Club History

1899 – Mornington Racing Club formed. Was essentially the successor to the Baxter’s Flat Racing Club which first raced in 1856 near Baxter Park. Race meetings were held at a number of other venues on the Peninsula in the latter part of the nineteenth century

1903 – The Mornington Racing Club enter a hiatus for a period of six years

1909 – Mornington Racing Club reformed and racing was established on the Peninsula with some semblance of permanency

1911 – First meeting held on current site (Drywood Estate) onFebruary 15

1915 – 1917 – two meetings held each year through the First World War

1919 – Mornington Racing Club increases number of meetings each season to four. Mornington acknowledged as the most popular outside of Melbourne at this time

1921 – Mornington Racing Club conducts its first Cup Meeting over eight and a half furlongs (1700 metres) and carried prizemoney of 80 pounds and a trophy valued at 75 pounds. This was a record attendance at a Mornington meeting, ‘with over 150 cars parked in the enclosure’

1928 – Mornington Cup prizemoney increased to 280 pounds. Cup Day supported by all of Melbourne’s leading trainers and jockeys

1930 – Mornington Racing Club increases number of meetings to five

1937 – Touring English Cricket team has a day at a January Mornington racemeeting

1940 – Mornington Racing Club increases number of meetings to seven each year. Grandstand at this time was a converted locomotives shed that had been transported from North Melbourne

1941 – Committeeman Alf Kirton moved that ‘racing be suspended for the duration of the war’. Last meeting on November 13 1941. Within months, the course was unrecognizable

1947 – Sir Reginald Ansett re-established racing following the Second World War through which the Mornington Racecourse was used as an Army base. Sir Reginald chaired a propriety limited company which purchased the course and buildings for 14,000 pounds and then leased the land to the Mornington Racing Club. Sir Reginald co-ordinates the recreation of the Mornington Racecourse from ‘a veritable wilderness’ which the reserve had become

Dec 4th 1947 – First post war meeting conducted with stakes of 825 pounds

Jan 15th 1948 – Cup Day held with stakes of 1,000 pounds. Sir Reginald states “I want the public of the Mornington Peninsula to consider the Racecourse as their own. It will prove a great asset to the Peninsula as we intend to make it the finest racecourse in Australia, with the best facilities. The public will find that nothing will be left undone for their comfort and consideration”. Cup meeting in 1948 was a huge success. Sir Reginald had brought a ‘fanciful notion’ to reality in the space of just four months

1949 – Mornington conducts eight racemeetings

1950 – Mornington Racing Club donates profits from its meetings to a number of charitable and educational institutions around the Mornington Peninsula

1951 – Club borrows 4,000 pounds to carry out extensive works of racecourse. Also, trainers provided labour and finance to build a training track inside the racecourse

1952 – Debentures issued for the purchase of the Mornington Racecourse

1956 – Club undertakes to construct Public Grandstand at a cost of 10,400 pounds

1957 – Mornington constructs famous ‘figure 8’ steeplechasing circuit following a visit by Sir Reginald to Italy

1959 – Mornington uses mobile starting barriers for the first time

1960 – 61 – Introduction of off-course totalisator

1963 – 5 furlong chute is constructed and the Members stand was extended at a cost of 22,000 pounds

1965 – Public stand improvements undertaken at a cost of 40,000 pounds

1971 – 1973 – Mornington relinquishes 140 acres of land to the Crown to qualify for a capital grant of $250,000 from the Racecourse Development Fund to extend the Grandstand

1981 – Sir Reginald dies in September 1981

1982 – R M Ansett Stakes held for the first time with stakemoney of $20,000. This race today carries prize money of $100,000, making it one of the richest races on the country circuit

1983 – Local horse Silver Bounty wins the Mornington Cup. Silver Bounty won the 1981 Caulfield Cup

1987 – Mornington Cup prizemoney increases to $45,000. Construction commences on a wood fibre training track at a cost of $360,000

1996 – Mornington Racing Club establishes a joint venture with Sale Turf Club to operate Steeples Tabaret

1997 – In March 1997, Steeples Tabaret opens for business

2000 – Mornington Racing Club launches Hareeba Stakes on Cup Day with prizemoney of $75,000, making it the richest sprint race in country Victoria. The Mornington Cup prizemoney of $150,000 is also the richestin country Victoria

2001 – New equine swimming pool opened in December. Funded by RVL, the pool cost more than $400,000 to construct. Hareeba Stakes prizemoney increased to $100,000

2003 – Work commences on the redevelopment of the Grandstand ($4.2M) and an extension of Steeples Tabaret ($2.1)

2004 – New Grandstand (R M Ansett Grandstand) is opened on 5th August

2005 – New sand training track completed in March at a cost of more than $600,000. Fifty eight new stripping stalls constructed at a cost of $250,000. The Club moves away from the two day Cup Carnival after being granted Grand Final Day fixture

2006 - 2007 - major redevelopment of the training facilities commenced. New all weather training track, beach sand track and grass training track were constructed at a cost of $5.5M. Mornington Cup prize money increases to $175,000 in 2006 and then to $200,000 in 2007