Sandown Racecourse has been renamed a number of times starting in 2008 when it was called Sportingbet Park. 2015 saw the racecourse be renamed to Williams Hill Park but in 2016 it was finally called Ladbrokes Park.
It is a fairly new racecourse that opened in 1965 in front of a crowd of over 50 000 people. It was originally built for the Victoria Amateur Turf Club and is the 20th Century’s only racecourse built in a metropolitan area.
It is about 25 kilometres from the centre of Melbourne. Situated on the Princes Highway in Springvale which is a suburb of the City of Greater Dandenong.
The racecourse is located in Melbourne, Victoria and is a thoroughbred horse racing track that is managed by the Melbourne Racing Club. The racecourse is also home to high octane motor sport racing events and is used for drivers to train. This racing track is on the outside of the racecourse and is called Sandown Raceway. It is also used as a premium function and events venue.
Details about the Sandown Racecourse Track
Originally, the track was an oval shape that had a circumference of 1 892 metres and was 30 metres wide. There were cambered turns and an uphill home straight that was 407 metres long.
In 2001 the racecourse was redeveloped and where the home turn was made 30 metres wide and the main straight and the turn out of the straight was increased from 30 metres to 45 metres.
Two tracks were thus created. The Hillside track is now the one that uses the outside home turn and the outside 30 metres main straight. The Lakeside is the one that now comprises of the full 45 metres straight and the inner home turn.
The Hillside track has a circumference of 2 087 metres and a home straight of 491 metres long while the Lakeside track has a circumference of 1 857 metres with a 407 metre home straight.
The Race Day Events Held at Sandown
The thoroughbred horse racing programme for each year is run on a rotational basis over the two tracks available at the Sandown Racecourse. The schedule comprises of a total of 36 race days.
The most notable events that are held annually include the Sandown Spring Carnival Race Day, the Vietnamese Festival, the Melbourne Leisure Fest and the V8 Supercars Norton 360 Sandown Challenge, all great for racing betting.
The group races that are held at the racecourse include both group 2 and group 3 races. Group 2 races are the Zipping Classic which is an open race run over a distance of 2 400 metres and the Sandown Guineas which is an open race for three year olds that is run over a distance of 1 600 metres.
Group 3 races include the Eclipse Stakes which is an open race for three years olds and is 1 800 metres, Sandown Stakes which is open for four year olds and run over 1 500 metres, Summoned Stakes which is for four year old mares and is 1 500 metres and the Kevin Heffernan Stakes which is an open race run over 1 300 metres.