Sandown Races, Racecourse & Betting Odds
Sandown racecourse is a well planned and designed race track, this track has a circumference of 1891 and runs anti clockwise. The track has a 407 long straight and runs down hill from the 1100m turn then a slight rise from the last turn to the winning post.
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Sandown Race Track:
Sandown Racecourse
About Sandown Races
The Sandown Racecourse is one of the four horse racing sites of the Victoria Amateur turf club and is the only one that was built in the 20th century. It opened in June 1965 with a crowd of 52,000 people. It is located 25 kilometres from the central business district of Melbourne in the Springvale suburb in Greater Dandenong.
The original layout of the course is oval in shape and it has a circumference of 1892 metres. The horse racing circuit is also 30 metres wide and features sweeping and cambered turns. Meanwhile, the home straight of the Sandown Racecourse is 407 metres long and is uphill. The Sandown Racecourse complex also contains the Sandown Raceway which caters to motor races.
Due to the gr
owing popularity of the Sandown Racecourse, a number of overseas horses have competed at the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Also, a quarantine centre was also established at Sandown in 1997.
In 2001, the Melbourne Racing Club redeveloped the Sandown horse racing track. For the redevelopment, an additional 30 metres was added to the width of the home turn while the width of the main straight was added by 30 to 45 meters. The turn out of the straight was also widened by 30 to 45 metres.
This redevelopment created two tracks at Sandown. The outer horse racing track which also uses the outer 30 metres of the straight was named the Sandown Hillside while the inner track is called the Sandown Lakeside. The Lakeside course has a circumference of 1857 metres and a straight of 407 meters.
On the other hand, the Sandown Hillside course has a circumference of 2087 meters and a home straight of 491 metres. The redeveloped tracks were opened in January 25, 2003 and the number of horse racing meets at Sandown went up from 32 to 41. Out of these racing meets, some of the most notable races are the Eclipse Stakes Day and the Sandown Classic Day every November.
These two horse racing meets are generally called the Sandown Carnival which closes the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Other notable horse races in Sandown include the 1600-metre Group Two Sandown Guineas for three-year-olds, the 2400-metre Group 2 Sandown Classic and the 1400-metre Group 3 Sandown Stakes.
The Races At The Sandown Racecourse
Compared to other racecourses in Victoria, the Sandown Racecourse is relatively young for it was opened in June 1965. Races here are governed by the Victoria Amateur Turf Club and the track also caters to steeplechase events. This racetrack is also known as Betfair Park and it is the only racecourse in any metropolitan area that was built in the last century.
The unique feature about the Sandown Racecourse is that it has two different courses namely the Hillside and the Lakeside race tracks. The Hillside racecourse at Sandown is the larger between the two and it has a circumference of 2087 metres and a home straight of 407 metres. Meanwhile, Lakeside has the same home straight length but its circumference is just 1857 metres.
Originally, only the Lakeside track existed in Sandown but the Hillside track was added last decade. Races at the Sandown Racecourse are staged counterclockwise and it has a steep rise in the home straight that is to the advantage of stronger thoroughbreds. The course also features sweeping turns and front straights that are regarded as one of the best in Australian horse racing.
Though there is no Group 1 races that are staged here, the Sandown Racecourse still features quality horse racing action with 41 horse racing meets throughout the year. The most prominent races that are staged here are the Sandown Classic, Sandown Guineas, Eclipse Stakes and Sandown Stakes. The Sandown Classic is a Group 2 race with a distance of 2400 metres and a prize purse of $350,000. This race is held a week after the Emirates Stakes Day.
The Sandown Classic is originally known as the Sandown Cup and the race conditions were changed from handicap to weight-for-age as well. The Sandown Classic started in 1888 and it was still known back then as the Williamstown Cup and Mara won that inaugural race. In recent years, Zipping has put his stamp of dominance over the race for he was won the race from 2007 to 2010.
Meanwhile, the Sandown Guineas is a Group 3 race with a distance of 1600 metres. This set weight race for three-year-old horses is regarded as the last high-profile race in the Australian horse racing season. The Sandown Guineas started in 1957 as a fillies-only race and Orient won the first edition. Also, this race was originally staged at the Caulfield Racecourse from its first year until 1964.
The Eclipse Stakes is a Group 3 race with a distance of 1800 metres and a total prize purse of $125,000. Out of this purse, the winner takes $75,000. The Eclipse Stakes is held under quality handicap conditions for race horses of at least three years of age. The Eclipse Stakes was first held in 1981 with Pride of Century winning that race. The Eclipse Stakes became a Group 3 race in 1997.
On the other hand, the Sandown Stakes is the last major race in the racecourse and this Group 3 race is staged over 1500. This race is set under quality handicap rules and race horses of at least four years of age can join. The prize purse of the Sandown Stakes is $100,000. The Sandown Stakes was first held in 1981 and it was known back then as the Coles New World Stakes.
The Sandown Classic, Sandown Guineas, Eclipse Stakes and Sandown Stakes are all held in November during the Sandown Carnival which ends the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival calendar. The Sandown Carnival features the Sandown Classic Day and the Eclipse Stakes Day.
The facilities at the Sandown Racecourse have been improved over the past years. In 1997, a Quarantine center was built at Sandown to accommodate overseas horses that participate in the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Also, the Sandown Racecourse includes a motor racing circuit called the Sandown Raceway which is located in the outskirts of the horse racing track.
For better horse racing action, the Melbourne Racing Club redeveloped the Sandown Racecourse in October 2001. The redevelopment included the addition of 30 metres in the home turn and the addition of at least 30 metres in the home straight. The turnout was also widened by at least 30 meters. These redevelopments gave birth to the Hillside racecourse at Sandown.
You can get to the Sandown Racecourse by train via the Sandown Park Station at the Pakenham or Cranbourne Lines or by car via the Princess Highway in Springvale. When travelling by car, the Sandown Racecourse is about 20 kilometers southeast of the Central Business District of Melbourne which translates to a travel time of about 30 minutes.
