Horse Racing is a lucrative business throughout the year in Australia, but even more so during the spring months. The Spring Racing Carnival is an annual Thoroughbred horse racing series held in Melbourne, Australia every October and November. Included in the Spring Racing Carnival are meetings the metropolitan clubs administer. The meetings include the Caulfield Carnival, the Geelong Carnival, the Moonee Valley Carnival, the Flemington Spring Carnival, and the Sandown Spring Carnival. Additionally, some of Australia’s premier racecourses schedule a ‘breakfast with the stars’ where guests can watch the horses perform track activities.
The Spring Racing Carnival attracts thousands of horse racing enthusiasts, as well as the casual fans who may not consider themselves horse racing aficionados. In recent years, several international celebrities have attended the Spring Racing Carnival, such as Paris Hilton, Carson Kressley, Eva Longoria, and Andrea Bowen.
It includes low-stakes gambling, which suits the visitors less familiar with horse racing odds. The ‘sweep’ is a form of low-stakes gambling that is popular during the Spring Racing Carnival. Bettors will add a small amount of money to a ‘pot’. They draw a name of a horse, similar to a raffle. The person who draws the name of the winning horse earns the reward, which is usually prize money.
The ‘Calcutta’ sweep is the higher-stakes form of gambling. It is usually correlated with fundraising for local organizations.
The Spring Racing Carnival is over fifty days of action-packed excitement for horse racing fans. It entails social events around metropolitan Victoria throughout the Spring Racing Carnival.
The Caulfield Carnival
The Geelong Carnival
The Moonee Valley Carnival
The Flemington Spring Carnival
The Sandown Spring Carnival
The Caulfield Carnival
The Caulfield Racecourse hosts three meetings with the Melbourne Racing Club. Each race meeting includes a major Group One race.
The first race is the Caulfield Guineas. It occurs roughly three weeks prior to the Victoria Derby. The event held on Saturday is a set-weight race intended for horses that are at least three years of age.
The following race is the Caulfield Thousand Guineas. Three-year old fillies are the featured competitors in this event, which is scheduled for the Wednesday following the Caulfield Guineas.
The third and final in the Caulfield Carnival is the Caulfield Cup. This race is scheduled for the Saturday following the Caulfield Thousand Guineas.
The Geelong Carnival
The Geelong Cup is a Group Three race held at the Geelong Racing Club on the Wednesday following the conclusion of the Caulfield Cup. Horses of either gender are eligible for this event. Moreover, there is no age limit for the horse entries. The city of Geelong observes the day of the Geelong Cup as a public holiday.
Many Spring Racing Carnival guests and bettors pay close attention to the Geelong Cup, as the results may provide an accurate indication of the potential results of the Melbourne Cup, which is the race that many fans consider as the feature event of the Spring Racing Carnival.
The Moonee Valley Carnival
On the Saturday following the Geelong Carnival is the Moonee Valley Carnival. The meetings held at the Moonee Valley Racing Club feature the Weight for Age Cox Plate Race.
The Cox Plate Race is a Group One race inspired by W.S. Cox, the founder of the Moonee Valley Racing Club. Only Thoroughbred horses over three years of age are eligible to compete in this particular Spring Racing Carnival event.
The Flemington Spring Carnival
The Flemington Spring Carnival is the most anticipated group of meetings held throughout the Spring Racing Carnival. The media, as well as the fans, place more focus and emphasis on the events surrounding the meetings held by the Victoria Racing Club. The Flemington Racecourse hosts the series of meetings.
The Victoria Derby is the first race of the Flemington Spring Carnival. It is held on the Saturday leading up to the Melbourne Cup. The Victoria Derby is a Group One set-weight race intended for horses three-years of age or older.
The Victoria Racing Club provides various horse races on the same day as the Victoria Derby, making it the biggest day in racing.
The Melbourne Cup follows the Victoria Derby. It is perhaps the most anticipated event in the Spring Racing Carnival. In fact, it is one of the most prestigious horse races in the world, as it is dubbed ‘the race that stops a nation’. The handicap race is held on the first Tuesday of November, which is observed as a public holiday for residents of Victoria. The Melbourne Cup is an internationally recognized event, especially for horse racing connoisseurs, as well as serious gamblers.
Some of the most famous horses in history have race in, and won the Melbourne Cup.
The Crown Oaks, formerly identified as the VRC Oaks, follows the Melbourne Cup in the Spring Racing Carnival activities. It is a Group One race where only three-year old fillies, or older, are eligible to compete. The Crown Oaks are held on the Flemington Racecourse. It is widely known as ‘Ladies Day’, as it typically focuses on fashion. In fact, the Crown Oaks include the ‘Fashions on the Field’ celebrations.
The name of the event changed from VRC when Crown Casinos signed on as the sponsor for the race.
On the Saturday following the Crown Oaks are the VRC Stakes. It is the final meeting of the Flemington Spring Carnival. This portion of the Spring Racing Carnival holds special events for children and families; therefore, the day of the VRC Stakes is ‘Family Day’. The VRC Stakes include a Group One race.
The Sandown Spring Carnival
The Sandown Spring Carnival held by the Melbourne Racing Club entails the final meetings of the Spring Racing Carnival festivities. The two-day event includes the Sandown Classic, which is a Group Two race. The Sandown Classic was formerly identified as the Sandown Cup.
The Sandown Stakes is the Group Three race that follows the Sandown Classic. The Sandown Stakes, held in mid-November, is the final event of the Spring Racing Carnival.
