Doomben Racecourse is 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 in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
,
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
,
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 ...
. It is located in the suburb of
Ascot
Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to:
Places Australia
* Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane
* Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality
* Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide
* Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...
, 7 kilometres north of the
Brisbane central business district
Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is also colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD", "the city", or simply "town". The CBD is located on a point ...
. The Doomben course neighbours another thoroughbred venue called the
Eagle Farm Racecourse
Eagle Farm Racecourse is a heritage-listed horse racing venue in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located at the northern end of Racecourse Road in the suburb of Ascot, from the Brisbane central business district.
The turf track is wi ...
and can be accessed via car, train or bus. Together with Eagle Farm, these courses are considered the two major racecourses in
South East Queensland
South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...
, and can be seen sharing irrigation systems and some of Brisbane Racings feature events.
This racecourse underwent its last major reconstruction in 1996, which primarily included major changes to the racing turf and its surrounding structures. Doomben Racecourse is currently owned and operated by the
Brisbane Racing Club, following various past acquisitions and mergers between competing racing organisations in Brisbane. Since its establishment in 1933 and its first race being conducted that same year, the land of Doomben Racecourse has been passed between crown title, purchasing syndicates and registered racing organisations and had been subject to the effects of
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 ...
between the years 1941 and 1945.
Since this time, Doomben racecourse has hosted many major Australian races, including three
group 1 races, these being the
Doomben 10,000
The Doomben 10,000 is a Brisbane Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred Weight for Age horse race, run over a distance of 1200 metres at Doomben Racecourse, Brisbane, Australia during the Queensland Winter Racing Carnival. Total prize money is A$ ...
, the
BTC Cup, and the
Doomben Cup
The Doomben Cup is a Brisbane Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, run under Weight for Age conditions over a distance of 2000 metres at Doomben Racecourse, Brisbane, Australia during the Queensland W ...
.
Location
Doomben Racecourse is located in the middle of four roads, these being; Raceview Ave (to the North), Hampden St (to the South), Southern Cross Way (to the east), and Nudgee Rd (to the West), with the entrance to the venue being located on Hampden Street. Positioned in the North-East corner of Brisbane's suburb of Ascot, this race course sits adjacent to another Race course called Eagle Farm. The two courses lie within a half a kilometre of each other and are separated by Nudgee Road with Doomben to its East and Eagle Farm to its West. Due to previous competition between the two Racecourses, Nudgee Road has often been referred to as the "
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
", to symbolise the historical rivalry between the two venues.
Transport
Transport to and from the course can be found in the form of trains, busses, taxis as well as the ability to drive yourself. Via the train, Doomben racecourse can be accessed from the
Doomben Railway station
Doomben railway station is the terminal station of the Doomben line in Queensland, Australia. It serves the Brisbane suburb of Ascot adjacent to Doomben Racecourse.
History
The Pinkenba line opened on 1 April 1897 to Pinkenba. A station for ...
, which is part of the
Pinkenba
Pinkenba ( ) is a town and eastern coastal suburb within the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Pinkenba had a population of 350 people.
Geography
Pinkenba is a long narrow strip of land on the northern side of the Brisbane Riv ...
line and lies only a 5-minute walk (Approximately 400m) from the course's entrance. Busses can be used to reach the venue on the 301 route, which runs from Adelaide St in the city to numerous stops surrounding the course. The two stops which are located closest to the main entry and members' entry at gate 4 include stops 29 (Hampden St at St Ledger) and 30 (Hampden St at Hopetoun Street). Taxi transportation can be found on Hampton Street out front of gate 4 from the specified
taxi rank
A taxicab stand (also called taxi rank, cab stand, taxi stand, cab rank, or hack stand) is a queue area on a street or on private property where taxicabs line up to wait for passengers.
Operation
Stands are normally located at high-traffic l ...
. If attendants are driving to the venue themselves, public parking can be located using gates 1 and 2 along Nudgee Rd which leads to the infield carpark. Members parking, however, can be found using gate 5 on Hampden Street along with
disabled parking availability.
Course details

The Doomben race track completed its last major reconstruction in December 1996 at a total budget of $3.3 million. With design inputs from Robert Bird and his partners, Basic Construction were able to perform these major works on the course, which included additions such as new irrigation systems, steward towers and rails as well as the replacement of the track turf and soil around the course. Due to these modifications to the venue, Doomben's course dimensions as of 2021 include a 27-metre wide racetrack, with a
circumference
In geometry, the circumference () is the perimeter of a circle or ellipse. The circumference is the arc length of the circle, as if it were opened up and straightened out to a line segment. More generally, the perimeter is the curve length arou ...
of 1715 metres. The tracks front and
back straights of the track are 320 metres in length with a 2%
camber, however, the turns on the course are made more steep with a 5% camber. Doomben's entire racetrack is soiled with a
kikuyu
Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language.
It may also refer to:
*Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya
* Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people
*Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cen ...
turf-type and all races conducted on it are run in a clockwise direction, similar to most racetracks in Australia.
Doomben racecourse also maintains a number of training tracks which lie in the infield of the main racetrack. From infield-out, the order of these tracks are; track 3,
cinder track
A cinder track is a type of race track, generally purposed for track and field or horse racing, whose surface is composed of cinders. For running tracks, many cinder surfaces have been replaced by all-weather synthetic surfaces, which provide g ...
then track 2 with circumferences of 1550m, 1600m and 1650m respectively. Tracks 2 and 3 have an average width of 14m and 17m respectively, with both having the same kikuyu turf as the main racetrack.
Grandstand

Prior to the opening of Doomben racecourse, a
grandstand
A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...
was built by the
Kell and Rigby construction company in 1932.
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
services were provided by
G.H.M. Addison and MacDonald with the contract price of the grandstand amounting to 23,344 pounds. Following this, new additions were made to the grandstand in 1982 costing a total of $8 million. As at 2021, this grandstand is split into a members stand and a public stand enclosing venues such as the Satchel, Chief De Beers, Vo Rogue, 10,000 and Home Return rooms which were last renovated in 2018.
Irrigation
In November 2019, Project Pumps & Irrigation completed the installation of a personally designed
irrigation system
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has be ...
for the two racecourses of Doomben and Eagle Farm. Since the major works were completed in December 1996, this installation was the first change made to the system, which involved an entire replacement of the old system followed by the integration of a centrally controlled automated system. The water source used for this new irrigation system is an 8 ML storage in the infield of Doomben racecourse, which is fed solely from an 18 ML storage dam on
Eagle Farm racecourse
Eagle Farm Racecourse is a heritage-listed horse racing venue in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located at the northern end of Racecourse Road in the suburb of Ascot, from the Brisbane central business district.
The turf track is wi ...
, which is subsequently filled by stored runoff stormwater.
History
Doomben racecourse is currently owned and operated by the
Brisbane Racing Club (BRC), an entity which also owns and operates the neighbouring racecourse – Eagle Farm – which together, serve as the two most prominent Racecourses in
South East Queensland
South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...
. The BRC has operated within and between these two courses since the club's establishment in 2009, following a merger between two clubs; the
Queensland Turf Club
The Queensland Turf Club (QTC) was founded in August 1863.
It began on a piece of land in Ascot, Queensland, later called Eagle Farm Racecourse
Eagle Farm Racecourse is a heritage-listed horse racing venue in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. ...
(QTC) and the Brisbane Turf Club (BTC). The QTC, prior to the merger, had operated out of Eagle Farm Racecourse since the club's first race meeting in August 1865, with the BTC operating solely from Doomben racecourse. Although the BTC has conducted race meetings at Doomben since the course's opening and inaugural race in 1933, the BTC was formally known as the Brisbane Amateur Turf Club (BATC) which was the club that the Doomben course officially opened under. This change in club name, from BATC to BTC, occurred in 1997 and remained up until the 2009 merger.
The idea for this merger had been building up throughout the 2000s, as well as the possibility to potentially close the Doomben course in its entirety. Firm motions in favour of the merger then arose in 2007 due to Queensland Racing stating that the individual clubs of the BTC and QTC could not continue operations separately. This was due to increasing competition between the two clubs, and the subsequent division of attendants, which decreased overall profits. Indicative of this rivalry was the BTC's loss of over $1,000,000 in 2008. Consequently, in July 2009, this merger became official and the BRC was formed.
Ownership of land
Historically, the vast majority of land in Brisbane, known as
Meanjin
''Meanjin'' (), formerly ''Meanjin Papers'' and ''Meanjin Quarterly'', is one of Australia's longest-running literary magazines. Established in 1940 in Brisbane, it moved to Melbourne in 1945 and as of 2008 is an editorially independent impri ...
, has been occupied by the
Turrbal clan, together with the
Jagera people
The Jagera people, also written Yagarr, Yaggera, Yuggera, and other variants, are the Australian First Nations people who speak the Yuggera language. The Yuggera language which encompasses a number of dialects was spoken by the traditional own ...
. First records, following
colonisation
475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence.
Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...
, indicate that the land on which Doomben racecourse stands was property of
The Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
up until October 1915 when it was purchased by a
syndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
Etymology
The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndic ...
in recognition of its suitability to become a registered racecourse. In 1919, these 55.38 hectares of land were then purchased by Doomben Park Recreation Grounds Limited at a cost of 30,000 pounds. Over this time modifications were made to the property by both the syndicate and purchasing company, in order to prepare it for registered race meetings. These modifications included additions of fences, horse stables, starting lanes and a saddling paddock as well as the formation of a grass racing track with a 6-furlong straight. In 1930, the
Royal Commission
A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...
recommended that the Doomben land be sold or leased to an established racing club in order to facilitate registered racing, which was subsequently enacted and resulted in the BATC purchasing the land in 1933.
World War II
From 1933 onwards, Doomben racecourse conducted numerous race meetings up until 1941, in which an
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
in
WWII
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 ...
resulted in American Military Forces being moved from
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
to Brisbane's suburb of Hamilton. From here, the
American troops proceeded to occupy a vast majority of Brisbane suburbs, which included camps Doomben and Ascot, established respectively at both Doomben and Eagle Farm racecourse. These two camps, separated only by Nudgee road, were not enough to accommodate the approximate one million troops stationed in the suburb of Ascot between the years 1941 and 1945, and therefore an extension camp known as Camp Raceview was developed off of Camp Doomben, spanning North over Raceview Avenue. Over this period, Doomben racecourse's tracks, buildings and grandstands were all transformed into offices and accommodation to support the American Servicemen. This included modifications such as the infield of the course being covered by tents and the Members Stand being converted into an
Australian Army Signals Office. The South-East extension that connects to the six furlong straight of Doomben racecourse was similarly converted into an apron for aircraft and hangars which lie in the
Eagle Farm aerodrome, adjacent to the course. This provided access for the American troops to load, unload, refuel and board these aircraft. During this period of Military occupation on both racecourses, the weekly Saturday races of both clubs were moved to Albion park, which at the time was owned by the BATC, allowing for an easy transition.
Races
The first registered race meeting at Doomben racecourse was held on Saturday, 20 May 1933. This consisted of seven races throughout the day, with the main race, Doomben Newmarket Handicap, hosting 17 New South Wales horses to partake in the sprint event. This race was the first straight six furlongs sprint to be held in Queensland, which resulted in a close win from Wollun over the favorite, Closing Time.
Since 1933, Doomben racecourse has gone on to host a number of notable races under the ownership of the BTC and BRC which have been shared between the Eagle Farm and Doomben courses each year. The most significant of these races held at Doomben are the Group 1 events, which consist of the Doomben 10,000, the BTC Cup, and the Doomben Cup.
Doomben 10,000
Doomben 10,000 is a 1200m event, formerly known as the Doomben Newmarket Handicap which was first run on the day of the course's opening in 1933. After the
Pacific war
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...
ended and
military camp
A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...
s were removed from Doomben, the race became known as the Doomben 10,000 following the reopening of the course on June 1, 1946, in which the prize was increased to 10,000 pound. This made Doomben 10,000 the richest sprint race in Australia at the time, however, the total prize pool for the race in 2021 sits at $1,000,000.
BTC Cup
The BTC Cup originated in 1964 at Doomben racecourse under the name of the J. T. Delaney Quality Handicap, in which Rashlore was the first recorded winner. From 1964 onwards the BTC Cup was solely raced at Doomben up until 2013, in which the race was run at neighbouring racecourse, Eagle Farm, for the first time. The BTC Cup then continued to race at Doomben again until 2017, in which the race was permanently changed to Eagle Farm, the cup name was changed to the
Kingsford-Smith Cup, and the race was extended from 1200m to 1300m.
Doomben Cup
The Doomben cup was first run on Saturday, 27 May 1933, one week after the opening of Doomben racecourse. This inaugural race was won by Pentheus, over 17 other horses including favourite Wollun, following its Doomben 10,000 win one week prior. At the time, the prize of this race was 1,000 pound and a gold cup worth 150 pound, however, this has increased to $650,000 as of 2021 and is still raced at Doomben racecourse.
The following is a list of
Group races
Group races, also known as Pattern races, or Graded races in some jurisdictions, are the highest level of races in Thoroughbred horse racing. They include most of the world's iconic races, such as the Derby, Irish Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Trio ...
which are run at Doomben Racecourse.
References
Sources
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External links
*{{Commons category-inline
Doomben Racecourse Brisbane Racing Club
Horse racing venues in Australia
Sports venues in Brisbane
1933 establishments in Australia
Sports venues completed in 1933
Ascot, Queensland
Queensland in World War II