Set) 19 February 2027Laneway FestivalFontaines D.C., Hayley Williams, Slayyyter, Adéla25,26,28 February 2027 Calvin Harris
Gallery
See also Australian horse-racing Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival
References
External links Victoria Racing Club - official website
Horse racing results at Flemington Racecourse