Tasmania’s premier horse race, the historic Hobart Cup, was mistakenly run over the wrong distance this year and officials knew something was wrong before the race even began, an investigation has revealed.
The $250,000 event, held at Elwick Racecourse on February 8 and won by Blonde Star in a record 2 minutes and 29.67 seconds, immediately sparked speculation that the advertised 2,400‑metre distance had not been met. Racing Integrity Commissioner Sean Carroll has now confirmed those suspicions.
His report found that the starting barriers were placed 37.71 metres too far forward, the result of a chain of errors and overlooked warnings. Track staff had relied on a spreadsheet to mark out starting points, unaware that the document contained an error for the 2,400‑metre position.
Crucially, former track operations staff had known about the mistake since 2021 but never corrected it or alerted management. They simply ignored the faulty data to ensure previous races were run correctly. When those staff resigned late last year, the knowledge was never passed on to their replacements.
“Those who were aware of the error in the spreadsheet failed to take any steps to rectify the incorrect information or escalate the error to management,” the report stated.
The findings raise serious questions about oversight, communication and integrity within Tasmania’s racing operations, with the state’s most prestigious race now confirmed to have been run at the wrong distance.
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