Aspendale Racecourse or Aspendale Park Racecourse, located at Aspendale, Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, was a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

venue, and the world's first purpose-built

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

track. Aspendale Racecourse opened on 14 April 1891. It was established by James Robert Crooke, a horse trainer, who named the course after Aspen, one of his best horses, which had won the

Newmarket Handicap The Newmarket Handicap is a Victoria Racing Club Group One, Group 1 Thoroughbred open handicap horse race over a distance of 1200 metres, at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia on Super Saturday in March during the VRC Autumn Racing Carn ...

twice, in 1880 and 1881.Aspendale Park Racecourse
at Kingston Historical Website The track was situated east of the current Aspendale railway station and is believed to have been one mile (1.6 km) in length. Garden landscaping was designed by William Guilfoyle, who was the director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. Crooke was also a motoring enthusiast. In 1904, the

Royal Automobile Club of Victoria The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) is a motoring club and mutual organisation. It offers various services to members, including insurance and roadside assistance. It has about 30,000 ordinary club members and 2.1 million service ...

held its first automobile demonstration at Aspendale Racecourse. In 1905, Crooke built a motor raceway, Australia's "first commercial track", inside the existing horse racing track. It was also the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit, holding its first race meeting in January 1906 . The pear-shaped track was close to in length, with slightly banked curves and a surface of crushed cement. Two racing car meetings were held, in January and November 1906, before the circuit fell into disuse. A banked track was constructed in 1923 over the original saucer-shaped track,Racing and Death at Aspendale
at Kingston Historical Website but it had fallen into disuse again by 1930. The circuit was briefly revived after the Depression, but had ceased operating prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The last recorded horse race at Aspendale Park was on 29 July 1931. Motor racing continued until the late 1940s. The area is now residential housing.

References

* {{MelbourneRacing Sports venues completed in 1891 Sports venues in Victoria (state) Defunct motorsport venues in Australia 1891 establishments in Australia Defunct horse racing venues in Australia