TAB Champions Stakes Day at Flemington to crown Australia’s best horses

A total of 26 Group 1 winners will step out on TAB Champions Stakes Day, a race day headlined by three championship races at the traditional distances of 1200m, 1600m and 2000m, each with a storied history dating back decades in a fitting finale to an exceptional Melbourne Cup Carnival.

In addition, following his incredible Lexus Melbourne Cup success on Tuesday, Knight’s Choice will return to Flemington to parade before the three championship races are run and won. He will be joined by his trainers Sheila Laxon and John Symons and jockey Robbie Dolan. 

Racegoers can visit horse stall number 120 in the pre-parade ring, the stall in which Knight’s Choice prepared for his crowning moment earlier this week, to visit the gelding and celebrate his incredible race which stopped the nation.

The $3 million Group 1 TAB Champions Stakes (2000m) will mark the first time ever that last-start winners of the Caulfield Cup (Duke De Sessa), Cox Plate (Via Sistina) and Lexus Melbourne Cup (Without A Fight) will meet in the same race. 

They are among six Group 1 winners in the line-up, including defending champion Atishu, who added the TAB Empire Rose Stakes to her record on Penfolds Victoria Derby Day.

One of the most anticipated races of the year is the $3 million Group 1 VRC Champions Mile (1600m).

Nine Group 1 winners will chase the “champion” tag, including reigning title holder and Australian Horse of the Year Pride Of Jenni and her great foe, Mr Brightside. It was in this race last year that they first clashed and the duo have built up one of racing’s great rivalries over the last 12 months, facing off on nine occasions. 

There are plenty of other contenders who will be keen to demonstrate this is more than a two-horse race, with electrifying Toorak Handicap winner Antino, last Saturday’s The Damien Oliver victor Another Wil, classy mares Fangirl, Amelia’s Jewel and Stefi Magnetica and top three-year-old Broadsiding will all be vying for the title.

Australia’s fastest horses will line up in the $3 million Group 1 Darley Champions Sprint (1200m). 

The 12 runners have earned an eye-watering $54 million between them and represent a range of formlines, with six Group 1 winners in their midst. 

Two winners of the TAB Everest, Bella Nipotina and Giga Kick, will meet again having finished a short head apart at Randwick three weeks ago. 

The Flemington-trained Baraqiel has raced through the grades and will look to graduate to Group 1 level, while Caulfield Guineas winner Private Life and Coolmore Stud Stakes runner-up Bellatrix Star will represent the next generation.

Other highlights on a spectacular day of racing include the $300,000 Group 2 TAB Matriarch Stakes (2000m) for mares and the $300,000 Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m), a race that features Lexus Melbourne Cup winners like Makybe Diva, Might And Power, Hyperno, Rain Lover and Galilee on its honour roll.

The greatest race week in Australia will conclude with a flourish on and off the track. 

The Park Live Stage will host ARIA-winning group The Temper Trap and rising singer-songwriter Mia Wray.

A host of champions will visit the Birdcage Enclosure including Melbourne Cup Carnival Ambassadors Ariarne Titmus OAM and Michelle Payne OAM, Australian actress Rachel Griffiths AM, racing royalty Kate Waterhouse and social personality Anna McEvoy as guests of Lexus, Melbourne Storm player Ryan Papenhuyzen and former Australian Olympic long jumper David Culbert for Nine, and Victoria Racing Club ambassador and fashionista Crystal Kimber-Peters.

More than $600,000 has already been raised by the Victoria Racing Club’s Pin & Win campaign for charity partner Ronald McDonald House Charities Victoria & Tasmania, smashing the previous record of $548,000 last year. 

This will allow RMHC VIC & TAS to provide more than 3,750 nights of free ‘home away from home’ accommodation for families of seriously ill children receiving paediatric care in hospital. 

Pin sales continue on TAB Champions Stakes Day, with Lexus Melbourne Cup pins priced at $10 and diamante horseshoe pins priced at $15. 

The draw closes at 4pm on Saturday 9 November, with the winners announced at 6:05pm in the Flemington Mounting Yard. First place winner will drive away in a brand new Lexus RZ 450e Sports Luxury valued at over $148,000, including on-road costs.

Pin & Win Ambassadors Brodie Young, Brad Johnson and Ross Stevenson will be on-course to promote the campaign.

The official flower of the day has been changed from a red rose to a red poppy in support of the RSL Poppy Appeal, with volunteers selling poppies across the racecourse.