Moonee Ponds, Victoria Moonee Ponds, Victoria Moonee Ponds is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the City of Moonee Valley. At the 2011 Census, Moonee Ponds had a population of 13,532. Moonee Ponds is home to Queens Park and the Moonee Valley Racecourse. Moonee Ponds was named by Donald Kennedy after his native valley in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The Clocktower Centre was originally constructed as the Essendon Mechanics' Institute, which was later purchased by the State of Victoria to become the Essendon Town Hall. Today it is primarily used as
Thoroughbred racing in Australia with international races like the Melbourne Cup and Cox Plate. The governing body is Racing Victoria Limited. The principal club is the Victoria Racing Club, which races at Flemington; the two other metropolitan clubs are the Melbourne Racing Club, which races at Caulfield and Sandown, and the Moonee Valley Racing Club, home of the Weight for Age championship of Australasia, the Cox Plate. The state boasts many top-class provincial and country racecourses including Pakenham, Cranbourne, Mornington, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Mildura, Stony Creek, Wangaratta, Warrnambool, Moe and Tatura. Racing in New South Wales is governed by Racing NSW. The principal clubs