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Turf Deli - Flemington Track Guide
Flemington Track Guide

Flemington is big, damm big. Which is good, cause there are not any places that can accommodate the 100,000 people that can often turn up if they manage to strike a warm day during cup week. Cup Week , of course, is bigger than big, it is the biggest sporting event in Australia. Kicking off with Derby Day on the Saturday, followed by the Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November, Oaks Day on the Thursday and Stakes Day on the next Saturday the VRC are blessed in that the event promotes itself.

The crowds on Oaks Day in particular have been growing steadily every year. It has rapidly changed from 50,000 ladies having a champagne and a giggle in the early 90s, to 50,000 ladies having a champagne and a giggle and being leered at by 50,000 over zealous guys. Those who study natural phenomena closely, such as mating rituals and migration patterns term this phenomenon a good place to pick up. Melbourne Cup week is an unofficial holiday in Melbourne town, and those of you who work in big corporations know that to get Oaks Day off you need to book a year in advance. No one is going to believe you if you chuck a sickie, so don't even try.

Things to watch out for:

No boozing : If you travel by train you cannot take alcohol in through the station gates. If you do have a large esky that you have carefully packed to the rim with grog and now find that you cannot take it in through the station gates, it is physically impossible to quickly drink its contents in ten minutes on the station and then proceed on with the day as planned . Don't even try.. Many have tried, all have failed.

Sound quality :Finally, the VRC have installed speakers on the lawns. Prior to the mid 1990s if you were out on the lawn it was impossible to hear the race call and you probably could not see the finish anyway. All of which may it a bit difficult to bet, and made those few experience campaigners who arrived with headphones very popular indeed.

Mark your spot carefully :Those lawns are big and crowded and although you may think you have a good idea of where home base was, so did many early explorers who are now remembered by memorial statues and commemorative fountains, rather than retirement homes named in their honour.

The new members stand. :If you are not a member, then you probably don't care. If you are lucky enough - well it looks pretty good as we peer our faces hard pressed against the glass from the plebs section.

Down the straight indicator : What a great idea !! and about bloody time too. On course monitors display a 'inside ahead' or 'outside ahead' every couple of hundred metres for the race down the Flemington straight. For the uninitiated these sprint races usually split into two groups, once against the inside rail, the other against the outside rail, and it is nigh impossible to line up which is in front until right on the finishing line. Bloody brilliant

On The Day:

Getting There By Car : Would not bother for the main spring races. Racecourse Road is horrific on any normal Saturday, let alone big race days

By Public Transport : Trains leaving Flinders St and Spencer St every few minutes during Cup week and will take you straight there. Enjoy the scenic ride as you go through the Flemington industrial estate and past the large strawberry Big M in the showgrounds. Remember to validate.

Remember to buy your racecourse admission ticket at the train station beforehand. A big time saver.

Where To Meet : The grey steps leading down from the train station. You can’t miss them, they are steep and grey and rather ugly. They also represent a formidable challenge if you are in a large pack of drunken, tired and emotional race goers scaling their dizzy heights on the way home.

Useful Stuff ATM Machines : Several choices here. There are ATMs in the tote houses at each end of the betting ring. Other option is going up to the foyer of the Tabaret (walk straight up the hill past the train station and keep going).

Cigarettes : The Tabaret is the place again for your liquid gold.
On This Year:

Turnbull Stakes (05/10/2002): More for the racing purist, a great guide to the Cups.

Derby Day (02/11/2002): A huge program of quality horses. Renown as the best racing day of the year. Admission : $35

Melbourne Cup (05/11/2002): The race that stops a nation....The race that quite often stops the TAB's computer system. Admission : $30

Oaks Day (07/11/2002) : If you have not been, then you have not lived. Admission : $30


Stakes Day (09/11/2002): The sanity subsides, and the regular punter returns to claim his territory. Admission : $17


Web Site : Check out all the information on packages, marquees, lunches and the like, if that is your cup of tea at the VRC web site

Famous Recent Races :

The 1997 Melbourne Cup when Greg Hall has waved his whip at the line on the fast finishing Doriemus in the belief that he had won beating Might and Power. The photo finish told a different story and proved the ancient Chinese proverb "don’t count your chickens before they are hatched". Might and Power's performance to lead all the way, one off the fence where the better going was (brilliant ride by J. Cassidy) and holding off several challenges was phenomenal.

1993 and Vintage Crop becomes the first overseas stayer to win the cup when he ploughs through a very wet Flemington. He leaves a mud splattered field behind him who can only hit the showers and think of what might have been.

Starstruck and Pindi go blow for blow in a tight finish to the 1994 Crown Quality (2500M), which used to be a lead up race to the Melbourne Cup. The margin, just a short neck. The head on replay clearly shows Starstruck laying in on top of Pindi and badly hampering her.... and her jockey doing likewise. Mark Miller on Starstruck cops a two month suspension for leaning over and elbowing his rival jockey in one of the most bizarre finishes ever seen at Flemington.

Track Guide Flemington has a long straight, so most horses get a good chance to show if they are any good or not. The races down the straight (1000M, 1100M, 1200M) are horrendous to bet on, cause horses chose either the outside or inside rail, one of which will be faster (it's usually the outside). Make sure you pay attention to any races down the straight so you can establish which side is quicker, its a sure fire way to make easy money based on a horse's barrier position.

Track Circumference: 2314 M Length of Straight : 453 M
 
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