Moonee Valley

Moonee Valley

Home to the Moonee Valley Racing Club, the track is located just 6km north of Melbourne CBD and offers both horse and harness racing. Founded by the legendary William Sam Cox, racing at Moonee Valley began in 1883 and it has since become one of the top racetracks in Australia due to the quality of races the track produces and, indeed, the quality of the racetrack itself.

The racetrack hosts three of Australia’s greatest races, the Manikato Stakes, the Australia Stakes and the coveted WS Cox Plate and is popular as the only Melbourne track to offer night racing, which is held on most Friday nights.

Held in September the Manikato Stakes is a Group 1 weight-for-age race worth half a million dollars. The 1200m race attracts the best sprinters from around the country and was named after the legendary horse Manikato, which completed many of its 29 wins on this track and is buried at Moonee Valley Racecourse.

The second major race is the Group 1 Australia Stakes, a 1200m weight-for-age race worth $500,000 and held in February.

The most prestigious race hosted at Moonee Valley, known as the “Race of Legends”, is the WS Cox Plate, a Group 1 race worth $3 million in prize money and $50,000 in trophies. Held during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival the WS Cox Plate is a 2040m weight-for-age race which attracts the greatest horses both nationally and internationally as it is the most highly regarded race in the Carnival.

Moonee Valley is also host to harness racing and the Sew-Eurodrive Victoria Cup Carnival is one of the biggest harness races, held on two consecutive Saturdays in December. Worth $375,000 in prize money, the country’s best horses compete on this 2575m Grand Circuit event. The other major harness racing event held at the track is the 3050m Hunter Cup worth $500,000.

Moonee Valley holds 52 meetings each year at its relatively small anticlockwise track. With a circumference of only 1805m and a straight of just 173m, the track suits horses which can lead up the front and it can be difficult for horses in the back to advance forward due to the extremely short straights.