Ramsden Heads Flemington Stayers Program

Meanwhile, Flemington’s strong program for stayers will be further bolstered by the news that Listed The Andrew Ramsden (2800m) will now be worth $500,000, in addition to offering ballot exemption to the winner for the Lexus Melbourne Cup. Furthermore, the time-honoured Listed VRC St Leger (2800m) has increased to $300,000 while the Listed Bagot Handicap (2800m) has been set at $200,000. The Listed VRC-CRV Winter Championship Series Final (1600m) will continue to be a feature of Flemington Finals Race Day, with increased prizemoney of $200,000 from next year. Most of the races to receive more prizemoney hold Group or Listed status, with the Mahogany Challenge Final (2500m) and Flemington Cup 1849 (2800m) also set to offer increased prizemoney of $200,000 and $175,000 respectively, reflecting their position as highlights of the winter racing program at Flemington even though they are not yet black-type races. Racing Victoria has increased minimum prizemoney at all levels of black-type racing with Group 1, 2, 3 and Listed races now offering the highest minimum levels anywhere in Australia. From the start of the 2021-22 season, all Victorian Group 1 races will offer minimum prizemoney of $750,000 (up from $500,000), all Group 2 races to offer $300,000 (up from $200,000), and all Listed races to offer $160,000 (up from $140,000).

Oceanex won 2020's Ramsden Stakes (pic: Mark Gatt)