FEATURE
THE VRC: A CLUB OF COMMUNITY AND HERITAGE
The many thousands of members of the Victoria Racing Club take pride in being, collectively, the custodian of modern Flemington, part of our National Heritage and one of the great racecourses of the world. The VRC is a club that has evolved over the space of 157 years, from a clique of gentlemen racing enthusiasts into a broad-based, democratic organisation claiming the largest racing club membership in the world. That tiny clique of 1864 grew to a club of a thousand members within twenty-five years, acknowledged as the Principal Racing Club in Victoria, and it made the Melbourne Cup into a national institution. Under its first Secretary, Robert Cooper Bagot, and his successor for forty-four years, Henry Byron Moore, Flemington became a showpiece. Cup crowds exceeded 100,000 with an immediate focus on fine fashion and champion racehorses. Byron Moore was an innovator who beautified the grounds and continually had an eye for upgrading facilities for members and the public alike. For the first century of the VRC, an economic class system prevailed at Flemington. The cheapest reserve – indeed free of charge until 1906 – was The Flat on the infield, crowded always on Cup Day but with basic facilities, limited views, and no great proximity to the racing action. The second-class reserve was The Hill, standing room only on the terraces but with shelter and picnic grounds behind. The old Hill Reserve offered no access to the horses or main betting ring but provided sweeping views. Premium price public reserve was the Lawn, sharing stands and facilities with the VRC members who had some sections reserved for themselves. An exclusive Members’ Stand was built in 1924. These Reserve distinctions began to disappear in 1963, when The Flat was closed, and effectively ended when the Hill Stand was completed in 1979 – the same year that the VRC began to enrol women as ‘provisional members’. The general racing public today receive royal treatment at Flemington. General admission allows all racegoers to range from lawn to hill, to meet horses face-to-face in the race day stalls and in the Mounting Yard, to access the rails betting ring, to position themselves along the running rail or to book fine dining options with racecourse views. The public Lawn and Hill Stands, directly opposite the winning post, offer arguably the best outlook onto the racecourse. At the Melbourne Cup Carnival, seating in the stand must be pre- purchased when tickets go on general sale.
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