Australia hosts an abundance of excellent thoroughbred races at both country and metropolitan tracks right across the country all year round, and the highest standard of racing is reflected in those events that the Australian Racing Board (ARB) awards Group status to.

Group and Listed status races take place at the major racecourses during key periods of racing like annual carnivals and represent the elite level of thoroughbred races.

Categorised according to the amount of prizemoney the race offers and the quality of the horses the event attracts each year, the most prestigious of all races are the Group 1 followed by Group 2 and 3.

After the three Group race classes, the next most important and respected of the black type events in Australia are the Listed races, sometimes informally referred to as Group 4 races.

To gain Listed status by the ARB a race must meet certain criteria including having been run at least three times, and offer a minimum of $70,000 in prizemoney.

Listed races are often used as a lead-up or preparatory run for horses on their way to higher status races during a carnival, for horses first up from a spell, or for older horses towards the end of their careers.