Doomben Racecourse hosts some of Queensland’s best thoroughbred racing each and every year.
Noticeably smaller than most metropolitan race tracks, Doomben has a circumference of 1715m, while the home straight is 350m long. Horses race in a clockwise direction which is the same as Sydney racing.
Boasting more than 35 function spaces, Doomben Racecourse is the perfect venue for friends and family to celebrate each other’s company, and the equine athletes clashing on the superb Doomben turf of course!
The Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival is the busiest time for racing in Queensland and Doomben hosts two Group 1 features during this time.
Kicking off with the $700,000 Doomben 10,000 which is held over 1200m at weight-for-age in May, the Doomben 10,000 has an excellent honour roll of winners. Manikato captured the race in 1979 as a three-year-old, equalling Baguette’s weight record of 58kg for a three-year-old.
The mighty Bernborough captured the race in 1946. It was held over seven furlongs (1400m) at that stage and has also been run over 1350m. More recently, Takeover Target, Apache Cat (twice) and dual The Everest winner Redzel have captured the Doomben 10,000.
Middle-distance and stayers contest the $600,000 Doomben Cup over 2000m one week after the Doomben 10,000. The 1998 edition stands out when 2-11 favourite Might And Power won the race by 1.3 lengths over Intergaze. Might And Power had already won the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup in the previous year and would win the Cox Plate five starts later in the same year.
Rough Habit is famous for winning the Doomben Cup three years in a row between 1991-93.
Bernborough won the Doomben 10,000 in 1946 and would also win the Doomben Cup in the same year – he dominated his opposition winning a host of other feature races in that same year. He was one of five inaugural inductees into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, sharing the feat with Phar Lap, Carbine, Kingston Town and Tulloch.
