Flemington, Victoria Flemington, Victoria Flemington is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia, 4 km north-west of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government areas are the Cities of Melbourne and Moonee Valley. At the 2016 census, Flemington had a population of 7,719. The Melbourne Cup Thoroughbred horse race has been held at Flemington Racecourse since 1861. Flemington is located between the Maribyrnong River and the Moonee Ponds Creek and includes the locality of "Newmarket", in which the main commercial area Racecourse Road is located. The suburb was named by settler James Watson after Flemington Estate in Scotland. Another version of the origin
Washington Park Race Track time it was fashionable for the social elite to maintain close ties to equestrian sports. Some owned Thoroughbreds and thus were members of the Washington Park Jockey Club. The track's clubhouse, which was completed in 1896, was designed by Solon Spencer Beman, and C. B. McDonald built a short nine-hole club members' golf course in the infield of the track. Each June, the track sponsored the American Derby, which had a purse ranked among the highest in the country. When Washington Park Race Track first organized the American Derby in 1883, General Philip Sheridan served as its first President. By