Category: Racecourses

Royal Randwick Racecourse is located on the eastern suburbs of Sidney. The racecourse is one of the most prestigious venues in Australia and the embodiment of Sydney racing. The racecourse is located minutes away from the city centre and is right by the airport.

The Royal Randwick is known to host all sorts of events from concerts to children events and cultural events, however; the venue comes to life during the Sydney and Spring Carnivals. The racecourse is full of entertainment and sporting enjoyment. Dining and entertainment options match the best across the world with 35 plus restaurants and bars. This combined by the avant-garde facilities makes for a venue perfect for race goers and family fun as well.

Royal Randwick has been part of the Australian racing culture for more than a century. The racecourse was first put into operation in 1833 when the main racing venue was moved from Hyde Park though the first event was private. At the time, the racecourse was known as the ‘any Course’ since this was the condition of the grounds. Racing ceased for a while during the 1840s and resumed again the year 1860.

Queen Elizabeth II visited the Randwick Racecourse in February 1992 and presided over the opening of the Paddock Stand. A request was made to the queen that the racecourse be named the Royal Randwick and she granted it thus changing the name. A letter from Kenneth Scott who was the Deputy Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II expressed how much the queen enjoyed her visit to the racecourse and how pleased she was to have opened the new Grandstand and legitimized the course’s name.

Randwick has been hosting some highly anticipated races over the years and also took over as host of The Championships from 2014. The Championships is a two day meeting in April to wrap up the season. The race meeting gives a whopping AUD$20 million in winnings and includes some notable races such as the Doncaster Handicap, Australian Derby and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. In October 2017, the Royal Randwick hosted the most expensive turf race in the world; The Everest. The race comes with prize money of $10 million, making it the richest in Australian racing and across the world too.

Pimlico Racecourse was officially opened in 1870, and is now run by the Maryland Jockey Club. Through the years, Pimlico Racecourse has developed into one of the most coveted racecourses in the U.S. The racecourse has established itself as one of the venues in Baltimore, Maryland with some of the best hospitality facilities and enlivening horse races. The first race meeting to be held on the racetrack was the Dinner Party Stakes which was won by Preakness. Three years on, the colt would have a race named in its honour; the Preakness Stakes. Since its inception in 1873, the Preakness Stakes has since become one of the most famous races to be held on
this racecourse.

Pimlico Racecourse includes a one-mile dirt oval and a turf oval of seven-furlong. The racetrack also includes stables for 1,000 horses with a capacity of 120,000 people and over if you count the infield.

The track got its name from the early English settlers living in Maryland at the time who named it in honour of Olde Ben Pimlico’s Tavern in London. The racecourse is also known as “Old Hilltop” , a nickname it was given due to the small rise in the infield where a lot of thoroughbred trainers as well as race enthusiasts used to gather.

Pimlico racecourse has survived some tough times in the many years it has been running, from several infamous Baltimore riots to the great depression, which hit in the 1930s and the Great Fire of Baltimore. Even so, the racetrack has overcome all the hurdles and attracts large crowds nowadays whenever there is a race meeting. The Preakness is particularly known to attract large attendances. The official attendance in 2007 was 121,263 which set history as the largest crowd to attend a sporting occasion in Maryland. The record-breaking attendance also saw a total of $87.2 million dollars-worth of bets placed.

As for non-racing events, the venue hosted the Virgin Festival for 2 years from 2006 before it changed venues to Merriweather Post Pavilion in 2009. The racecourse has also hosted the Moonrise festival since 2014.

Piazza del Campo is not only one of the finest racetracks in the world but also the home of the Palio race which draws crowds from all across the globe to witness its drama. The Medieval Square is located in Sienna, Italy. The Piazza del Campo is made up of two straight lines of buildings joining the two sharp curves where all the action takes place during the Palio race. The two curves are named the Curva del Casato and the Curva di San Martino. They were named so in reference to one of the eleven streets that lead into the Campo.

The Palio is a race where the horses make three rounds around the  racecourse, having to navigate the two sharp corners as many times in under a minute. It is held twice a year; on 2 July and 16 August. The race is fast and exhilarating and the preparation starts months before. It is preceded by a large ceremony as the jockeys enter in their ceremonial dress. After the long procession of events, which starts four days before the material day, it is finally time to get on with the race, which is run bareback. The race is dangerous for both the horse and the rider but it is also a beloved tradition that brings the whole of Tuscany to life.

The Palio is contested by ten contrade at a time even though there are seventeen. The number of contrade competing had to be reduced due to the number of accidents that happened due to horses knocking against one another. Some horses have had serious accidents and have had to be put down due to their injuries. Despite the dangers of the race, Andrea Degortes, fondly known by his fans as Aceto (Vinegar), has the highest number of wins for a Palio. The jockey has had 14 wins in his time in the Piaza del Campo. He collected his wins in his racing days from 1964 to 1996.

The Palio is a race like no other that every race-goer should see at least once. The pulsating atmosphere and the merriment around the event is worth the trouble.