Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory in Australia. It is situated on the Timor Sea, and is the largest city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory. Darwin is the most northerly of Australian capital cities, and was originally a pioneer outpost, and is the ancestral home of the Larrakia people. Darwin has a tropical climate, with a wet and dry season only, as it is consistently warm throughout the year. The city does experience cyclone activity during the wet season, as well as the heavy monsoon downpours and spectacular lightning shows.
In 1839 the HMS Beagle sailed into Darwin harbour during the surveying of the area. The town was named Port Darwin, in honour of Charles Darwin, who had been on the Beagle’s previous voyage, and was renamed Darwin in 1911. The city has had to be rebuilt twice, once due to Japanese air raids during the second World War, and then again in 1974 after being devastated by the cyclone Tracy, and is now one of Australia’s most modern cities. Palmerston is a small satellite city next to Darwin.
The Palmerston Sprint is run on the seventh day of the Darwin Racing carnival, and sees the Thoroughbred horses competing for the title of the best sprinter in the Northern Territory. The race is run over 1200 metres. An automatic entry to the Palmerston Sprint in 2016 has been granted to the winners of the WFA Plate and the Flying Handicap, and to some of the sprinters who earn themselves wins during earlier race meetings. The second last day of the Carnival in Darwin, which is an eight day racing event held every year in July and August, is the day the limelight is all on the horses who are the swiftest in the sprints. The Palmerston Sprint is the northern Territory’s premier short course sprint contest, and the prize money is 135,000 dollars. It is the perfect appetizer to the Darwin Cup, run two days later in the eight day Darwin Turf Club’s racing carnival.
The Racing carnival is held at the picturesque Fannie Bay race course, one of the last of the dirt tracks in the territory. The surface is now made up of a mixture of oil and sand, and provides very fast times for the sprinters. The race course at Fannie Bay has a Punter’s Deck with views over the main straight to the finish line, and is the perfect vantage point for punters on the Palmerston Sprint Day.
The love of horse racing among the population of Australia has increased with the growth of all the racing events being held every year in the farming and industrial towns throughout the country. Online betting NZ on these races, especially online betting, has also grown in leaps and bound s and is now one of the favourite pastimes of all punters in Australia. There are so many different kinds of bet that punters are able to place, that is wise to do a little research before placing any money on the horses. Top betting sites and sports books will release information and tips to the punter to enable him to make an informed choice.
Horse racing is a game of chance as well as skill, however, and it is never possible to be predict with certainty the winner of any race.