Randwick Racecourse is the pinnacle of horse racing venues in Sydney with The Championships and The Everest headlining the racing calendar every year.
Situated 6km from the Sydney CBD, Randwick, or Royal Randwick as it is often referred to, is one of the best horse racing tracks in the world.
Randwick’s track dimensions are as follows:
* Circumference: 2227m
* Home Straight: 410m
* Direction: clockwise
The Championships is the highlight of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival with two days of action-packed racing and a total of eight Group 1 races. Day 1 is highlighted by the running of the $3 million Doncaster Mile, $2.5 million TJ Smith Stakes, $2 million Australian Derby and $1 million Inglis Sires’ for the two-year-olds.
One week later, the high-quality racing continues with the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes, $2 million Sydney Cup, $1 million Australian Oaks and $1 million Coolmore Legacy Stakes.
The world’s richest turf race takes place in the spring with the $13 million The Everest being contested over the 1200m. First held in 2017, The Everest has been won by Redzel on two occasions with the Peter & Paul Snowden-trained sprinter ridden by star jockey Kerrin McEvoy. It is an interesting concept with 12 slots available for purchase at an entry fee of $600,000.
Group 1 racing kicks off in March at Randwick with the Randwick Guineas and Canterbury Stakes. The Championships follows suit quickly in April before the Champagne Stakes and All Aged Stakes are held later in the month.
The George Main Stakes in September welcomes Group 1 racing back to the iconic venue. In the following month, the Epsom Handicap, Spring Champion Stakes, Flight Stakes and The Metropolitan are run and won.
Randwick was the venue for champion sprinter Black Caviar’s 25th and final career start as the Peter Moody-trained mare captured her second TJ Smith Stakes on April 13, 2013. It was the 15th Group 1 win of her career.
Another champion mare would notch her 25th straight victory at Randwick and her name is Winx. Trained by Chris Waller, Winx would win her second Queen Elizabeth Stakes by almost four lengths. She would then break Black Caviar’s record by winning the Winx Stakes at Randwick.
