Elite horses and great family fun return for Victoria's Festival of Racing

The stars of the Spring Racing Carnival are returning from their summer spells to light up the 2024 Festival of Racing across Victoria throughout February and March.

Featuring eight amazing weekends of racing, socialising and family fun, the Festival of Racing combines a relaxed atmosphere off the track with fierce competition on it.

On offer is more than $53 million in prizemoney and bonuses, 47 Group and Listed races, 17 country cups and the nation’s most unique mile race, the All-Star Mile. 

The Festival of Racing officially gets underway this Saturday, 10 February when the Group 1 Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) headlines Herald Sun Caulfield Family Day.

Lindsay Park’s banner horse Mr Brightside is the hot favourite to claim the first Group 1 of the year at Caulfield, a venue where he boasts a 75 per cent win record for Team Hayes.

The Caulfield specialist will then return to his happy hunting ground for two more assignments, the Lamaro’s Hotel Futurity Stakes (1400m) – one of three Group 1 contests illuminating Sportsbet Blue Diamond Stakes Day on Saturday, 24 February – and the $4 million All-Star Mile (Saturday, 16 March), a race he won in thrilling fashion last year.

If Mr Brightside is the pin-up horse for the Festival of Racing, the poster girl is undoubtedly Imperatriz, who blitzed her way through Victoria’s Spring Racing Carnival to stake her claim for the title of the world’s best sprinter.

The eight-time Group 1 winner will make her eagerly awaited return to the races on Saturday, 17 February in the Black Caviar Lightning (1000m), the first of four Group 1 racedays during February and March at Flemington.

The Mark Walker-trained mare will then defend her crown in the 3 Point Motors William Reid Stakes (1200m) at The Valley on Saturday, 23 March, one week before the Festival of Racing reaches its climax at Flemington on TAB Australian Cup Day.

For the first time this year, there will be a fortnight gap between the All-Star Mile and the $3 million Group 1 TAB Australian Cup (2000m), offering the country’s best middle-distance horses a better shot at the prized $7 million double.

The All-Star Mile will also have a different look in 2024, with the field made up of a combination of automatic qualifiers and wildcard picks designed to maximise the quality of the field for the sixth edition of the marquee contest.

Away from the metropolitan action, the country scene intensifies with precious points up for grabs in the 2023-24 Victorian Country Cups Series ahead of the lucrative final later this year. 

There is a new date for the Sportsbet Pakenham Cup (2500m), which for the first time will be run under the lights on Friday, 15 March. Pakenham’s Cup meeting is preceded by the second edition of the $300,000 Sportsbet Future Stars Final (1400m), the culmination of Australia’s richest maiden series which will be run on Thursday night, 29 February.

Country Victoria’s richest sprint, the $500,000 Country Discovery (1100m), will continue its annual rotation with the picturesque Yarra Valley playing host on Good Friday (29 March).

It starts a massive Easter climax to the Festival of Racing that will also see four country cups run and the first golden ticket into the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup offered at Flemington on TAB Australian Cup Day (Easter Saturday) in the Lexus Roy Higgins (2600m).

Quotes attributable to Racing Victoria’s Executive General Manager – Racing, Matt Welsh

“The Group 1 Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes kick starts two months of top class racing in Melbourne complemented by a thriving country cups scene that will take fans to all corners of the state.

“The enhancements to this year’s Festival of Racing, which include revamping the All-Star Mile and moving the TAB Australian Cup back a week, maximise opportunities for participants and competition for fans.

“Alongside superstars Mr Brightside and Imperatriz, we’re excited to welcome back Champions Day heroes Pride Of Jenni and Atishu, along with topliners like Soulcombe and Private Eye. 

“We’re also eager to see what heights emerging three-year-olds like Veight, King Colorado and Steparty can reach, likewise the untapped Jimmysstar who has already secured an All-Star Mile wildcard.

“This season’s two-year-old crop is also stamping itself as elite which sets up for a cracking edition of the Sportsbet Blue Diamond at Caulfield on 24 February.

“The Festival of Racing provides fans with an opportunity to see the stars of the spring return and to experience the thrill of racing up close in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. 

“It’s the perfect opportunity to get outdoors, socialise and enjoy the array of family friendly entertainment planned for feature racedays across the state.”