Sportsbet Up & Coming Stars Series

The inaugural Sportsbet Up & Coming Stars Series, featuring the four richest maiden races held in Victoria this season, will be launched this autumn culminating in a $300,000 grand finale at Caulfield in April.

At $925,000, which includes a $25,000 prize pool for the Sportsbet Jockey Contest, the Up & Coming Stars will officially become Australia’s richest race series for maiden horses.

The series builds upon the success of the Emerging Stars and Future Stars Series held earlier in the season, meaning Victoria now boasts three initiatives worth at least $900,000 each which are designed specifically for maiden horses.

A total of seven heats will be staged at Sportsbet-sponsored racetracks before the inaugural winner of the Up & Coming Stars Final is crowned at Caulfield on Saturday, 11 April. The 1st and 2nd placegetters in each heat will progress through to the Final.

The full program for the inaugural Sportsbet Up & Coming Stars Series is as follows:

Sportsbet Jockey Contest

Riders competing across the series will have an additional incentive with the winner of the Sportsbet Jockey Contest set to collect $15,000, whilst $7,500 will be on offer to the runner-up and $2,500 goes to the third placegetter. 

Points are awarded to the first five placegetters in each of the seven heats on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis, with double points up for grabs for jockeys contesting the grand finale. 

Jockeys can also nominate one ride throughout the heats as a ‘powerplay’ where they will be eligible for double points. Jockeys must nominate powerplays with RV’s Racing Operations Department no later than 8am on the morning of that race.

Power Plays will be promoted by RV and Racing.com across their digital channels on the day of each heat, and on the broadcast channel on the day of the final, while RV will publish a weekly leaderboard for the Sportsbet Up & Coming Stars Jockey Contest via its X channel.

The full Terms and Conditions for the Sportsbet Jockey Contest can be found here: