Thousand Guineas turnover defies overall Victorian spring downturn

A revamped Victorian spring resulted in Group 1 racing staged across 11 weekends with the transfer of the Thousand Guineas producing a hefty increase in betting turnover that bucked a wagering trend from the opening day of the carnival.

Turnover for the carnival, which opened on September 2, reached $2.9 billion - a 12 per cent downturn year-on-year which Racing Victoria said was due to macroeconomic pressures, favourable results for bookmakers and a 33 per cent decline in free bet turnover.

But wagering was 14 per cent higher than the pre-COVID figures of 2019.

The Thousand Guineas was transferred from a mid-October timeslot to November 18 with wagering up 41 per cent.

The spring's three major races – the Melbourne Cup, the Caulfield Cup and the Cox Plate – produced $300 million in domestic turnover, in line with COVID peaks to remain largely unaffected by the wagering downturn.

RV said more than 566,000 people attended meetings during the spring carnival, an increase of 12.5 per cent on 2022.

The four meetings during the Melbourne Cup carnival at Flemington were the most attended in Australia during the spring.

Because of restricted capacity due to ongoing racecourse works, the Caulfield Cup had a crowd of 25,121 - up 2.6 per cent on 2022.

Cox Plate day attracted 21,021 fans - an increase of 10 per cent.

Country crowds were also up at feature meetings, while Dunkeld and Avoca welcomed crowds back to their Cup meetings.

The Cox Plate, the Memsie Stakes and the Champions Mile were provisionally the three highest-rating races of the carnival.

The Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup were among several races to provisionally achieve an increased race rating on 2022.

RV chief executive, Andrew Jones, said this year's spring racing carnival delivered high-quality, safe and competitive racing along with excellent crowds.

"We thank racing fans for their support through spring, from the feature Group 1 meetings to our iconic country Cups," Jones said.

"We thank our clubs for delivering spectacular race day experiences and the punters, owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys and stable staff, locally and internationally, for their continued support of this fantastic carnival."