Royal Randwick Racecourse , located 5km from the Sydney CBD, is the principal racecourse in NSW and is Australia’s longest standing racing venue.
Royal Randwick is the major venue for the Australian Turf Club in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.
Racing began in June of 1833 and for the vast majority of its existence was under the control of the Australian Jockey Club.
In 1863 the land was officially granted to the AJC and remained under its control until 2011 when that club merged with the Sydney Turf Club to form the Australian Turf Club.
The course proper is 2224m in circumference, with a home straight of 410m. A famous feature of the Randwick track is the incline known as ‘The Rise’ located 400m from the winning post.
There are chutes at the 1000m, 1200m and 1400m and the best starting point in the country – the 1600m. 2000m races start on the bend out of the straight and mile and a half races are only a furlong from the winning post making it a short run to the first turn.
Queen Elizabeth II attended several Randwick race meetings during her Australian tours and granted permission for the racecourse to be officially named Royal Randwick during her 1992 visit when she opened the Paddock Stand that preceded the new Queen Elizabeth Stand.
Royal Randwick boasts world-class facilities including the six level Queen Elizabeth II Grandstand that was opened in 2013 and the historic Official Stand that dates from 1886 and has undergone several major renovations.
Also there are plans to create a public stand down around the old Leger area to be known as the Winx Stand in honour of the great mare. The new public transport tram facilities will be stopping nearby the course too.
Over the years Royal Randwick has hosted Royal visits, Papal Masses, rock concerts, major conferences and the 2008 World Youth Day vigil and mass when more than 400,000 people filled the entire racecourse site. Randwick racecourse facilities are also used as an exam venue by the neighbouring University of New South Wales.
In terms of racing, Randwick has some of the most famous races on the Australian turf. The Doncaster Mile, ATC Australian Derby, Sydney Cup, Epsom Handicap, ATC Australian Oaks and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes are some of the million dollar races through the season.
However the richest turf race in the world is The Everest – worth $14 million in 2019 over 1200m and run as a WFA race. The initial runnings of the race saw it run in front of packed crowds and huge betting turnover.
Some of the all-time greats have won famous races at Randwick including Phar Lap, Tulloch, Bernborough, Gunsynd, Kingston Town and Black Caviar.
However possibly the greatest of them all was Winx who ended her career in April 2019 with 33 straight win including 25 Group 1s and an extraordinary Randwick record.
Just there she won three Queen Elizabeth Stakes, three George Main Stakes, three Winx Stakes, four Chipping Norton Stakes, an Epsom Handicap and a Doncaster Mile.
