Sandown Racecourse (commonly known as Ladbrokes Park due to name rights) is a Thoroughbred horse racing race track in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, that the Melbourne Racing Club manages. It is located on the Princes Highway in the Springvale district of Greater Dandenong, 25 kilometres southeast of Melbourne’s CBD.

The Track

The original course was a turfed oval 1892 metres in circumference and 30 metres wide, with sweeping cambered corners and a 407-meter uphill home straight.

The Tracks History

Sandown, created for the Victoria Amateur Turf Club, is the only urban racecourse built in the twentieth century, and it opened in June 1965 to a crowd of 52,000.

With an increase in the number of overseas horses drawn to the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, a Quarantine Centre was created at Sandown Racecourse in 1997 and used for the first time that year.

The Sandown Racecourse also has a motor racing circuit on the racecourse’s outskirts known as Sandown Raceway. Sandown Park, a Greyhound racing venue, is located close to the southwest on the opposite side of Lightwood Road.

Sandown Races

Most Famous Race Held At Sandown

The Zipping Classic, Sandown’s most important race, dates back to 1888. The event was first held at the Williamstown Racetrack, which the Williamstown Racing Club owns. From 1888 through 1962, the races were known as the Williamstown Cup. The Sandown Cup was renamed nearly two years before the track opened in 1963. Another name change occurred in 1999. The event was known as the Sandown Classic for 12 years before becoming the Zipping Classic in 2011, after four-time winner Zipping.

The Last Five Winning Horses

2023 – Military Mission

2022 – Vow and Declare

2021- Sound

2020- Sound

2019- Southern France

Racecourse Parking

To get to the racecourse, take the Monash Freeway or the Princes Highway to the Springvale Road exit. Follow the signs and keep an eye out for the turn-off to the course. It will take around 30 minutes to travel to Sandown through these routes. Free public parking is offered in the Centre Car Park on race days. Sandown’s marketers characterise the parking lot as significant; thus, driving makes sense here.

Directions To The Track

If you’re attending the Sandown track today and you’re looking for a winner, check out our tips.