History

What I would like to see is a racing museum. I have suggested it at Caulfield. I bought a picture the first Caulfield Cup winner, Newminster. It will hang upstairs at Caulfield and this will be the beginning of the Museum – Lady Clarke, 1974. 

The Victorian Racing Museum Committee was convened by Lady Kathleen Clarke and Mr Bill Adams in 1974. Comprising representatives from each of the contributing bodies: Victoria Racing Club, Victoria Amateur Turf Club (now Melbourne Racing Club), Moonee Valley Racing Club and the Country Racing Council (now Country Racing Victoria), the committee began the planning for a museum to collect and preserve the rich history of Australian thoroughbred horse racing.  

Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II agreed to act as the Official Patron, and on 29 September 1981 during a Royal visit to Australia, Her Majesty officially opened the Victorian Racing Museum at Caulfield Racecourse.  

A second period of development occurred in 1998, with a name change to Australian Racing Museum. The museum began planning for a landmark exhibition, function, and retail space. In 2003, the collection was moved from Caulfield to the Racing Victoria headquarters at Flemington, and from July 2004 until November 2009, Federation Square became home to Champions the Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame. 

Discussions with the National Sports Museum at the Melbourne Cricket Ground led to an opportunity for thoroughbred horse racing to move into a space alongside other prominent Australian sports. On 30 September 2010, on the eve of the Spring Racing Carnival and amid celebrations for the 150th running of the Melbourne Cup, Champions Gallery was officially opened. 

In August 2019 the National Sports Museum closed for a $17.1 million redevelopment, with horse racing also benefiting. The relaunched Horse Racing Gallery at the now renamed Australian Sports Museum opened in February 2020. During this time the Horse Racing Gallery has since proved to be one of the most popular spaces within the museum. Visitors of all ages are encouraged to discover both the everyday heroes and the champions who, brought together for the love of the horse, make our sport what it is. 

2024 marked the 50th anniversary of inception for the Australian Racing Museum. 

ARM Team

Pete Betson  

Chair 

Andy Hoad

Board Member

Anita Blokkeerus

Board Member

Tim McCann

Board Member

Susan Cassinides  

Secretary 

Jennifer Salem

Chief Executive Officer 

Natalia Bonnett

Collection Manager 

Copyright Statement 

The Australian Racing Museum recognises the intellectual property rights of others. Every reasonable effort has been made to locate, contact and acknowledge copyright owners for material used by the Australian Racing Museum. Any copyright owner not properly identified and acknowledged on this website should contact the Museum so that corrections can be made. 

To learn more about the Australian Racing Museum, please click on the below: