Rosehill Gardens

Rosehill Gardens is one of Australia’s most prolific racetracks. Located in Sydney, Rosehill plays host to some of the country’s best racing each and every year, with 25 metropolitan meetings held annually. A part of the Australian Turf Club (ATC), Rosehill Gardens hosts autumn and spring feature races, including the Golden Slipper and the $10 million Golden Eagle. Our guide to Rosehill will run you through how to bet, major Rosehill races, Rosehill racing news and tips and much more.

Rosehill racing news

HorseBetting’s racing writers often write news stories on horses, trainers and jockeys from Rosehill Gardens. Here is all of the latest racing news about Rosehill:

Rosehill Gardens betting tips

All 25 race meetings at Rosehill Gardens are previewed by HorseBetting’s New South Wales racing analysts. Catch all of the Rosehill Gardens horse racing tips here:

Rosehill Gardens history

The first race meeting at Rosehill was contested on April 18, 1885. Then known as the Rosehill Racecourse Company, the track was built for a total cost of 17,000 pounds, while a crowd of 3000 attended the track on the opening day.

Thirty five years later in 1923, the Paddock Stand at Rosehill was burnt down, which led to Autumn Carnival races being transferred to Randwick Racecourse. Due to the fire, the stand was demolished and subsequently rebuilt, becoming the Leger Stand.

On April 24, 1929, champion racehorse Phar Lap broke his maiden status at Rosehill under apprentice jockey Jack Bauer. ‘Big Red’ would then go on to win the Rosehill Guineas a few weeks later, before returning the following two years and winning back-to-back Hill Stakes.

Almost 30 years on in 1957, the first running of one of Australia’s most prestigious races and the world’s richest two-year-old race, the Golden Slipper, was run and won. Todman won the inaugural running of the race by a whopping eight lengths for trainer Maurice McCarten. Years later, Todman had a statue built at Rosehill in his honour.

In 1982, a tradition that we still know well was started. Following the running of the Golden Slipper and Tancred Stakes, the silks of the winning horse were painted onto small jockey statues on either side of the Rosehill winning post. Marscay and Prince Majestic respectively were the first two horses to have their colours painted.

More recently, in 2011, the Australian Turf Club was formed, bringing together Rosehill Gardens, Royal Randwick, Warwick Farm and Canterbury Park under one banner. Since then, some of the best horses to race on Sydney tracks have won at Rosehill, most notably Winx.

The Chris Waller-trained wonder mare had just eight starts at Rosehill, winning all bar one. After winning her second ever race start as a two-year-old at this track, Winx would go on to add the Group 2 Phar Lap Stakes, Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes and then four consecutive Group 1 George Ryder Stakes from 2016 to 2019.

Features races at Rosehill Gardens

There are nine Group 1 races across the racing season held at Rosehill Gardens. Headlined by the $5 million Golden Slipper in March, there are also five other races at the top level contested for $1 million or more. The Tancred Stakes is worth $1.5 million for the stayers, while the George Ryder Stakes and Ranvet Stakes give the middle distance horses two $1 million races to target in the autumn. The sprinters aren’t forgotten either, with The Galaxy worth $1 million on Golden Slipper Day, before the three-year-olds get a shot at $1 million in the spring in the time-honoured Golden Rose.

The Rosehill Guineas, Coolmore Classic and Vinery Stud Stakes are also Group 1 races which are run at Rosehill Gardens during the Sydney Autumn Carnival. There are also 45 other blacktype races contested at Rosehill.

In 2019, the first running of the Golden Eagle was run and won at Rosehill. The 1500m event exclusive to four-year-olds has become one of the richest races on the Australian calendar, with a prizemoney increase in 2022 boosting the race to $10 million.

Rosehill Gardens track details

There are five tracks at Rosehill Gardens, but only one is for racing. The main race track at Rosehill has a circumference of 2048m, with the home straight being 408m long. There are seven starting positions at Rosehill, with distances ranging between 1100m and 2400m.

The sprint races – 1100m and 1200m – start in a chute. From the 1200m starting position, jockeys and horses have a 400m run to the first turn, which is a sweeping turn into the home straight.

The 1300m, 1350m, 1400m and 1500m starting positions are scattered along the back straight, with the 1500m starting gates in a chute at the north-east corner of the track.

Over the middle distances – 1900m and 2000m – horses start in the north-west corner of the track, just past the winning post. From those gates, riders have the northern side of the track to find their positions, before coming into the back straight.

For the races run over 2400m, the barriers are located at the top of the straight, so horses will complete one full lap of the track, coming down the home straight twice.

Racing is run in a clockwise direction at all New South Wales tracks.

The other four tracks at Rosehill are training and trial tracks. There is an Inside Grass Track, Fast Cinders Track, Slow Cinders Track and a Sand Track.

Where is the Rosehill Gardens race track?

If you are staying in the Sydney CBD, allow a bit of time to get to Rosehill. The track is about 23km west of the heart of Sydney, which is about a 40 minute drive. The address for Rosehill Gardens Racecourse is: James Ruse Dr, Rosehill NSW 2142.

How to get to Rosehill Gardens

There are a few ways to get to the Rosehill races. There is parking on-site at Rosehill Gardens, so you can drive your own vehicle to and from the track, with General Admission parking located in the P4 and P5 car parks on James Ruse Drive & Prospect Street, while infield parking is at P6.

There are pick-up and drop-off points should you wish to get a taxi or uber to and from the track, but that is likely to cost you upwards of $100, so we recommend taking one of the many public transport options available if you are leaving from the CBD.

The closest train station to the track is Parramatta Station, so if you’re in the city, hop on one of the many trains that heads west to Parramatta Station. From there, you can hop on the Route M92 bus service, which leaves from the station and drops you on James Ruse Dr.

How to bet on races at Rosehill

You can bet on the races at Rosehill Gardens anywhere, anytime, thanks to any on of the online bookmakers we promote.

All 25 meetings at Rosehill Gardens are TAB meetings, so you can bet from the comfort of your own home on a mobile betting device, at the pub or at the track. On course, there are TAB facilities as well as on-course bookmakers who you can bet with.

All of Australia’s top corporate bookmakers have got horse betting apps available, which have many different features including same race multis.

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