Racing Victoria has announced a new A$5-million weight-for-age mile race to be run during the 2019 Melbourne Autumn Carnival.
Winx could be a big drawcard
The All-Star Mile will be one of the richest mile races in the world and the public will get a chance to decide the field via public ballot.
The first edition of the race will be at Flemington Racecourse on 16 March 2019.
Of the 14 spots up for grabs in the field, 10 will be decided by public vote, with the remaining four “wildcards” at the discretion of RV.
Voters will go into the running to win the opportunity to become a nominal owner of a horse in the race and share in the huge prize purse.
Superstar mare Winx will be highly sought-after for the inaugural running of the race with the mid-March date potentially fitting in well with her Sydney Autumn plans.
RV CEO Giles Thompson said the race will rotate annually between the three major metropolitan clubs, which will see the race held at Flemington, The Valley and Caulfield.
Thompson stated: “The core of the race will be the same year in, year out, but the experience will be totally different because the clubs will bring what they bring. The fans just want to get involved and this enables them to get involved.
“Our autumn racing schedule is pretty impressive with Super Saturday … but we felt it could do with an injection of newness and innovation,” he said.
“This really does that; it will create a lot of interest and be the real feature event of the carnival.”
– www.racing.com
