The Big Dance

The Big Dance Race Information

The Big Dance is a 1600 metre quality handicap race run by the Australian Turf Club on the first Tuesday in November. It is held at Randwick on the same day as the Melbourne Cup is run.

Race Type: Listed
Distance: 1600 metres
Conditions: Quality handicap, 3YOs & upwards
Track: Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, New South Wales
Prizemoney: $2,000,000
Date: Tuesday 5 November 2024

The Big Dance Race History

The Big Dance was announced as a new race to be run for the first time in 2022. It allows winners of 25 Country Cups across NSW to compete for the massive $2 million prizemoney. The field is drawn from the winners and runners-up of those races. Racing NSW then used the benchmark rating at the time of the final acceptances to rank the horses in order and determine the final field.

In 2024 it was given Listed status.

The races that give qualification are:

Race	Distance	Venue
Goulburn Cup	1400m	Goulburn
Snake Gully Cup	1400m	Gundagai
Taree Cup	2000m	Taree
Mudgee Cup	1600m	Mudgee
Nowra Cup	1600m	Nowra
Armidale Cup	1600m	Tamworth
Moruya Cup	1425m	Moruya
Ballina Cup	1590m	Ballina
Bega Cup	1600m	Sapphire Coast
Albury Gold Cup	2000m	Albury
Muswellbrook Gold Cup	1450m	Muswellbrook
Orange Gold Cup	2100m	Orange
Tamworth Cup	1400m	Tamworth
Wagga Wagga Gold Cup	2000m	Wagga
Scone Cup	1600m	Scone
Wellington Cup	1700m	Wellington
South Grafton Cup	1600m	Grafton
Forbes Cup	1600m	Forbes
Coffs Harbour Cup	1600m	Coffs Harbour
Murwillumbah Cup	1550m	Murwillumbah
Dubbo Gold Cup	1600m	Dubbo
Lismore Cup	2100m	Lismore
Bathurst Cup	1800m	Bathurst
Port Macquarie Cup	2000m	Port Macquarie
Big Dance Wild Card	1600m	Randwick
Coonamble Cup	1600m	Coonamble
Goulburn Cup	1400m	Goulburn