Moonee Valley Racecourse

Moonee Valley Racecourse

Aerial view of Moonee Valley Racecourse, looking west
Location	Moonee Ponds, Victoria
Owned by	Moonee Valley Racing Club
Date opened	1883
Screened on	Seven Network Sky Racing
Notable races	Cox Plates

Moonee Valley Racecourse is a horse-racing track in Melbourne, Australia which hosts races for Thoroughbreds. Located six kilometres from the Melbourne CBD, it is the home of the Moonee Valley Racing Club. It is situated in Moonee Ponds which is a suburb of the City of Moonee Valley.

The track is roughly rectangular, with a circumference of 1,805 m and a finishing straight of 173 metres which is the shortest in Australia. The track is constructed of the StrathAyr Turf System, having a lower layer of sand and an upper rootzone layer reinforced with mesh elements. Racing takes place in an anti-clockwise direction, as it does on all Victorian tracks. A 965m harness racing track located inside the turf track was the main metropolitan track for harness racing in Victoria for a number of years. The Moonee Valley grandstands have 12 function rooms, which on non-racedays, can cater for up to 1,200 people.

History

Moonee Valley Racecourse was established in 1883 by William Samuel Cox, who purchased a farm belonging to John F. Feehan for the purpose of establishing a racetrack. Being entirely freehold land owned by a private club, this separates Moonee Valley from other Melbourne racecourse such as Caulfield and Flemington. Expansion of the racecourse facilities occurred in the 1960s, funded by compensation for land acquired for the construction of the adjacent Tullamarine Freeway. In the 1970s harness racing moved to the Valley, when night trotting relocated from the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, this continued until its contract ended in February 2010 and events moved to the new Tabcorp Park harness track which opened at Melton in July 2009.

In 2009 the Moonee Valley Racing Club announced their redevelopment plans for the racecourse, with the relocation of the existing grandstands to make way for commercial and residential development. The works were estimated to cost $150 million, with $50 million in profit returning to the club. By 2011 the plans had expanded to cover four 20 storey high residential towers, to provide 2000 apartments and townhouses. Costing $1.4 billion, the racing club would receive $300 million. Local residents and politicians are opposed to the plan.

Transport

The racecourse can be reached via the route 59 tram from Elizabeth Street in Melbourne city centre. Moonee Ponds railway station is a ten-minute walk from the racecourse and is located on the Craigieburn railway line.

Races

File:Moonee Valley Racecourse.jpg

A horse race underway

Every October the Moonee Valley Racecourse hosts Australasia's richest weight-for-age horse-racing championship, the W.S. Cox Plate. Contested over a distance of 2,040 metres, the race is for three-year-olds and over.

Group races run at Moonee Valley Racecourse include:

Grp	Race Name	Age	Sex	Weight	Distance	Date
1	Manikato Stakes	Open	Open	wfa	1200	October
1	W S Cox Plate	3YO+	Open	wfa	2040	October
1	William Reid Stakes/Australia Stakes	Open	Open	wfa	1200	March
2	Alister Clark Stakes	3YO	Open	sw	2040	March
1	A J Moir Stakes/Schweppes Stakes	Open	Open	wfa	1200	October
2	Jayco Crystal Mile	Open	Open	hcp	1600	October
2	Sunline Stakes	3YO+	F&M	wfa	1600	March
2	Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes	Open	Open	wfa	1600	September
2	Cathay Pacific Gold Cup	3YO+	Open	sw+p	2500	October
2	Hollylodge Classic	3YO	Fillies	sw	1500	March
2	Bill Stutt Stakes	3YO	Open	sw	1600	September
2	Norman Carlyon Stakes	3YO+	Open	wfa	1200	January
2	AAMI Vase	3YO	Open	sw	2040	October
2	W H Stocks Stakes	4YO+	Mares	wfa	1600	September
3	Ian McEwen Trophy	Open	Open	wfa	1000	August
3	JRA Cup	Open	Open	hcp	2040	September
3	Champagne Stakes	3YO	Fillies	sw	1200	October
3	Red Anchor Stakes	3YO	Open	sw+p	1200	October
3	Inglis Mile	4YO+	Mares	hcp	1600	October

External links

• MVRC official website