All Star Mile makes for a Super Saturday at Flemington

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

“The VRC is pleased to welcome the All-Star Mile to its new home at Flemington Racecourse. The All-Star Mile enhances a strong Super Saturday program, which is already a drawcard for racegoers and the country’s best horses, trainers and jockeys during the Flemington Racing Spectacular," said Chairman Neil Wilson.

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

Racing Victoria Chief Executive said “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.

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.

Prizemoney realignment revealed

Racing Victoria 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.

“The VRC is not immune to the challenges facing most organisations and with COVID-related financial recovery still in progress and a softening wagering landscape, prizemoney contributions have been reduced across the season by $1.125 million as part of wider fiscal management measures across the Club.

"The updated prizemoney has been announced for a number of races in 2025, and the VRC thanks Racing Victoria for its continued support of world-class racing at Flemington," said Mr Wilson.

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)
• TAB Australian Cup (G1, 2000m, 29 March 2025) – $2.5 million (down from $3 million)
• The Lexus Roy Higgins (LR, 2600m, 29 March 2025) - $300,000 (down from $500,000)
• The Lexus Andrew Ramsden (LR, 2800m, 17 May 2025) - $300,000 (down from $500,000)

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

The TAB 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.