The 2010 Melbourne Festival of Racing is all about Serious Racing – the big names will be back on track doing battle in some of Australia’s richest and most coveted races.
This is the time when Serious Racing fans get their fill and look forward with anticipation to some of the great contests of the turf.
There’s no mistaking it, the horses are the stars at this time of year and racing’s elite will be out in force.
The 2010 Melbourne Festival of Racing begins on Saturday, 30 January at Flemington and concludes at Pakenham on Sunday, 14 March.
It features six of Australia’s premier race meetings amongst its ranks and meetings which feature nine Group 1 races carrying in excess of $6 million in stakes. Add a further 33 Group and Listed races offering over $5 million and it’s not hard to see why things are serious.
But it’s more than just racetrack riches at stake. Some of these great races cement breeding careers and most importantly deliver Australia’s best onto the world stage.
The Melbourne Festival of Racing has become a launch pad to international campaigns for the likes of Choisir, Elvstroem, Miss Andretti, Takeover Target, Scenic Blast and Niconero and there’s every reason to expect another international star in the making will be unearthed in 2010.
Providing the platform is the Global Sprint Challenge and Asian Mile Challenge which both turn the eyes of the racing world to Melbourne during summer.
The $500,000 Coolmore Lightning Stakes (1000m, G1) at Flemington on 30 January is the opening leg of the Global Sprint Challenge - a race that will feature Cannonball, the first USA-trained horse to compete in Australia.
With success in this hot contest comes a ticket to Royal Ascot, UK and the chance of securing a $US1m bonus for winning Challenge races in three diff erent countries. Other legs of the rich series are run at Newmarket in the UK, Japan and Hong Kong.
The $500,000 Rokk Ebony Futurity Stakes (1600m, G1) at Caulfield on 27 February offers the winner a chance to showcase their talents in Dubai, Hong Kong or Japan in the Asian Mile Challenge.
Included amongst the Serious Racing during the Festival is Victoria’s richest two-year-old race, the $1m Arrowfield Stud Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m, G1) at Caulfield on 20 February.
Australia’s richest open sprint, the $1m Newmarket Handicap (1200m, G1), also features alongside the weight-for-age classic, the $1m Darley Australian Cup (2000m, G1), on ‘Super Saturday’, 6 March at Flemington.
The Festival also takes in three sensational nights under lights at Moonee Valley and five Country Cups headlined by the $200,000 Luxbet.com Mornington Cup (2400m) on 17 February.
And there’s much more to compliment the Serious Racing. Family fun, fashion, food and wine headline the entertainment offering on race days, while the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale on 1-4 March will bring an array of international and interstate visitors to Melbourne in search of the sport’s future stars.
FACTS
9 Group Ones worth $6 million
42 Group and Listed races
Emirates Melbourne Cup, BMW Caulfield Cup and Tatts Cox Plate winners all nominated
Festival is the launch pad for Australians to compete internationally
3 of the past 4 Coolmore Lightning Stakes winners have since won at Royal Ascot, UK
3 of the past 4 Rokk Ebony Futurity Stakes winners have gone on to compete in Dubai
SERIOUS GROUP ONE RACES
Saturday 30 January: Flemington $500,000 Coolmore Lightning Stakes (1000m, WFA)
Saturday 6 February: Caulfield $400,000 Sportingbet Orr Stakes (1400m, WFA)
Saturday 13 Feb: Moonee Valley $500,000 Pulse Pharmacy William Reid Stakes (1200m, wfa)
Saturday 20 Feb: Caulfield $1 million Arrwowfield Stud Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m, 2YO)
$400,000 Sportingbet Oakleigh Plate (1100m, Hcp)
Saturday 27 February: Caulfield $500,000 Rokk Ebony Futurity Stakes (1600m, WFA)
Saturday 6 March: Flemington $1 million Darley Australian Cup (2000m, WFA)
$1 million Newmarket Handicap (1200m)
$750,000 Australian Guineas (1600m, 3YO)
SERIOUS RACING EVENTS
SATURDAY, JANUARY 30 at Flemington: Coolmore Lightning Stakes kicks off the Melbourne Festival of Racing and marks the beginning of the $US8 million Global Sprint Challenge.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5: Moonee Valley Night Racing.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6: The first of three Caulfield meetings during the Festival, Sportingbet Orr Stakes Day combines elite Group 1 racing with great family fun.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13 at Moonee Valley: Group 1 Pulse Pharmacy William Reid Stakes supported by three Group 2 races.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14: Sportingbet Kilmore Cup Day. Kilmore’s showpiece offers people of all ages a fun-filled, energy-packed Country Cup race day.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17: Luxbet.com Mornington Cup Day is one of the most popular days on the Country Cup circuit boasting outstanding racing and the prestigious Myer Fashions on the Field competition.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19: Moonee Valley Night Racing.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20 at Caulfield: Arrowfield Stud Blue Diamond Stakes Day.
The $1 million Arrowfield Stud Blue Diamond Stakes is Victoria’s richest race for two-year-olds and the highlight of the Festival at Caulfield.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26: Night racing featuring the Moonee Valley Night Cup.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27 at Caulfield: The $500,000 Rokk Ebony Futurity Stakes is the first leg of the Asian Mile Challenge – the world’s richest mile series which carries in excess of $US11 million in prize money and bonuses.
SATURDAY, MARCH 6 at Flemington: SUPER SATURDAY, the pinnacle of the Melbourne Festival of Racing, with three Group 1 races. The day also features a preview of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in the Festival Precinct.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY, MARCH 6 & 7: Deniliquin RSL Echuca Cup Carnival. Enjoy one of country racing’s most celebrated Cup Carnivals in a relaxed atmosphere with family and friends.
SUNDAY, MARCH 7: Make a weekend out of the Stony Creek Cup meeting by exploring the South Gippsland region over the Labour Day long weekend.
SATURDAY, MARCH 13 at Flemington: Blamey Stakes Day. The Melbourne Festival of Racing comes to a close in metropolitan Melbourne with Family Day at Flemington.
SUNDAY, MARCH 14: The Pakenham Racing Club’s premier meeting features a serious day of country racing and family fun headlined by the $100,000 Devine Communities Pakenham Cup.
THEGLOBAL SPRINT CHALLENGE
THE Global Sprint Challenge showcases the world’s best sprinters over eight races in four countries – Australia, United Kingdom, Japan and Hong Kong.
It has been dominated by Australian-trained and bred sprinters in its brief history and the stage is set for another prominent Aussie assault in 2010.
This year’s Global Sprint Challenge, which carries prize money and bonuses in excess of $US8 million, begins on 30 January at Flemington with the running of the Coolmore Lightning Stakes (1000m, G1).
Choisir (2003), Takeover Target (2006), Miss Andretti (2007) and Scenic Blast (2009) have all won the Lightning Stakes before going on to claim the King’s Stand Stakes (1000m, G1) at Royal Ascot, UK.
An invitation to tour the world awaits the winner of the Lightning Stakes, making it one of the most competitive and anticipated races of the Melbourne Festival of Racing.
For more information visit: www.globalsprintchallenge.com
THE ASIAN MILE CHALLENGE
THE Asian Mile Challenge provides a further platform for Australian horses to showcase their talent on the world stage, delivering connections a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Boasting prize money and bonuses in excess of $US11 million, the Asian Mile Challenge features Group 1 events in Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong and Japan.
Australian-trained horses have competed in 12 of the 18 Challenge races contested since its inception in 2005, with David Hayes’ warhorse Niconero a shining advertisement for the series.
The retired miler contested seven Challenge races across three countries during a distinguished career that landed back-to-back wins in the 2008 and 2009 Rokk Ebony Futurity Stakes.
The $A500,000 Rokk Ebony Futurity Stakes (1600m, G1) kick starts the 2010 Asian Mile Challenge at Caulfield on 27 February and the winner will be hoping to follow Niconero onto the world stage.
For more information visit: www.asianmilechallenge.com
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