Racing Victoria trims number of race meetings while reviewing the All-Star Mile structure for next season

Racing Victoria is reviewing the structure of next year’s All-Star Mile while shaving seven meeting off the 2024/25 racing fixture.

Racing Victoria has not decided where Pride Of Jenni could defend her All-Star Mile crown in 2024. Picture: Getty Images

The host venue for next year’s All-Star Mile remains up in the air while punters will have slightly fewer meetings to bet on after the release of the 2024/25 Victorian racing fixture.

Racing Victoria has undertaken a review of the All-Star Mile structure now that all major Victorian race clubs have twice held the rich autumn event.

The three metropolitan clubs have made submissions to Racing Victoria giving their input on the best possible structure for the multimillion-dollar event.

Racing Victoria has programmed 548 race meetings for Victoria next season, seven less than this season.

RV has removed the seven meetings from Thursday afternoons where there are night meetings programmed.

The day meeting leading into a Thursday night fixture is one of the least profitable timeslots of the week for racing.

Racing Victoria's Matt Welsh. Picture: Supplied

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RV’s racing boss Matt Welsh noted turnover was up to 10 per cent on Thursdays where the sole meeting was a night fixture.

The move was also an attempt to bolster field sizes between January and April, which can suffer due to the number of meetings run in Victoria.

Field sizes of less than eight runners are not desirable as they lessen each-way betting.

Next season’s fixture will feature only one significant change to the spring program after the major changes of the 2023 spring.

The Group 1 Manikato Stakes will move to the AFL Grand Final Eve public holiday Friday to herald the start of The Valley’s night racing season.

Moving the Manikato Stakes to late September would give trainers a viable Melbourne lead-up run into The Everest, with a three-week gap into Australia’s richest race.

The recently retired Cascadian won the first Australian Cup in its new late-March timeslot. Picture: Racing Photos

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The Feehan Stakes, which offers a guaranteed Cox Plate start to the winner, will also move to the Manikato Stakes program on September 27, giving trainers a month to prepare their horses for The Valley’s weight-for-age championship.

RV has decided to retain the rest of last spring’s format with the Thousand Guineas to be run on November 16 along with the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes while the Cranbourne Cup will be held a week later.

The Spring Carnival will close with the Zipping Classic meeting at Caulfield on November 30.

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Last year’s Caulfield Guineas meeting provided a 20 per cent boost in betting turnover, outperforming the 12 per cent overall decline in that period.

The Australian Cup will remain in its current slot, two weeks after the All-Star Mile in March.

“The 2024-25 race dates seek to build upon the substantive changes made in spring and autumn this season, whilst enhancing the schedule through summer to build engagement right across the state,” Welsh said.

“Our objective this season was to extend Group 1 racing further into November where there is less competition and to improve the pattern of feature races in March with the move of the Australian Cup to two weeks after the All-Star Mile.

“Both of these enhancements have proven successful with horses springboarding to further success, so our goal is to consolidate those dates in the spring and autumn of 2024-25.”

Originally published as Racing Victoria trims number of race meetings while reviewing the All-Star Mile structure for next season