Comprising 50 days of world-class racing action, Victoria's Spring Racing Carnival is headlined by its three richest races – the $2,550,000 BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on Saturday 16 October, the $3,050,000 Tatts Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday 23 October and the $5,650,000 Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on Tuesday 2 November.
Nominations for the 2010 Victorian Spring feature races close at 12 Noon (Australian Eastern Standard Time) on Monday 2 August 2010.
The Spring Racing Carnival is Australia’s biggest sporting and social event which in 2008 provided an economic benefit to Melbourne and the state of Victoria of more than $548 million.
These figures again prove that Melbourne is not only the sporting capital of Australia, but that racing captures the heart of a city and a state for 50 days during October and November every year.
International visitors have acheived outstanding results in recent years.
The Dermot Weld-trained Media Puzzle waltzed away with the Melbourne Cup in 2002, Japanese pair Delta Blues and Pop Rock produced a history making quinella in 2006 and Godolphin star All The Good gave the world's biggest racing operation its first Australian Group 1 when winning last year's Caulfield Cup.
History shows that international owners and trainers are focused on winning Australia’s most famous race, the Emirates Melbourne Cup. However trends are changing and many overseas trainers are now recognising the benefits of racing their horses in Melbourne prior to the Melbourne Cup.
The best example of this is 2002 Melbourne Cup winner Media Puzzle. Trainer Dermot Weld qualified Media Puzzle for the Melbourne Cup, by winning the Geelong Cup two weeks earlier. The Geelong Cup is run over 2400 metres and is one of the key provincial Cups in Australia, with prizemoney totalling $215,000.
Last spring, the Luca Cumani-trained Bauer almost repeated the feat, winning the Geelong Cup before being nosed out in the Melbourne Cup by Viewed.
But the Spring Racing Carnival isn't just about the "big three". A total of 15 Group 1 races are run throughout the 50 days of the Carnival, offering prize money of more than $25 million.
International horses competing at the Carnival are housed at the privately-owned Sandown Quarantine Facility at Betfair Park, approximately 30 kilometres south-east of the Melbourne CBD.
For all information on nominations, race conditions and quarantine please contact Racing Victoria's General Manager of Racing Operations Leigh Jordon on +61 3 9258 4661 or l.jordon@racingvictoria.net.au.