The Melbourne Racing Club has announced its 2026 Spring Racing program as part of the Club’s 150-year celebration, delivering a welcome return to sensible programming for racing participants and enthusiasts.
Headlined by the historic 150th running of the Sportsbet Caulfield Cup, which will be run for a record $6 million at Caulfield on Saturday, 17 October, the program also features the return of Group 1 racing to Sportsbet Sandown.
Melbourne Racing Club Chief Executive Officer Tanya Fullarton said: “Melbourne Racing Club’s 150th celebration, MRC150, provides an opportunity to recognise the Club’s history and is a fitting time to return to traditional race dates which reinstate proven pathways to Spring feature races and to bring back Group 1 racing to Sandown. This has been strongly endorsed by racing participants and enthusiasts.”
“For 150 years, members and racegoers at the Melbourne Racing Club have witnessed and enjoyed many of the stories, characters and moments that have shaped Australian racing.
“Our marquee race is the Sportsbet Caulfield Cup, which is one of Australia’s great races. In this milestone year, we have increased its prizemoney to a record $6 million, reflecting its standing in Australian and international racing,” Fullarton said.
Sportsbet Sandown will play its strongest Spring Carnival role in years, hosting the Group 1 Moir Stakes meeting for Moonee Valley on Saturday, 5 September before an expanded Group 1 Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes meeting on Saturday, 14 November.
The Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes meeting is highlighted by the return of the $750,000 Group 2 Zipping Classic to its traditional spring position one week after the Melbourne Cup Carnival alongside the $400,000 Group 2 Sportsbet Sandown Guineas and the $1 million Group 3 Thoroughbred Club Stakes.
The listed Sportsbet Sandown Cup will also return from its winter placement to sit on the Spring Finale program on Saturday, 28 November, restoring the race to the post-Melbourne Cup timeslot it occupied from its inception in 2012 until 2022.
The movement of key stakes races to Sandown has prompted minor programming and distance amendments, including the listed Testa Rossa Stakes and Group 3 Sportsbet Sandown Stakes trading places in the calendar.
The Testa Rossa Stakes will shift to AFL Grand Final weekend at Caulfield on Sunday, 27 September.
The Sportsbet Sandown Stakes will return to Sandown Hillside on Saturday, 28 November, where it will be run over 1400 metres, two weeks after the Group 1 Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes.
The Group 3 Summoned Stakes, scheduled for Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes Day on Saturday, 14 November, will be run over 1500 metres, while the listed Doveton Stakes will be run over 1000 metres.
The listed Sportsbet Village Stakes, scheduled for the Spring Finale meeting on Saturday, 28 November, will increase from 1100 metres to 1200 metres.
Several changes have also been made to MRC’s three-year-old program to strengthen progression through the spring.
The Group 2 Manhari Thousand Guineas Prelude and listed Jim Moloney Stakes, both run over 1400 metres, have swapped positions in the calendar, allowing progression from the Manhari Thousand Guineas Prelude to the Group 2 Edward Manifold Stakes and Group 1 Thousand Guineas at two-week intervals.
The move returns both three-year-old fillies’ races to the same placement they held before the Group 1 Thousand Guineas was relocated to mid-November in 2023 and 2024.
The Group 3 Catanach’s Jewellers Blue Sapphire Stakes will return to Caulfield Cup week as a key lead-up to the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes, with the race to be run under set weights and penalties conditions.
The listed Gothic Stakes will remain on Sportsbet Caulfield Cup Day and return to 1400 metres in 2026, rebuilding its connection with the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes and Group 2 Sportsbet Sandown Guineas, both run over 1600 metres.
The $400,000 Melbourne Classic, first run last year at Caulfield for three-year-olds over 2000 metres, will be reduced to 1800 metres and run at Sandown Hillside on Saturday, 28 November.
Outside the three-year-old division, the Group 3 Sportsbet How Now Stakes will return to its traditional September position on Underwood Stakes Day, Saturday, 19 September, re-establishing the mares’ sprint as a pivotal mid-spring target.
The Group 2 Sportsbet Herbert Power Stakes will remain on Sportsbet Caulfield Guineas Day, with conditions amended from quality handicap to set weights and penalties. The winner will receive ballot exemption into the Sportsbet Caulfield Cup without receiving a weight penalty.
As part of MRC150, the Club has also reviewed a number of feature race names to recognise horses and people whose achievements have been part of the Melbourne Racing Club’s 150-year history.
The Group 3 Cockram Stakes will be renamed the Courtza Stakes in honour of one of Australian racing’s outstanding two-year-olds, who remains one of only five horses to complete the Blue Diamond Stakes–Golden Slipper double.
Courtza’s legacy also extends through her influence as a broodmare, having produced four-time Champion New Zealand Sire O’Reilly, whose descendants include Caulfield Cup winner Master O’Reilly, Pride of Jenni and Ka Ying Rising.
The Group 3 Sportsbet Moonga Stakes will be renamed the Harry White Stakes, recognising the Australian Racing Hall of Fame jockey and his outstanding contribution to racing.
White rode 60 Group 1 winners during a remarkable career, including a record-equalling four Melbourne Cups. He also enjoyed significant success at Caulfield, winning the Caulfield Cup aboard Sobar and Ming Dynasty, along with three victories in each of the Oakleigh Plate, Futurity Stakes and Memsie Stakes.
