[2] A grandstand capable of seating 350 people was erected and a saddling paddock was constructed before the first three-day meeting at the Eagle Farm Racecourse took place on 14 August 1865.

[1] The Queensland Turf Club (QTC) assumed a leadership role in the state's racing industry, which was formalized by the Brisbane Racecourse Act 1875 coming into force.

It empowered the Trustees to deal with the land covered by the 1863 Deed of Grant and initiated sale of parts of it to the north of the present-day race track, starting in 1876 and continuing into the 1880s.

A major achievement for the Queensland Turf Club was the opening of the Brisbane and South East Railway Line extension from Eagle Junction to Ascot on 3 September 1882.

This space was especially popular during major race programmes, with all manner of entertainment including boxing tents, sideshows and drinking booths, competing with the bookies stands in operation.

[1] The railway enabled access by a larger racing public, although the competition of cheap weekend rail returns to Sandgate (then Brisbane's most popular beach) lessened the anticipated numbers.

By 1885, a fork siding for turning around the rail engines had been laid adjacent to the grounds, in what is now the members' car park at the corner of Lancaster and Kitchener roads.

[1] During World War II, the club's regular race meetings continued until December 1941 when Australia faced the threat of invasion by Japan.

The first contingents of American servicemen from the Pensacola Convoy[12] marched from Bretts Wharves down Racecourse Road and through what has since been termed "The Gateway to Victory" in December 1941.

[1] In the 1950s the totalisator building which straddled the Paddock/St Leger boundary was extended and the John Power Stand, designed by architect Martin Conrad, was built in 1958 by KD Morris & Sons, Pty Ltd, at a cost of £450,000.

[18] There was upgrading of Eagle Farm in 2005 with work undertaken to the St Leger Stand and lawns and setting up of the Champagne Bar facing the mounting yard as a temporary measure until permission was granted for the permanent addition in 2006.

At the QTC's AGM on 9 September 1997, the membership unanimously voted for incorporation to allow the Club to have freehold title of Eagle Farm racecourse in its own name as of 31 March 1998.

[1] One of the first objectives of the Board was the creation of the Master Plan to develop Eagle Farm and Doomben Racecourses to give Brisbane the finest racing facilities in Australia.

[22] A Master Plan was announced in April 2009 which proposed "world class racing facilities in a precinct which [would] have a variety of lifestyle, residential, retail and commercial developments".

[1] A published history of the QTC stated that "the development of the Brisbane Racing Precinct will give due respect to the historical significance of the area... maintaining, enhancing and showcasing the magnificent heritage of Eagle Farm".

[1][24] In 2012 the mounting yard and the race day tie-up stalls, previously located at the western end of the John Power (Members) Stand, were moved behind the public grandstand, where they had been positioned until 1946.

In 2008 the seven mechanically interlocked signal cabins still commissioned were Ascot (not used), Charters Towers, Ingham, Innisfail, Kuranda, Laidley (rarely used) and Mackay.

There is another timber overbridge at the Hendra [northern] end of the site, where a laneway leads from Gordon Street to it, giving access to Kitchener Road.

The members' car park is located at the corner of Lancaster and Kitchener roads on a parcel of open grassed land which includes a number of mature trees.

[1] Behind the Lancaster Road entry gates a subway leads under the railway line to ticket offices and turnstiles similarly constructed of brick with terracotta tiled roofs.

[1] The public racecourse area occupies the south-west corner of the site inside the rail line and comprises a series of grandstands and associated structures located to the south of the main straight.

The race track itself occupies the majority of the remaining land to the north of this development, with stabling facilities to the west of the stands, and maintenance and management areas to the east.

The ground surface surrounding these structures varies from bitumen, concrete, paving and lawn, and includes well maintained gardens where mature trees create a shade canopy to this entire area.

[1] The development to the east of the course beyond the St Leger Stand and between the track and the railway line includes a brick structure which houses the managers office (was turnstile building), an early timber residence (previously the caretaker's residence, damaged by fire in 2010 and demolished), a green house, car parking area and collection of timber-framed and clad maintenance buildings.

The Eagle Farm Racecourse and Ascot railway station (1863 and 1914 respectively) complex is important in demonstrating the development of horse racing since the 1860s into a major sport and industry in Queensland.

[1] The provision of a suburban branch railway line and station to serve the racecourse from 1882 demonstrates the importance of racing from very early in Queensland's history.

The place is important as a good example of a large operating racecourse in a capital city, the principal elements of which include: track, stalls, scrapping yard, blacksmith, starting gates, fencing, grandstands and associated buildings and structures [including betting facilities], various structures associated with the calling and televising of races, and sheds and garages for grounds equipment.

The buildings designed and extended by the various architects include the well composed Paddock Stand which is characterised by a large galvanised iron vaulted roof with a gabled ridge ventilator.

The Eagle Farm Racecourse and Ascot railway station complex is significant for its aesthetic values, including the spatial arrangement of buildings and structures around the track, the Victorian cast iron, brick and timber grandstands, Federation-style ticket offices, decorative wrought iron entrance gates, landscaped grounds, and the railway station buildings.

The Eagle Farm Racecourse is especially important for its strong social significance, including its association, over 130 years, with QTC members, officials, owners, trainers, jockeys and with generations of race-goers from all strata of Queensland, interstate and international society, who have attended the Eagle Farm races for social interaction, recreation and the enjoyment of this sport, so popular in Queensland.