Joe’s Quick Guide to the Spring Racing Carnival 2024
Spring is here, the footy season has ended so that means all eyes are now focused on the horses! Here’s your mate Joe Fortune with my quick guide on which are the big races, what horses are the early favourites and a couple of other tips to help you on the way for Spring Racing Carnival 2024.
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When, Where and How to Watch the Spring Racing Carnival 2024
Over the next few Saturdays, as well as on Tuesday and Thursday in the first week of November, the Spring Racing Carnival is alive and in action! There is plenty of incredible horse racing to look forward to from Rosehill Gardens and Royal Randwick in Sydney to Moonee Valley, Caulfield and Flemington in Melbourne.
If you can’t get to the races then you won’t miss out at your local pub or club, as they will have it all live on SKY 1. If you’re at home Channel7 will be covering most of the carnival but you can expect to find Melbourne Cup Week on the Nine Network for the next 5 years. If you’re on the move and wanting to stay up to date with all live horse racing be sure to download both the Racing.com App as well as the Sky Racing Active App.
The Everest
The Everest is Australia’s richest horse race, and the most valuable anywhere in the world on turf! It is held annually at Royal Randwick in Sydney and is now worth a stunning $20 AUD million. First run in 2017, it is a unique concept where slot holders pay for the privilege to enter a horse into the race. This creates a competitive and high-stakes battle, with owners of a slot making tough decisions on which horse they should select to give them the best chance of winning.
The race is run over 1,200 metres and has attracted some of the best sprinters in the world. In only a few years The Everest has quickly become a highlight of the Australian racing calendar, drawing huge attention from both traditional racing enthusiasts and the next generation of fans. Last year the race was won by Think About It with runner up I Wish I Win the early favourite to go one better this time around. The Everest will be run on Saturday 19th October and is the showpiece race of the card which also features The Kosciuszko and the King Charles III Stakes.
The Caulfield Cup
The Caulfield Cup is one of the most prestigious horse races held annually at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne. Established in 1879, it’s a key event in the Spring Racing Carnival run over 2,400 metres. Open to horses aged three and older, the race also attracts plenty of international interest. Last year, one that’ll go down in the history books as a classic, saw The Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Without A Fight ridden by Mark Zahra, deliver a brilliantly timed ride to defeat the favourite UK-trained West Wind Blows.
With a total prize pool of $5 million, the Caulfield Cup is a major lead-up event to the famous Melbourne Cup. Before last year you had to go back to 2001 when the kiwi mare Ethereal won both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup in the same year showing what an achievement it was. This year the early favourites for the race are the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Eliyass and Warmonger which is in the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr stable.
The Cox Plate
The Cox Plate is often referred to as the greatest two minutes in sport and is held annually at Moonee Valley Racecourse. First run in 1922, the race is over 2,040 metres with a prize pool of $5 million, it is one of the highlights of the Spring Racing Carnival and considered to be the nation’s premier middle-distance race.
In recent times the race has become very closely linked with wonder-mare Winx who won the race four times in a row between 2015-2018. The combo of jockey Hugh Bowman and trainer Chris Waller seeing off all challenges both from Australia and overseas. Last year it was the Hong Kong-trained Romantic Warrior, with James McDonald in the saddle, who won in a thriller ahead of Mr Brightside. Amongst the early favourites in the market for this year’s race are Pride of Jenni and Broadsiding.
Be sure to put Saturday 26th October in your diary as it looks like being another open contest again this year.
The Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup, known as ‘the race that stops a nation,’ is Australia’s most famous horse race, held every year on the first Tuesday of November at Flemington Racecourse. First run in 1861, and won by a horse called Archer, the Cup is run over 3,200 metres. The last horse to win more than one Melbourne Cup was Makybe Diva who won from 2003-2005 and marked her name in racing folklore.
With a prize pool of over $8 AUD million, it continues to attract the best staying thoroughbreds from around the world, making it still standout as the highlight of the Spring Racing Carnival. With Flemington regularly getting crowds of 100,000 on Cup Day the race remains an important day in Aussie culture. Last year the race was won by Without A Fight which completed an incredible Cup Double for jockey Mark Zahra. This year’s race is on Tuesday 5th November with the Irish-trained Vauban one of the early favourites who is expected to improve on its disappointing run last year.
Joe’s Top Tips for the Spring Racing Carnival Â
I’m going to keep it simple this year. The Joe Fortune Top Tips for punting over the Spring Racing Carnival are to follow the top two trainers in the country if they’ve got a runner in one of the big races. Ciaron Maher, based in Victoria, continues to break records and has been very clever where he places his runners. In NSW, Chris Waller is meticulous in his preparation at this time of the year so keep an eye out on his horses which are freshly back from a spell in Queensland.
When it comes to jockeys, I’ll be following Mark Zahra and Blake Shinn in Victoria through the Carnival and in NSW whilst you can’t look beyond James McDonald to go well, but I’ll be backing Zac Lloyd and Tim Clark’s rides as I reckon they might offer some value. Whatever you’re picking, enjoy the next few weeks as horse racing doesn’t get any better!