Morphettville Racecourse is situated in the suburb of Adelaide in Morphettville, South Australia. This race track serves as the main racing track for its entire state, and is also home to the well-established South Australian Jockey Club. The club established the Morphettville Racecourse in 1876, after having used rented facilities at Victoria Park for many previous years.
The track at Morphettville Racecourse is a flat course with a total circumference of 2,307 metres and a width of 32 metres. The second race track at the course, known to locals as ‘The Parks’, was constructed and opened for racing during 2009. This track runs at a total circumference of 2,100 metres and a width of 25 metres. The Morphettville track hosts many annual racing events in Group 1, 2 and 3 categories, including such races as the Goodwood Handicap, the Adelaide Cup, the SAJC Breeders’ Stakes and the DC McKay Stakes.
The Goodwood Handicap Today
The Goodwood Handicap today is a Group 1 horse race which is still held at the Morphettville Racecourse in Adelaide. The race is run over 1,200 metres and is hosted in May of each year. The race is one of the horse betting events featured as part of the Adelaide annual racing carnival, and is included as one of the four Group 1 races run at the Morphettville track during the carnival. The other races include the Robert Sangster Stakes, The Australasian Oaks and the South Australian Derby.
Held 2 weeks before the Goodwood Handicap at the same track, the DC McKay Stakes is the primary preparatory race for the Goodwood. The race is run over 1,100 metres, and finalists may be invited to compete at the upcoming Goodwood Handicap later in May.
The 2015 Goodwood Handicap at Morphettville
In 2015, the Goodwood Handicap was held on the 16th of May at the Morphettville track in Adelaide. The race was run under set weight conditions over its standard distance of 1,200 metres, and offered total prize money of AUS$500,000. The race was one of two premier Group 1 sprinting races held in Adelaide, but was the only race that was open to both sexes; the Robert Sangster Stakes race is open exclusively to fillies and mares.
The 2015 first place winner of the Goodwood Handicap was horse Flamberge with jockey V. Duric. The runner-up in second place was jockey D. Oliver riding horse Lord of the Sky, and M. Zahra with Under the Louvre claimed a solid third place.
History of the Goodwood Handicap
The Goodwood Handicap is an established horse race that has been run at Morphettville since the SAJC began hosting race meetings at the venue. The Goodwood Handicap was first run in 1881, at which point the race was still considered to be a principal race.
More recently in 1980, the race was elevated to its current Group 1 status, and up until 2007 the race went under the name of the Goodwood Handicap. It was in 2007 that the SAJC changed the race’s specifications, making it a set weights race with penalties and renaming it to simply ‘The Goodwood’.