Australian Horse Racing History

Horse racing in Australia was founded during the early years of settlement and the industry has grown to be among the top three leading Thoroughbred racing nations of the world, behind Japan and the United States.

The world famous Melbourne Cup, the so-called race that stops a nation, has recently attracted many international entries. In country racing, records indicate that Goulburn commenced racing in 1834.

Australia's first country racing club was established at Wallabadah in 1852 and the Wallabadah Cup is still held on New Year's Day (the current racecourse was built in 1898).

The most famous Australian racehorse is Phar Lap (bred in New Zealand), who raced from 1928 to 1932. Phar Lap carried 9st 12 lb (62.5 kg) to win the 1930 Melbourne Cup.

Between 2003-2005, the mare Makybe Diva (bred in the United Kingdom) became the only racehorse to ever win the Melbourne Cup three times, let alone in consecutive years.

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