9-455: The Blue Diamond Stakes is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-olds, at set weights, run over 1200 metres at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne , Victoria, Australia . The event is Victoria's richest two-year-old race with total prize money of A$ 2,000,000. Prizemoney was increased from $ 1 million to $ 1.5 million in 2016 and to $ 2 million in 2023. In 1996
18-762: A major upgrade of facilities and training tracks at Caulfield, and a change name from the Victoria Amateur Turf Club to the Melbourne Racing Club. Jumps racing is conducted at the Sandown track during the winter months, the blue ribbon events being the Australian Steeple and the Australian Hurdle. In 2024, the club was engulfed in controversy arising from a number of decisions by the MRC board, including
27-697: A period of four years, and it became a depot and barracks for army recruits during the Second World War . The then Vice-President of the United States, Richard Nixon , attended the Caulfield Cup meeting in 1953. In 1963, the Melbourne Racing Club, which had been created from an amalgamation of the Williamstown Racing Club and the Victorian Racing and Trotting Association, was incorporated into
36-687: The Caulfield Guineas and the Toorak Handicap . In addition, the Caulfield Cup was switched to the spring racing season and became the lead up race to the Melbourne Cup . The Futurity Stakes was added to the racing calendar in 1898. In 1922, the Members' Stand was destroyed by fire and, five years, later the Guineas Stand was also burnt down. In 1940, the military occupied Caulfield Racecourse for
45-674: The Victoria Amateur Turf Club in 1875, with E.C. Moore as the club's first Secretary. The first VATC race meeting was held at Dowling Forest Racecourse in Ballarat , on Friday, 24 March 1876. Within six months, the VATC was granted use of Crown land at Caulfield as a permanent home in Melbourne. In 1879, the club staged the first running of the Caulfield Cup and, two years later, introduced
54-465: The VATC. Following the merger, the newest of Melbourne's race tracks, Sandown Racecourse , was opened on 19 June 1965, in front of a crowd of over 52,000. The first Blue Diamond Stakes , a race for two-year-olds, was run at Caulfield in 1971, won by Tolerance. The glass-fronted Rupert Clarke Grandstand, which replaced the main Caulfield grandstand of the 1920s, was opened in 1992. With the increase in
63-403: The event was held at Flemington Racecourse due to reconstruction of Caulfield Racecourse. In 2023 the race was run at Sandown Racecourse . † Roedean finished first but was later disqualified for returning a positive swab Melbourne Racing Club The Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) is one of three metropolitan horse racing clubs in Melbourne , Victoria , Australia. It began life as
72-560: The number of visiting international horses to the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival , the VATC established a permanent quarantine centre at Sandown Racecourse in 1997. In 2001, the Club commenced a five-year, $ 20 million, strategic plan which included the establishment of 20 feature race days at Caulfield, the construction of a second turf track at Sandown, to be known as Hillside, with the existing circuit being renamed Lakeside,
81-411: The potential sale of Sandown Racecourse, a $ 250 million plan to replace the glass-fronted Rupert Clarke grandstand, and a $ 160 million upgrade to the Caulfield course that had included an unpopular new site of the mounting yard, and a new inner track that was rarely used. John Kanga, a board member, gave notice of a motion, backed by more than 150 members’ signatures, to convene a special general meeting of
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