Australian Jockey Club

The Australian Jockey Club (AJC) was founded in January 1842. It morphed from the former Australian Racing Committee set up in May 1840 to set the standards for racing in the colony. Races were held at the newly established Homebush Course which was headquarters of NSW racing until 1860.

It is considered the senior racing club in Australia and was responsible for founding the Australian Stud Book, which it still oversees today.

The club also, in conjunction with the Victoria Racing Club, formulated the Rules of Racing that are followed by all Australian race clubs.

Two courses are operated by the club being Randwick and Warwick Farm in Sydney.

Archives

Archival information is available from visiting the Australian Jockey Club Racing Museum in Randwick. Information is available in the form of photographs, journals, books and newspapers.

Major Races

Some of the major races staged today by the AJC include the Sydney Cup, AJC Derby, Epsom Handicap, Doncaster Handicap, The Galaxy, All Aged Stakes and the Chipping Norton Stakes.

AJC Easter Carnival

The AJC Easter Carnival is the 2nd major part of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival. Traditionally the carnival begins on Easter Saturday and contained up to four days of racing over a three week period. In 2008 the carnival was delayed by four weeks due to the 2007 Australian equine influenza outbreak.

Between 2004 and 2007, the carnival had been held over four days in the one week in an attempt to emulate the success of the VRC Melbourne Cup Carnival. This has been met with limited success with the Wednesday meeting in particular being poorly attended. For the 2009 season, the AJC reverted to a two week program over three Saturdays with a limited mid week or Easter Monday meeting. In addition to this decision, the principal body, Racing NSW, determined that the carnival will begin on the second Saturday in April regardless of the timing of Easter in a particular year. This decision goes against more than 100 years of tradition and has been protested by the AJC. A fixed date allows for a better coordinated national racing calendar, ensuring the best horses will be available for both the AJC Carnival and the STC Golden Slipper Carnival in addition to Melbourne and Adelaide carnivals