A total of 35 Group 1 winners – including Chris Waller’s rising star The Autumn Sun – are amongst the 130 eligible entries for The All-Star Mile, the Festival of Racing’s showpiece event which makes its debut at Flemington on Saturday, 16 March.
The Autumn Sun, whose last two starts delivered Group 1 glory in the Golden Rose Stakes (1400m) and most recently in the Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas (1600m) last October, was one of seven nominations submitted by Sydney’s premier trainer before today’s 12pm deadline.
Valued at around $30 million and arguably the most talented colt of his generation, the precocious three-year-old will vie for the public’s vote when the polls open at 9am next Monday (21 January). At the other end of the scale, $4,500 bargain buy Widgee Turf – trained by Michelle Payne’s brother Patrick – would earn 500 times his purchase price for connections if he were to claim the $2.25 million first prize.
The Autumn Sun, one of 33 All-Star Mile nominees with career earnings in excess of $1 million, was joined in the entry list by his fellow Group 1 winners D’argento, Shillelagh and Unforgotten plus their stablemates Kaonic and cult hero Tom Melbourne, who would receive a cheque for $720,000 should his record run of runner-up finishes continue in The All-Star Mile.
Other notable entries received overnight include the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Madison County, New Zealand’s leading three-year-old who claimed back-to-back Group 1 wins in the Two Thousand Guineas (1600m) in November and the Levin Classic (1600m) last Saturday; Trap For Fools, winner of the Group 1 MacKinnon Stakes (2000m) at Flemington during last year’s Spring Racing Carnival; unbeaten three-year-old Brutal, one of five nominations from the Team Hawkes training partnership; and a trio of nominees from the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable, including Group 3 winner Arbeitsam.
The highest number of nominations came from the Lindsay Park training team of David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig, whose 22 eligible entries alone helped raise $11,000 for The All-Star Mile’s official charity partner, the Good Friday Appeal.
Their diverse entrants include Group 1-winning sprinters Redkirk Warrior and Vega Magic plus Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) runner Muntahaa, one of 53 internationally-bred horses in the nominations list.
There are five Group 1 victors and exciting Japanese import Kemono in the 14-strong army of gallopers nominated by Victoria’s leading trainer, Darren Weir, for the inaugural edition of the $5 million contest; whilst Tony McEvoy’s 11 nominees include Oohood, who broke through for an overdue win at racing’s highest level in last year’s Flight Stakes (1600m).
Lloyd Williams’ Macedon Lodge stable entered seven horses, including Melbourne Cup winners Rekindling (2017) and Almandin (2016); Mick Price and the training team of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace both nominated five gallopers apiece; and Godolphin’s head trainer James Cummings is hopeful his Group 1-winning trio Alizee, Best Of Days and Hartnell will attract enough votes to gain a place in the race.
Whilst Victorian and New South Wales-based trainers accounted for the bulk of the nominations, racing fans in Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and Queensland will have a vested interest in the make-up of the 14-horse field after trainers from those four states also submitted entries.
Boomsara, who delivered former jockey Chris Munce’s biggest win as a trainer when he held on for a gutsy triumph in last Saturday’s $2 million Magic Millions Guineas (1400m) on the Gold Coast, will carry the hopes of the Sunshine State together with his stablemate Urban Ruler, formerly under the care of Greg Eurell.
Tasmanians will be hoping that three-year-old filly Mystic Journey can continue her fine run of recent form and earn a start in The All-Star Mile, having won three of her last four starts including most recently the Group 2 Fillies Classic (1600m) at The Valley; while Trinder’s fellow Tasmanian, Scott Brunton, has nominated Hellova Street, a winner of 16 races including nine at Group or Listed level.
South Australian hopes rest on the shoulders of nine-time winner Steel Frost (trained by Will Clarken) and Group 3 winner Waging War (Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas); whilst Western Australia will be represented by Material Man (Justin Warwick), whose last five starts have produced a trio of Group 3 wins and two Group 1 placings, and Gatting (Darren McAuliffe), who put in a personal best performance in the Group 1 Railway Stakes over the All-Star Mile distance of 1600 metres when finishing second to flying filly Galaxy Star.
As well as Madison County, fans of New Zealand racing will have two other horses to rally behind after Group 1 winner Melody Belle and rising star Te Akau Shark were both nominated by their trainer Jamie Richards.
Greg Carpenter, Racing Victoria’s (RV) Executive General Manager – Racing, noted that the quality of All-Star Mile entries is underlined by the fact that a total of 59 horses with a handicap rating of 100 or higher have been nominated.
“We’re absolutely delighted with the strength and depth of the nominations received for the first All-Star Mile,” said Carpenter.
“From proven performers at the highest level, such as The Autumn Sun, Godolphin’s four-time Group 1 winner Hartnell, Kris Lees’ stable star Le Romain and Pat Webster’s popular warrior Happy Clapper, to rising stars from some of the smaller stables across Australia, the spread of nominations should make for a fascinating voting process.
“Now that all the names are in, we would urge racing enthusiasts and sports fans to vote for their favourite horse when the new All-Star Mile website goes live at 9am next Monday.”
Public voting will be open from January 21 to February 18, with the top ten vote-getters who provisionally accept their places in the field due to be revealed on Thursday, 21 February.
The four wildcards, which can be selected by RV from outside the original nominations, will then be announced on or before Monday, 4 March.
The All-Star Mile is a joint initiative between RV and Victoria’s three metropolitan clubs, the Victoria Racing Club (VRC), Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) and Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC).
In a first for Australian racing, the All-Star Mile will be rotated annually across the three racetracks, with Caulfield set to host the race in 2020 and The Valley in 2021.
For the full list of All-Star Mile nominations*, please click
here
For The All-Star Mile infographic, please click
here
*Smiling City, More Sundays, Renegade, Ronan's Rock, Declarationofheart and Illumicon were nominated but are ineligible due to their handicap rating.