<p>The Spring Racing Carnival was once the domain of Melbourne, culminating in the iconic Melbourne Cup at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.</p> <p>Now however, the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival, that was once a fleeting prelude to Melbourne’s big three – the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup – is matching strides with Melbourne’s traditional events thanks to a rush of money and innovation from Racing NSW’s chief honcho and unabashed stirrer of anything south of the Murray River, Peter V’Landys.</p> <p>Love or hate V’Landys, he has turned Sydney’s Spring Racing program on its head, taking head on Melbourne's more historic emphasis on tradition with a series of new big-money races.&nbsp;</p> <p>Headlined by the $20 million The Everest, which has taken racing by storm and ruffled the feathers of Melbourne’s racing officials. The 1200m dash at Royal Randwick is now the richest turf race in the world.</p> <p>Although a prize money “war” of sorts followed V’Landys’ battle cry, he has proved to have too much fire power to the point that Sydney is sharing equal billing and hardly a month goes by without the “Little General” announcing another new million-dollar race on a day once reserved for Melbourne’s carnival.</p> <p>The cash splash has made the Spring Racing Carnivals the envy of the racing world. There is nothing like big-time racing in Australia in the spring for a feast of fun, colour, fashion, and a flutter on the races.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Victorian Spring Racing Carnival 2024</h2> <p>The Victorian Spring Racing Carnival is a broad church, not only highlighting the famous carnivals at the Melbourne metropolitan tracks at Caulfield (featuring the Caulfield Cup), Moonee Valley (Cox Plate), and Flemington (Melbourne Cup), but also racing fans can boot-scoot it out town to kick their heels up at some of Victoria’s iconic country cups including Geelong, Bendigo and Cranbourne.</p> <p>The Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival 2023 officially kicks off at the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes meeting at Flemington on October 7, a week after the AFL Grand Final at the MCG.</p> <p>The Victorian Spring Racing Carnival signs off on November 25 with the running of the $500,000 Cranbourne Cup. Racing Victoria has tinkered with the Spring Racing Carnival 2023 by moving two Group 1 races – the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (normally run in late September at Caulfield) and the three-year-old fillies classic, the Thousand Guineas (normally run during the Caulfield Cup Carnival in October) to November 18 at Caulfield.&nbsp;</p> <p>The reasoning was to extend the Group 1 festival of racing beyond the famous Melbourne Cup week at Flemington further into the “free air” Saturdays in November when the weather is fine, and the sporting opposition is non-existent.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Sydney Spring Racing Carnival 2024</h2> <p>Although spring fever hit when many of the big names of Australian racing resumed their Spring Racing Carnival campaigns in the $1m Winx Stakes at Randwick, in essence the real action to the north starts with the Sydney Everest Carnival. This kicks off at Randwick yearly in September, and finishes with the Five Diamonds Ladies Day at Rosehill in November.</p> <p>Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club will splurge a massive $45 million in seven weeks on their feature carnival, which is named after its headline act, The Everest, the 1200m sprint run at Randwick in October.</p> <p>The Everest is backed up by the unique Golden Eagle – run over 1500m for four-year-olds – that carries a $10m purse.&nbsp;Showing once again, V’Landy’s commitment to big money moves.</p> <p>The Sydney Spring Racing Carnival continues with the “new” $5 million race, the King Charles III Stakes, run over 1600m, on The Everest day, which first began back in 2023. This race was once the Group 1 George Main Stakes, run in September when it was a lead-in race to the Melbourne weight-for-age features in October and November.</p> <p>Now it’s slap bang in the middle of October, meaning most of the top Sydney horses will stay “home” for the rich Royal race before heading south for the Cox Plate.</p> <p>However, if you like to go bush, there are festival cup meetings through the NSW Spring Racing Carnival 2023 at Newcastle and Wyong, finishing off with the $1m The Gong meeting at Kembla Grange.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Spring Racing Carnival 2024&nbsp;key dates</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Melbourne feature races:</h3> <p>$3m G1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m), Caulfield, October 12.</p> <p>$1m G1 Might And Power Stakes (2000m), Caulfield October, 12.</p> <p>$1m G Toorak Handicap (1600m), Caulfield, October 12.</p> <p>$5m G1 Caulfield Cup (2400m), Caulfield, October 19.</p> <p>$5m G1 Cox Plate (2040m), Moonee Valley, October 26.</p> <p>$2m G1 Victoria Derby (2500m), Flemington, November 2.</p> <p>$2m G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m), Flemington, November 2.</p> <p>$1m G1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m), Flemington, November 2.</p> <p>$8m G1 Melbourne Cup (3200m), Flemington, November 5.</p> <p>$1m G1 VRC Oaks (2500m), Flemington, November 7.</p> <p>$3m G1 Champions Sprint (1200m), Flemington, November 9.</p> <p>$3m G1 Champions Mile (1600m), Flemington, November 9.</p> <p>$3m G1 Champions Stakes (2000m), Flemington, November 9.</p> <p>$1.5m G1 Thousand Guineas (1600m), Caulfield, November 16.</p> <p>$1m G1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m), Caulfield, November 16.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Sydney feature races:</h3> <p>$1m G1 Winx Stakes (1400m), Randwick, August 24.&nbsp;</p> <p>$1m G1 Golden Rose (1400m), Rosehill, September 28.</p> <p>$1.5m G1 Epsom Handicap (1600m), Randwick, October 5.</p> <p>$0.75m G1 The Metropolitan (2400m), Randwick, October 5.</p> <p>$0.75m G1 Flight Stakes (1600m), Randwick, October 5.</p> <p>$2m G2 Hill Stakes (2000m), Randwick, October 12.</p> <p>$20m G1 The Everest (1200m), Randwick, October 19.</p> <p>$5m G1 King Charles III Stakes (1600m), October 19.</p> <p>$2m G1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m), Randwick, October 26.</p> <p>$1m G2 Callander-Presnell (1600m), Randwick, October 26.</p> <p>$2m G2 The Invitation (1400m), Randwick, October 26.</p> <p>$10m Golden Eagle (1500m), Rosehill, November 2.</p> <p>$3m Winners Stakes (1300m), Rosehill, November 2.</p> <p>$3m The Big Dance (1600m), Randwick, November 5.</p> <p>$2m The Five Diamonds (1800m), Rosehill, November 9.</p> <p>$1m Golden Gift (1100m), Rosehill, November 9.</p> <p>$1m The Hunter (1300m), Newcastle, November 16.</p> <p>$1m The Gong (1600m), Kembla Grange, November 23.</p>