Caulfield racecourse is the pride of the Melbourne Racing Club and home to one of the biggest races in the land – the Caulfield Cup.

Affectionately known as ‘The Heath’, it is found in the south eastern suburbs of the city of Melbourne.

Originally the Victorian Amateur Turf Club (VATC) raced at Ballarat but in 1876 used Caulfield as its Melbourne base after having the land as far back as 1859.

Feature races began to be held and they included the Caulfield Cup which began in 1879.

During WWII Caulfield was used as an army base with barracks so racing was at Flemington.

In 2002, the VATC became the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) with racing still primarily at Caulfield but also with Sandown and Mornington as related tracks.

Caulfield holds 12 Group 1 races each season.

The Spring sees most of those races. The Memsie Stakes (1400m) kicks things off followed by the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) and the Underwood Stakes (1800m).

Then the Caulfield Cup carnival follows a fortnight later. The first day has the Caulfield Guineas (1600m), Caulfield Stakes (2000m), Thousand Guineas (1600m) and Toorak Handicap (1600m) with the time honoured richest mile and a half handicap in the world –the Caulfield Cup (2400m) run a week later.

In the Autumn there is the CF Orr Stakes (1400m), Oakleigh Plate (1100m), Futurity Stakes (1400m) and the big one is the Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) for the juveniles.

On a rotational three yearly basis, Caulfield will also host the All-Star Mile worth $5m.

Caulfield is a box shaped track with a long 1200m chute accommodating sprints from 900m to 1200m.

The Caulfield Cup start is at the top of the straight to the post and one lap. There are also little starts off the course proper at 1800m and 2000m but the main other start like that is the 1400m however it runs straight onto a bend and turns for 400m.

Two of the most famous winners of the Caulfield Cup are Tulloch in 1957 as a 3yo and Might And Power in 1997, both of whom won by times and margins.

One horse synonymous with Caulfield is Lord who won 3 x Caulfield Stakes, 2 x CF Orr Stakes, 4 x Memsie Stakes, 2 x St George Stakes, 2 x Underwood Stakes and a Liston and Futurity Stakes too.