Prizemoney realignment and All-Star Mile home revealed

Racing Victoria (RV) has today announced the prizemoney and programming structure for the 2024-25 Victorian racing season including a new home for the All-Star Mile.

Notwithstanding increased financial headwinds for the Victorian racing industry post COVID-era highs, RV has committed to maintain total prizemoney and bonuses on offer at the same level as the 2023-24 season.

This commitment is despite a sharp reduction in wagering turnover of more than 10% over the last 12 months which has contributed to what is expected to be an overall RV financial deficit of around $12 million in FY24, in line with budget.

To maintain total prizemoney and bonuses on offer at the same level year-on-year, the RV Group has embarked on a significant cost savings program with net $10 million of operational expenditure budgeted to be reduced across FY25. This is in addition to significant savings achieved in FY24. 

RV will also call upon retained cash reserves to maintain returns to participants and owners and help underpin the 25,700 full-time equivalent jobs that Victorian thoroughbred racing supports.

In 2024-25, Victoria will again offer over $316 million in prizemoney and bonuses with a strategic realignment of the allocation announced to further boost grassroots racing and reward owners celebrating a maiden victory.

After each of the three metropolitan Clubs expressed an interest in hosting the All-Star Mile, today’s announcement included confirmation that the race would end its rotation and be located at one track. 

Prizemoney from the All-Star Mile has been reassigned to deliver turbo charged maidens each Sunday in country Victoria and a series of feature maidens in the state’s west.

The specifics of today’s announcement are as follows:

All-Star Mile

Following an Expression Of Interest process, Flemington Racecourse has been chosen as the home of the All-Star Mile with the race to be programmed on an iconic autumn raceday.

The All-Star Mile will be hosted by the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) on Super Saturday (8 March 2025) alongside the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) bringing together Australia’s best sprinters and milers on one outstanding program.

The race’s move to Flemington further strengthens its link with the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) scheduled for Saturday, 29 March 2025. In the two years that the All-Star Mile has preceded the Australian Cup it has delivered the quinella in 2024 and first and third placegetters in 2023. 

As part of the transition, the All-Star Mile Owner Ambassador competition will be retained to continue the race’s unique connection with everyday Australians who will again get the chance to experience big race ownership and share in lucrative prizes. 

The 2025 All-Star Mile will offer $2.5 million in prizemoney – a strategic reduction of $1.5 million on 2024 to assist in funding the enhanced maiden races and other feature events.

Having met the Group 1 benchmark in all six editions, RV and the VRC will ensure that the All-Star Mile attains Group 1 status by no later than the 2026 edition, either via a decision of Australia’s Black Type Committee or via the move of an existing Group 1 race to Super Saturday in the 2025-26 season.

To foster the All-Star Mile’s chances of attaining Group 1 status the race will remain under weight-for-age conditions in 2025. 

The full race conditions will be published over the coming months. Entry to the race will not include a voting mechanism or the sale of slots.

Victorian Owners and Breeders Race Day

With the All-Star Mile moving one week earlier, RV, with the support of the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) and Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria (TBV), will move the annual Caulfield Victorian Owners and Breeders Race Day (VOBRD) at Caulfield Racecourse from late April to Saturday, 15 March 2025.

Featuring a range of premier races for eligible Victorian-bred horses, VOBRD is headlined by the $1 million The Showdown (1200m) for two-year-olds and the $500,000 VOBIS Sires Guineas (1600m) for three-year-olds.

As part of the revised calendar and prizemoney realignment, the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) will move from Sportsbet Caulfield Blue Diamond day at Caulfield (22 February 2025) to VOBRD and increase to $500,000 (up from $300,000). It will serve as another stepping stone to the Australian Cup.

Maiden Races

Three initiatives will reward owners competing in Victoria with greater returns when their horse wins its first race – a significant moment for all who have invested time and money to achieve success.

Through the strategic prizemoney realignment, a feature maiden will now be programmed each Sunday in country Victoria from 1 October 2024. 

To be known as a Premier Maiden, the race will carry prizemoney of $50,000 and be conducted across a range of distances.  Premier Maidens will offer $23,000 (85%) more than standard country maidens.

A collection of feature maiden races will also be conducted in the state’s west from October to December 2024 and serve to complement the Sportsbet Future Stars Series held in the state’s south-east in January to March 2025. 

Ten maidens worth $75,000 each will be run at Ballarat, Geelong and Warrnambool throughout spring, with the winners qualifying for the $250,000 The Emerging Star (1400m) on Ballarat Cup Day – Saturday, 7 December 2024.

The races will be open to three, four and five-year-old maiden gallopers and be conducted over 1200m to 1400m. 

Thirdly, RV is pleased to welcome the introduction of the Inglis Xtra Bonus Maiden Series which will see the premier sales company offer $2.3 million in bonuses across Victoria during the 2024-25 season.

Inglis graduates fully paid up for the Inglis Race Series will be eligible for a $100,000 bonus if successful in one of 23 Victorian maidens. 

The first Inglis Xtra bonus was offered and won at Sale yesterday (Thursday, 22 August) by the owners of the Simon Zahra-trained Blackberry Bomb.

Picnic Cups

The sport’s grassroots participants will be further rewarded with the prizemoney for Picnic Cups to be increased from $7,000 to $10,000 each – the first picnic racing increase since 2021.

The initiative is jointly funded by RV and the host clubs and will further reward those participating across Victoria’s picnic racing circuit which will run from October 2024 to April 2025.

Feature Races

As part of the industry’s annual planning and budgeting process, the Victoria Racing Club (VRC) has elected to reduce its prizemoney funding contribution for the 2024-25 season by a net amount of $1.125 million.

RV and the VRC have worked closely to determine a realigned feature race prizemoney model for Flemington to best accommodate the Club’s reduced prizemoney ‘top-ups’.

As a starting point, RV has committed $500,000 from the All-Star Mile reduction to maintain the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at $1.5 million on Super Saturday.

The key prizemoney adjustments at Flemington come in 2025 and are as follows:

• Bagot Handicap (LR, 2800m, 1 January 2025) - $175,000 (down from $200,000)
• Standish Handicap (G3, 1200m, 11 January 2025) - $200,000 (down from $250,000)
• Australian Cup (G1, 2000m, 29 March 2025) – $2.5 million (down from $3 million)
• The Roy Higgins (LR, 2600m, 29 March 2025) - $300,000 (down from $500,000)
• The Andrew Ramsden (LR, 2800m, 17 May 2025) - $300,000 (down from $500,000)

The Roy Higgins and The Andrew Ramsden will now carry the same prizemoney as The Archer, with all races offering the opportunity of a guaranteed start in the Lexus Melbourne Cup for the winner. 

The Australian Cup will carry the same prizemoney as the All-Star Mile, while the Standish and Bagot Handicaps return to the Group 3 and Listed minimums respectively.

As part of the strategic prizemoney realignment, RV has announced that feature races on Ladbrokes Cox Plate Day at The Valley (26 October 2024) and the 2025 Sportsbet Blue Diamond Stakes Series at Caulfield have been boosted. To that end, prizemoney has been increased for the following races:

• Crystal Mile (G2, 1600m, 26 October 2024) - $400,000 (up from $300,000)
• Tesio Stakes (G3, 2040m, 26 October 2024) - $300,000 (up from $200,000)
• 2 x Blue Diamond Previews (1000m, 25 January 2025) - $250,000 (up from $200,000)
• 2 x Blue Diamond Preludes (1100m, 8 February 2025) - $350,000 (up from $300,000)

The prizemoney boosts for the Crystal Mile and Tesio Stakes support changes to the race conditions for both. The Crystal Mile has converted from weight-for-age to set weights and penalties, whilst the Tesio rises in distance from 1600m to 2040m to provide a further 2000m+ mares’ stakes race on the Australian calendar. It links with the G2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) at Flemington a fortnight later.

Quotes attributable to RV Chief Executive – Aaron Morrison

“We’re excited to confirm Flemington as the home for the All-Star Mile, to be run on Super Saturday, one of the autumn’s most iconic racedays, that will be further strengthened with this elite mile race.

“The connection between the All-Star Mile and Australian Cup has delivered a great racing pathway and narrative over the past two years. This will be cemented with both races now run at Flemington.

“The Owner Ambassador competition has been a popular feature of the All-Star Mile. We’ll be retaining that unique component and working with the VRC to drive raceday attendance.

“One of our key goals is to maximise returns to participants and owners. Over the past eight years returns to participants have grown by over $140 million, however a more recent downturn in wagering and other financial pressures facing the industry mean that such growth has become more challenging to sustain.

“We’re undertaking a review of our industry operating model and have been executing a range of cost saving initiatives to ensure that the prizemoney and bonuses we offer this season can remain at the same level as last season. That is critical to support our participants and owners who invest in the sport. 

“We also recognise the importance of investing in grassroots racing for a strong foundation, as well as protecting our major events. That’s why we’ve also sought to strategically realign the allocation of prizemoney across the season.

“Prizemoney from the All-Star Mile is being diverted to boost maidens and support our picnic circuit. It will help deliver a $50,000 premier maiden every Sunday in country Victoria and a series of lucrative maidens in the state’s west that culminate in a $250,000 final on Ballarat Cup Day. 

“The realigned prizemoney is also being used to underpin the iconic Newmarket Handicap, support Cox Plate Day and increase early returns for owners via the Blue Diamond Stakes Series.” 

Accompanying Notes

Following is the schedule of races for the Emerging Stars: