With voting for The All-Star Mile 2021 officially opening today (Friday, 22 January), everyday Australians and New Zealanders now have the opportunity to decide which horses will line up in the third edition of the richest mile race in the world.
From today until the closure of voting at 11.59pm (AEDT) on Sunday, 14 February, connections of the 81 All-Stars nominated for the $5 million showpiece will enter a high-stakes popularity contest as they aim to secure their horse’s place in the top 10 of the leaderboard. Peter Moody’s colt Glenfiddich and the Freedman Racing-trained Ain’tnodeeldun were among the original nominations, but have both since been withdrawn through injury.
The top 10 vote-getters – set to be unveiled by Racing Victoria (RV) on or before Friday, 19 February – and five wildcard runners will descend on The Valley on Saturday, 13 March to contest the marquee race of Victoria’s autumn carnival.
With the likes of Group 1 winners Russian Camelot, Arcadia Queen, Verry Elleegant, Melody Belle, Probabeel, Sir Dragonet, Behemoth and Ole Kirk joining inaugural winner Mystic Journey and cult hero The Harrovian in the list of high-class nominations received, sports fans face an incredibly difficult task as they place their vote for the horse they believe can succeed last year’s winner Regal Power as The All-Star Mile champion.
Regal Power’s superb victory earned his owner ambassador, Tegan Abercrombie, a cool $250,000 as she went home with the first prize in the 2020 All-Star Mile fans competition. That life-changing sum of money will again be up for grabs this year, with every validated voter getting the chance to represent their ‘All-Star’ on raceday and share in the $500,000 prize pool*.
“The official opening of voting marks the start of what is always one of the most fascinating and exciting aspects of The All-Star Mile,” said Greg Carpenter, RV’s Executive General Manager – Racing.
“Over the past two years we’ve seen a number of owners and trainers come up with very clever and creative ways to drum up support for their horses, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what this voting period brings us.
“While we received slightly fewer nominations this year compared to 2020, with 23 Group 1 winners and 27 $1 million-plus earners the sheer quality of entrants would have to be the highest we’ve ever received, and so it won’t be an easy task for voters to make a decision of which horse they choose.
“We’ve seen previously that the voting period can inspire great parochialism, so we would encourage our friends in New Zealand and sports fans in every state of Australia to get behind their equine heroes and vote them into what promises to be another exceptional edition of the world’s richest mile at The Valley on 13 March.”
The first two editions of The All-Star Mile attracted a combined total in excess of a quarter of a million validated votes, with Queensland rallying behind Alligator Blood to make him the number one last year with over 18,000 votes.
Following feedback received after The All-Star Mile 2020, for the first time this year voters will be allowed to cast a vote for another horse if their initial selection is withdrawn from the race prior to the closure of voting. The length of the voting period has also been reduced in 2021, with the general public now having just over three weeks to decide which runners they would like to see contest Australia’s only fan-voted race.
As with previous years, the leaderboard will no longer be visible on the official All-Star Mile website for the final 48 hours of voting, with the blackout period commencing at 10pm (AEDT) on Friday, 12 February.
To place your vote or for further information, go to www.allstarmile.com.au
*Terms and conditions apply, please visit the official website for further information.