Flemington Racecourse The first Melbourne Cup was run in 1861. In 1871 the Victoria Racing Club Act was passed, giving the VRC legal control over Flemington Racecourse. The racecourse is shaped not unlike a pear, and boasts a six-furlong (1,200 m) straight known as 'the Straight Six.' The track has a circumference of and a final straight of for race distances over . Races are run in an anti-clockwise direction. The course has a crowd capacity of over 120,000 and contains three grandstands. The biggest ever attendance was on Victoria Derby Day in 2006 when 129,069 people saw Efficient win the Victoria
Saratoga Race Course "I Want to Know Why". Saratoga is also referenced in Carly Simon's 1972 #1 hit, "You're So Vain." The line "I hear you went up to Saratoga and your horse naturally won" refers to the Saratoga Race Course. The racetrack is referenced in the song "Adelaide's Lament" from the 1950 play "Guys and Dolls" in the line "When they get on that train to Niagara and she can hear church bells chime, the compartment is air conditioned and the mood sublime...then they get off at Saratoga for the fourteenth time!" Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a thoroughbred horse