EXPERT RACING TIPS: CAULFIELD

CAULFIELD RACECOURSE (MELBOURNE RACING CLUB)

Known locally as ‘The Heath’, Caulfield Racecourse is located approximately nine kilometres from the Melbourne CBD, on the boundary of Caulfield and Caulfield East in the city’s south eastern suburbs. Together with Sandown and Mornington racecourses, Caulfield is operated by the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC). It is widely considered Melbourne’s second most prestigious racecourse behind Flemington, hosting around 25 meetings each season including some of the country’s most famous and historic races, headlined by the Group 1 Caulfield Cup. For the best Caulfield tips, previews and all the form, head to the Betfair Hub.

FAST FACTS

• Six internationally-trained horses have won the Caulfield Cup. They are: Taufan’s Melody (1998) for British trainer Lady Herries; All the Good (2008) and Best Solution (2018) for Godolphin’s Dubai trainer Saeed bin Suroor; Dunaden (2012) for French trainer Mikel Delzangles; Admire Rakti (2014) for Japanese trainer Tomoyuki Umeda; and Mer De Glace (2019) for Japanese trainer Hisashi Shimizu.

KEY EVENTS

Together with the Melbourne Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper, the Caulfield Cup makes up the four majors of Australian racing. It is the world’s richest turf handicap over 2400m and dates back to 1879. It was won in 2021 by Incentivise and in 2020 by Verry Elleegant, the two horses which then ran the quinella in the 2021 Melbourne Cup. In autumn Caulfield also hosts Victoria’s premier contest for juveniles, the Blue Diamond Stakes. A total of 12 Group 1 races are staged annually at Caulfield, with the prestigious Caulfield Guineas and the equivalent for fillies (the Thousand Guineas) both held the week before the Caulfield Cup. From three-year-old contests to handicap races for experienced stayers, Betfair’s leading team of tipsters bring you their Caulfield best bets for each and every meeting at The Heath.    

TRACK PROFILE

The track is triangular-shaped, with a total circumference measuring of 2,080m and a home straight of 367m. Some horses struggle to handle the tight turns and contours of the track, with interference also common particularly in the Caulfield Cup which features 18 runners.  

In 1995/96, the track was widened to 30m around the entire circumference and the straight was lengthened by 43m. The current surface has been cambered from the outside running rail, with the crown of the track at the outside running rail. The banking on the final turn into the home straight is four per cent, while the other turns have an equivalent banking of two per cent. Given the quirks of the track it pays to follow our tipsters when they bring you their Caulfield best bets free of charge on the Betfair Hub.   

HISTORY

Originally the Victorian Amateur Turf Club (VATC) raced at Ballarat, but in 1876 the club moved to Caulfield for its Melbourne base having owned the land since 1859. Feature races were soon held at Caulfield, with the Caulfield Cup making its debut in 1879. The inaugural event was won by Newminster, whose name adorns one of the barns at Racing Victoria’s quarantine facilities in Werribee. During World War II, Caulfield was utilised as an army barracks so racing was moved to Flemington for the duration of the conflict.

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