The Melbourne Cup Carnival, the showpiece of the Victoria Racing Club, has been given a boost, both financially and with programming changes.
While no additional prize money has been thrown at the Melbourne Cup, the fourth and final day has been given support and will now be known as Champions Stakes Day.
The meeting will feature three Group 1 races, all with $3 million prize money with races run over 1200m, 1600m and 2000m.
VRC Chairman Neil Wilson said Champion Stakes Days had been in the planning for a number of years.
“We have been working through how we can build the whole week of the Melbourne Cup Carnival,” Wilson said.
The Darley Champions Sprint (1200m) will be joined by the Kennedy Champions Mile (1600m) and the VRC Champions Stakes (2000m).
The Kennedy Champions Mile replaces the Group 1 Cantala Stakes and moves from a quality handicap on the opening day of the Carnival, to weight-for-age race, while the VRC Champions Stakes is a name change to the Mackinnon Stakes.
“Our focus is on the Group racing and really promoting these races and giving them elevation and now we’re putting this together as a package on the final day,” Wilson said.
“The day itself is a $10 million race day.”
The entire Melbourne Cup Carnival will carry more than $30 million in prize money after the VRC in conjunction with Racing Victoria lifted the prize money on the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) for the three-year-old sprinters from $1.5 million to $2 million.
The Group 2 Linlithgow Stakes has been lifted to $500,000 with a proposal to run it at 1400m on Victoria Derby Day.
The Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m), run in the autumn, will now be after the $5 million All-Star Mile (1600m) and has had its prize money doubled to $3 million.
It will be run at Flemington on March 25, a week after Moonee Valley stages the All-Star Mile.
