Tasmania Summer Carnival

Racing in Tasmania, the only island state in Australia, takes place at Hobart and Launceston and both tracks stage action during the Tasmania Summer Carnival, which is held in January and February each year.

The Key Races

The Group 3 Hobart Cup is the most prestigious race held during the carnival. The Launceston Cup and Tasmanian Derby, both Group 3 contests, are the only other Group races held in Tasmania.

The Tasmania Summer Carnival

The carnival kicks off on a Sunday towards the end of January with the running Hobart Guineas Day. The feature is the listed Hobart Guineas (2100m) for three-year-olds, which is backed up by another listed contest in the shape of the Elwick Stakes (1100m), a sprint for two-year-olds.

Launceston stages the listed thetote.com.au Stakes (1200m), a weight-for-age race, on the following Thursday, as well as running the 1000 Guineas (1600) for three-year-old fillies.

The Group 3 Tasmanian Derby (2200m) is the headline act on the first Saturday in February when Hobart stages Tasmanian Derby Day. The race, limited to three-year-olds, is often targeted by trainers from interstate. On the undercard, the listed Bow Mistress Stakes (1200m), a weight-for-age race for fillies and mares, and the listed Wrest Stakes (2100m), limited to three-year-old fillies, provide more pattern company action.

The Gold Sovereign Stakes (1200m) at Launceston then provides listed race action on the following Thursday with the contest putting talented two-year-olds together.

Then, 10 days later, Tasmania’s biggest and richest race takes place at Hobart with the running of the Group 3 Hobart Cup (2200m). It is an open handicap and was won in 2007 by Blutigeroo, who went on to triumph in the Group 1 The BMW at Rosehill during the Sydney Summer Carnival on the mainland. Another race run on the day is the Thomas Lyons Stakes (1400m), a listed weight-for-age race.

Launceston plays hosts to the Tasmanian Oaks (2100m), a listed race for three-year-old fillies, on the following Thursday and, six days later, the track stages its biggest race of the carnival with the running of the Group 3 Launceston Cup (2400m). The open handicap usually includes some of the field that contested the Hobart Cup and St Andrews and Zacielo are two recent names to have completed the double. Two listed races accompany the Launceston Cup in the form of the George Adams Plate (1600m), a weight-for-age race, and the Vamos Stakes (1400m), a weight-for-age contest for fillies and mares only.