Victoria Park Racecourse was a racecourse in Zetland

Zetland, New South Wales

Zetland is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Zetland is located 4 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney....

, an inner-city suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

, south of Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, 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...

. It was bordered by O’Dea Avenue, South Dowling Street, Epsom Road and Joynton Avenue.

The site was originally a lagoon and swamp which was drained in the early 1900s to create the racecourse. The racecourse was privately owned and developed by Sir James John Joynton Smith

James Joynton Smith

Sir James John Joynton Smith KBE, commonly referred to as simply Joynton Smith was an Australian hotelier, racecourse and newspaper owner, and Lord Mayor of Sydney....

 (1858–1943), a hotelier, racecourse and newspaper owner. It was said at the time to be the grandest and finest of the pony horseracing courses in Sydney. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the racecourse closed and was bought by the British Motor Corporation for a car plant. In 1975, Leyland Australia

British Motor Corporation (Australia)

British Motor Corporation was a motor manufacturing company formed in Australia in 1954 by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and Nuffield Pty Ltd. This followed the merger in 1952 of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Group in the United Kingdom to form the British Motor Corporation...

 closed the car plant and the site was acquired by the Commonwealth of Australia for a Naval

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

Stores depot which operated until the mid 1990s. The site is currently undergoing redevelopment into high density housing. A three-storey totalisator building remains on the site, used as a site office by the redevelopers and now part of the complex. The racecourse is also remembered in Tote Park, a small park on the site.