SPRING RACES
It’s time to zip up your dresses, pin on your fascinators, button up your suits and head to the race track because it’s spring racing time!
Spring races in Australia are some of the most anticipated social events of the year and feature Australia’s greatest races including the Melbourne Cup and the Golden Rose. The Sydney Spring Races are held from late August to November, starting with the Group 1 Tooheys New Golden Rose worth $1 million. Raced at Rosehill, the 1400 metre set weight race is the richest race in the Sydney Carnival and is reserved for 3 year old horses only.
Aside from Rosehill, the other races in the Carnival take place at Randwick, Warwick Farm, Sydney Turf Club and Canterbury Park. There are plenty of group status races and the Spring Carnival organisers put in a lot of effort to make the race days as fun and interesting as possible. The Myer Mad about the Hat Day is on September 12 and has been titled “Ladies Day” with thousands of women sporting the season’s newest looks in colours, dresses and head wear. On the day, spectators can watch the Group 2 Rydges Parramatta Theo Marks Stakes, worth $200,000. Then on the 19th of September, the Tea Rose day brings all things royal to the races with trumpeters, shoe shiners, court jesters and jousting demonstrations adding to the celebratory mood of the day. The race day features the $250,000 Gloaming Stakes and the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes.
The biggest day of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival is undoubtedly the Epsom Handicap Day at Randwick. Worth $350,000, the Epsom Handicap is a 1600 metre handicap and is scheduled for the 3rd of October this year. Last year’s winner was Theseo. Following that is The Metropolitan which is worth the same amount however is a race for stayers at 2400 metres. Lastly, the Spring Champion Stakes is a $300,000 set weight race for 3 year olds and the horses compete over a 2000 metre distance.
Around the same time the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival takes off with the Makybe Diva Stakes and includes some of the biggest names in Australian racing including Bart Cummings, Phar Lap, Makybe Diva and Damien Oliver. Run over 50 days, the carnival hosts some of the richest races in Australia including the $2,550,000 BMW Caulfield Cup, the $3,050,000 Tatts Cox Plate and the world famous $5,650,000 Emirates Melbourne Cup. Not just an event filled with entertainment, Spring Carnival racing is of great importance to the Victorian community, with $548 million benefiting Victoria’s economy each year.
During the 2010 Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, spectators will be able to watch 15 Group 1 races including the Manikato Stakes on September 12, the Turnbull Stakes on October 3, Caulfield Cup on October 17, the Cox Plate on October 24, the Victoria Derby on October 31 and the most coveted race in Australia, the 2010 Melbourne Cup on November 3.
Over the past decades Spring Racing Carnivals have transformed from mere horse races to become the place for high fashion, celebrity spottings and the circulation of millions of dollars in prize money and bets. So whether you are a just wanting to take part in the frivolities of day, place a bet or dress up and hang out with friends, the spring races are the ideal location.
