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
Pioneer Race Course as well as the later built nearby Union Race Course, appear to have affected the placement of the railway's extension into the city, and therefore still affects local property lines. Pioneer Race Course Pioneer Race Course, also known as the Pioneer Race Track, was a horse race track opened in March 1851 in the southern Mission District of San Francisco, California. Pioneer was the first race course in San Francisco. At the time it was built, no streets existed in the neighborhood. After construction, it appears to have been bounded by 24th St. (formerly Park St.), 26th St. (formerly Navy