All-Star Mile 2021: Owner-ambassadors revealed for world’s richest mile race

Adam Parker’s world came crashing down when he lost his job during the pandemic — but a stroke of luck could see his fortunes change forever.

It’s not every day that you become an honorary owner of a champion racehorse, but that’s exactly what happened to father-of-two Adam Parker.

The Mornington Peninsula chef entered the All-Star Mile voting competition on a whim and couldn’t believe it when he was chosen at random to represent Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet.

“I knew they were drawing the winners for the competition this week, but never anticipated to be one of the lucky few selected,” Mr Parker said.

The chef is one of 10 All-Star Mile owner ambassadors that were announced today, with each owner ambassador representing the All-Star contender they voted for and now in the running for a share of $500,000 prizemoney.

Adam embraced his new honorary owner title by treating Sir Dragonet to some Dutch carrots ahead of the All-Star Mile race on March 13.

Chef Adam Parker and four year old daughter, Grace, treat Sir Dragonet to some Dutch carrots. Picture: Hamish Blair

“Sir Dragonet was an obvious voting choice for me, being last year’s Cox Plate winner and all, which was a pretty dominant victory in addition to racing at the Melbourne Cup,” he said.

Should Sir Dragonet win the race, Mr Parker would win a life-changing $250,000.

While he’s vying for the top prize, there’s a $10,000 cheque for each owner ambassador, even if their horse places last.

The financial windfall couldn’t come at a better time for Adam and his young family, having lost his job last year in the midst of the pandemic.

“I faced six weeks of unemployment last year, which was stressful given our youngest daughter was only three months old at the time, but I realise many were faced with similar hardships. Since July, however, I’ve been working at a cafe in Red Hill, which I’m really enjoying,” he said.

A further four owner ambassadors will be revealed in the coming days, once the wildcard panel has made their selections and a horse has been allocated to their wildcard partner.

The field of 15 All-Stars will be completed tonight when the five allocated wildcards are announced on After The Last program via racing.com at 6.45pm (AEDT).

allstarmile.com.au