WINTER RACE SERIES
VRC-CRV WINTER CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES This open-class mile series features heats at Sandown, Swan Hill, Caulfield and Flemington, bringing together in-form gallopers across distances of 1400m to 1600m. The series culminates in the $200,000 Listed VRC–CRV Winter Championship Series Final on Flemington Finals Race Day. BANJO PATERSON SERIES
This series is for open stayers and is named in honour of revered author and poet Andrew Barton ‘Banjo’ Paterson, who had a lifelong love affair with horses. Polo matches, picnic races and riding his own pony were all part of his early life in country NSW. After moving to Sydney and qualifying as a solicitor, he began submitting poetry to The Bulletin under the pseudonym “The Banjo”, the name of a racehorse his father had owned.
His various careers included jockey, horse trainer in the Middle East during WWI and racing journal editor, but it’s his wonderful bush ballads and poems – such as The Man From Snowy River – that truly reflect his equine passion.
In 1886, he published A Dream of the Melbourne Cu p; the first of many racing ballads, including Old Pardon , the Son of Reprieve , The Open Steeplechase , Rio Grande’s Last Race and The Wargilah Handicap . NEXT GENERATION SPRINTER SERIES Introduced to highlight emerging two-year-old talent, this series provides valuable experience on Flemington’s unique straight course. Heats are held at Flemington, Caulfield, Sandown and Swan Hill, with the $150,000 final to be run down the Flemington Straight Six, helping develop the next wave of elite Australian sprinters. LEILANI SERIES
This fillies and mares series honours Leilani, one of Bart Cummings’ most admired champions. Winner of the 1974 AJC Oaks, she enjoyed a dominant four- year-old season, claiming the Turnbull Stakes, Toorak Handicap, Caulfield Cup and Mackinnon Stakes before finishing second to stablemate Think Big in the Melbourne Cup. She continued her success the following
autumn, winning the Orr Stakes, St George Stakes and Australian Cup. Leilani won 14 of her 28 starts and was so highly regarded by Cummings that he named his Sydney stable, Leilani Lodge, in her honour. *The Leilani Series was combined with the former Rivette Series in 2023. SILVER BOWL SERIES Targeting three-year-old milers, the Silver Bowl Series includes heats over 1400m to 1600m at Flemington, Caulfield and Sandown. The series concludes with a $150,000 quality handicap over 1600m on Flemington Finals Race Day.
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