The West Australian 's racing guru Ernie Manning writes: This issue goes back to pioneering settlement days in NSW and Victoria. It was military personnel who imported thoroughbreds from England and conducted the first official Australian races. 
I understand the race directions were chosen only on a convenience basis. Organisers thought it was more convenient to race anticlockwise around the Melbourne military barracks. But the NSW military found it more convenient to race clockwise around the Sydney barracks. Those directions stuck. South Australia and Western Australia then adopted the Melbourne direction of racing, while Queensland took the Sydney direction. 
The States' choices of racing direction has been maintained since the 1870s. Sky Channel Racing Quiz champion Jason Lincoln points out that pioneers who established Flemington also had a big influence on officials' decision to begin horse racing in an anticlockwise direction on Victorian tracks during the mid-1800s. The lay-out of Flemington, next to the Maribyrnong River, is best suited to anticlockwise racing. The first Melbourne Cups, run in 1861 and 1862, were won by Archer.
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