Williamstown Racecourse 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 ...

track located at

Altona, Victoria Altona is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay Local government areas of Victoria, loc ...

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 ...

. Located south of

Kororoit Creek The Kororoit Creek is a watercourse of the Port Phillip catchment, rising in the outer north western suburbs of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Location and features The Kororoit Creek rises below Mount Kororoit, northeast of ...

, the racecourse was opened in 1869, following the establishment of the Williamstown Racing Club the previous year. In 1885, the

Williamstown Racecourse railway station Williamstown Racecourse is a demolished station on the former Altona railway line, now part of the Werribee railway line in Melbourne, Australia. It was located in the suburb of Altona, immediately south of the Kororoit Creek Road level crossi ...

was opened as the terminus of a branch line from the main Geelong line, providing passenger services on race days. In 1931,

Phar Lap Phar Lap (4 October 1926 – 5 April 1932) was a New Zealand-born champion Australian Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse. Achieving great success during his distinguished career, his initial underdog status gave people hope during the ear ...

won the

Underwood Stakes The Underwood Stakes is a Melbourne Racing Club Group One, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race, run over 1800 metres under weight-for-age conditions, held at Caulfield Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in late September each year. Total prize money ...

at the venue. The last recorded horse race at Williamstown was on 10 February 1940, after which the army commandeered the racecourse for the remainder 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 ...

. In 1947, fire destroyed both the public and members grandstands. The following year, the Williamstown Racing Club was forced to merge with the Victorian Trotting & Racing Association to form the new

Melbourne Racing Club The Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) is one of three metropolitan horse racing clubs in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It began life as the Victoria Amateur Turf Club in 1875, with E. C. Moore as the club's first Secretary. The ...

. In 1949 Williamstown Racecourse was sold for “surplus building materials” and became home to displaced World War II veterans. A 4-metre sculpture called Requiem for a Champion, created by the artist Yvonne George, featuring a bronze

stint A stint is one of several very small waders in the paraphyletic ''"Calidris"'' assemblage – often separated in ''Erolia'' – which in North America are known as peeps. They are Scolopacidae, scolopacid waders much similar in ecomor ...

perched on top of a galloping horse, was installed to commemorate the location of the former Williamstown racecourse.

References

{{MelbourneRacing Sports venues in Victoria (state) 1869 establishments in Australia Defunct horse racing venues in Australia