Revamped schedule for 2025-26 with track upgrades
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Racing Victoria (RV) has today released the 2025-26 Race Dates which feature a number of changes with up to three racetracks out for extended periods after their spring features owing to major works.
The Valley will close for redevelopment following an historic Ladbrokes Cox Plate meeting on Saturday, 25 October 2025, while Bendigo and Benalla are earmarked for track upgrades, subject to final approvals, following their Cup meetings.
The planned infrastructure works require 32 race meetings to be reallocated as part of a revamped schedule, with half of those moved from The Valley, nine from Benalla and seven from Bendigo.
Four tracks have been chosen to host meetings on behalf of the Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) –Cranbourne, Sportsbet Pakenham, Ladbrokes Geelong and Caulfield – whilst a range of venues will share the Bendigo and Benalla transfers.
Outside of the infrastructure-related changes, other notable strategic moves next season include a switch of Flemington’s traditional New Year’s Day meeting to a twilight meeting on New Year’s Eve, along with new dates for the Sportsbet Pakenham Cup and Ladbrokes Moe Cup meetings.
The release also served as confirmation that Caulfield will retain its Group 1 meeting on Saturday, 15 November 2025 where the Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m) will relocate from February to headline a revamped racing program.
A total of 530 race meetings have been programmed across the 2025-26 season to best match the active horse population and to support improved field sizes which influence industry returns through wagering.
The announcement of the 2025-26 race dates comes following extensive consultation through the industry’s Racing Forums which includes representatives from Country Racing Victoria (CRV), Melbourne Racing Club (MRC), Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC), Victoria Racing Club (VRC), Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association (TROA), Australian Trainers Association (ATA), Victorian Jockeys Association (VJA), Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria (TBV) and Southside Racing.
RV will announce the 2025-26 prizemoney schedule following the finalisation of its annual planning and budgeting process. It is anticipated that this announcement will be no later than July 2025.
A summary of the 2025-26 race dates is as follows:
Volume of Meetings
The season will comprise 530 race meetings made up of 106 metropolitan, 374 country, 17 country non-TAB and 33 picnic meetings. Racing will occur on 348 days with 17 race-free days – the same as the current season;
This includes a strategic reduction of 18 race meetings from December 2025 to May 2026 to improve field sizes and wagering outcomes during a congested period with more night and event meetings prevalent. Decisions on the reallocation of prizemoney from these meetings will be made in consultation with the aforementioned stakeholders as part of the annual prizemoney process;
A total of 52 night meetings are scheduled, down from 57 in 2024-25 with Thursday night racing to conclude a month earlier, at the end of April 2026, to assist participant workloads. Friday night racing will continue through May 2026 prior to its winter recess; and
A total of 26 synthetic meetings are scheduled, one less than 2024-25, while the number of twilight fixtures increases by one to 17 with the addition of New Year’s Eve at Flemington.
Relocated Meetings
With The Valley closed for over 18 months for its redevelopment, the MVRC’s meetings from November 2025 to July 2026 will be run at the following venues as a mix of metropolitan and country fixtures:
Southside Racing will host 11 meetings and assume the mantle as the home of night racing:
Cranbourne – eight Friday night meetings and the Saturday metropolitan meeting on 27 December 2025; and
Sportsbet Pakenham – two Friday night meetings (Derby Eve and Champions Stakes Eve).
Geelong – two Wednesday twilights and two Friday afternoon meetings; and
Caulfield – the Group 1 William Reid Stakes meeting on Saturday, 21 March 2026.
A decision on the location of the 2026 Ladbrokes Cox Plate – which falls within the 2026-27 Race Dates – is expected to be made no later than July 2025;
The allocation of MVRC’s Saturday metropolitan meeting to Cranbourne means the track will host one less Saturday night than 2024-25 with meetings programmed on 3, 10 and 17 January 2026;
Subject to final approvals, Bendigo will undergo a major track upgrade following their 29 October 2025 Cup meeting and return to racing on 27 March 2026 after a five-month hiatus; and
Subject to final approvals, Benalla will undergo a major track upgrade following their 26 September 2025 Cup meeting and will be offline for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.
2025 Spring Racing Carnival
Victoria’s richest and most prestigious races, the Sportsbet Caulfield Cup (2400m), Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) and Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m), will be run on Saturday, 18 October; Saturday, 25 October; and Tuesday, 4 November 2025 respectively;
Caulfield will retain a Group 1 meeting on Saturday, 15 November 2025 headlined by the Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m). This will conclude 12 consecutive weekends of Group 1 racing commencing with the Stow Storage Memsie Stakes (1400m) meeting at Caulfield on Saturday, 30 August 2025;
As previously announced, Caulfield Cup Day will feature the relocated Group 1 Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m), while the Caulfield meeting on Saturday, 20 September 2025 welcomes back the Sportsbet Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) as a second Group 1 feature; and
The Ladbrokes Moe Cup meeting has been moved from a Friday afternoon in mid-October to Sunday, 16 November 2025 to assist the club in achieving better on-course outcomes.
2025-26 Summer Racing
The Sportsbet Pakenham Cup meeting moves one week earlier to Saturday, 13 December 2025. This reduces the gap between the two Southside Slot Series races – The Meteorite (1200m) and The Supernova (1400m) – to three weeks and allows the Club to better engage a pre-Christmas crowd;
The Caulfield Heath Magic Millions Raceday moves back one week to Saturday, 20 December 2025 where it will remain four weeks prior to the Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday which is scheduled on the later date of 17 January 2026;
The MRC’s Boxing Day meeting will be held at Sportsbet Sandown on Friday, 26 December 2025 with the Caulfield course proper undergoing its annual renovation through December and January. The public holiday meeting was held on the Caulfield Heath track in 2024;
RV has endorsed a request from the VRC to shift its traditional New Year’s Day race meeting at Flemington to New Year’s Eve in 2025-26 where a twilight meeting will feature the Listed Bagot Handicap (2800m) and Listed Kensington Stakes (1400m). The move allows the VRC to build an event that taps into the end-of-year celebrations and attracts a diverse crowd; and
With Flemington joining Echuca and the Woodford Cup meeting at Warrnambool on Wednesday, 31 December 2025, Mornington will headline racing on Thursday, 1 January 2026.
2026 Autumn Racing
The 2026 Festival of Racing will feature throughout February and March with the aforementioned transfer of the William Reid Stakes meeting from The Valley to Caulfield the only venue change;
Ballarat will host Good Friday racing for the first time on 3 April 2026 with the fifth annual Country Discovery Raceday rotating to another region of country Victoria;
After considering stakeholder feedback and analysis, Caulfield will host metropolitan meetings on both days of The Championships in NSW (Saturdays, 4 and 11 April 2026) to maximise engagement and industry returns;
As a result, Bendigo’s Golden Mile metropolitan meeting has moved back three weeks to Saturday, 2 May 2026, swapping with a Caulfield meeting; and
Picnic racing will finish on 18 April 2026 – two weeks after its traditional Easter conclusion – with the relocation of two Sunday meetings on non-long weekends in Summer to Saturdays in April.
Quotes attributable to RV Chief Executive, Aaron Morrison
“The release of the 2025-26 Race Dates follows our recent announcement around changes to programming across the 2025 Spring Racing Carnival which included the move of three Group 1 races at Caulfield.
“With up to three tracks offline for an extended period following their spring features, we’ve had to make a spread of changes to the schedule across both metropolitan and country meetings next season.
“We have a great network of tracks and customer facilities to accommodate these transfers, whilst we continue to invest in upgrades for the long-term benefit of the sport.
“Among the other notable strategic changes is the removal of Thursday nights in May, Flemington’s switch from New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve, and the moves of the Pakenham and Moe Cup meetings.
“We’ve built a schedule of 530 race meetings that best caters for the active racing population and balances our volume of meetings in summer and autumn where field sizes have been under stress.
“Our goal is always to maximise returns to the industry and the 2025-26 Race Dates are structured to best achieve that in the knowledge that we’ll have up to three tracks offline for a large portion of it.
“We are continuing to consult with stakeholders on the prizemoney schedule for next season and beyond that the active horse population. This includes discussions on an appropriate reallocation of prizemoney from those meetings removed from the schedule.”
Click here to download the full list of race dates for the 2025-26 season.