Sandown

The Sandown Racecourse

The Sandown Racecourse was first opened in 1965 by the Victoria Amateur Turf Club and acts as a thoroughbred racing and steeple racetrack. Part of the Melbourne Racing Club, the racecourse is located just 25km from the Melbourne CBD and is the only metropolitan racecourse that was built in the 20th Century.

This superb course features two different racetracks, Hillside being the larger of the two with a 2087m circumference and a 407m straight and Lakeside, which also has a 407m straight but with a smaller 1857m circumference. The anticlockwise track has a steep rise in the home straight to the winning post which suits horses with a stronger finish.

In 1997, due to a significant increase in the number of overseas horses attending the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, Sandown established a quarantine centre. The Racecourse then underwent major renovations in 1999 and the Sandown Cup, the feature race of the track, was renamed the Sandown Classic and was changed from a handicap race to a weight-for-age race with an increased amount of prize money.

The Sandown Classic takes place a week after the Emirates Stakes Day and is now a Group 2 2400m weight-for-age race for horses aged 2 year old and over and is worth worth $400,000. The Sandown Guineas is regarded by many racing experts as the last prestigious race of the season; a Group 2 1600m set weight race for 3 year old horses. The Sandown Stakes is the last major race held at the track and is a Group 3 quality race for horses aged 4 years old and over worth $100,000. As such it attracts a good group of sprinters and milers for the 1500 metre race distance.