Aspendale Racecourse or Aspendale Park Racecourse was a horse racing

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 and motor racing track located at Aspendale, Victoria

Aspendale, Victoria

Aspendale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 27 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Aspendale Racecourse opened on 14 April 1891. It was established by James Robert Crooke, horse trainer, who named the course after Aspen, one of his best horses who won the Newmarket Handicap

Newmarket Handicap

The Newmarket Handicap is a VRC Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia. The event is an open handicap race over 1200 metres...

 twice, in 1880 and 1881.

Garden landscaping was designed by William Guilfoyle

William Guilfoyle

William Robert Guilfoyle was a landscape gardener and botanist in Victoria, Australia, acknowledged as the architect of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and was responsible for the design of many parks and gardens in Melbourne and regional Victoria.-Early life:Guilfoyle was born in Chelsea,...

, who was the director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne

Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne

The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are internationally renowned botanical gardens located near the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River. They are 38 hectares of landscaped gardens consisting of a mix of native and non-native vegetation including over...

.

The track was situated east of the current Aspendale railway station

Aspendale railway station, Melbourne

Aspendale is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Aspendale, on the Frankston railway line. Aspendale is unmanned and is in Metcard Zone 2.-Facilities:...

 and is believed to have been one mile (1.6 km) in length.

Robert Crooke was also a motoring enthusiast. In 1904, the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria

Royal Automobile Club of Victoria

The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria is a motoring club and mutual organisation, providing services such as roadside assistance, vehicle, home and contents insurance, personal and car loans, driving instruction, tourism services and home security products.The RACV runs a lifestyle club known as...

held its first automobile demonstration at Aspendale Park. In 1906 a motor raceway was constructed, Australia’s "first commercial track", although only one meeting was ever held and the circuit fell into disuse. A banked track was constructed in 1923, but it had fallen into disuse again by 1930. The circuit was briefly revived again after the Depression but it had stopped again prior to World War II.

The last recorded horse race at Aspendale Park was on 29 July 1931. Motor racing continued until the late 1940s. The area is now residential housing.