Flemington will usher in a fresh tradition this year, with the Victoria Racing Club set to host a New Year’s Eve race meeting for the first time. This twilight fixture, taking place on Wednesday, December 31, replaces the customary New Year’s Day meeting.
The meeting will conclude at 7:30pm and will include the running of the Listed Bagot Handicap (2800m) and the Listed Kensington Stakes (1400m).
While Flemington has traditionally held racing on January 1, the change is part of a revised calendar by Racing Victoria, which sees Mornington take the primary New Year’s Day slot instead.
The VRC is enthusiastic about the change, noting the New Year’s Eve celebration will allow racegoers to enjoy elite racing action followed by Melbourne’s renowned fireworks display.
“We are excited to introduce a twilight New Year’s Eve format that expands our opportunity to welcome VRC Members, the local community, families, and our regular racing participants to bring in the New Year at spectacular Flemington and make the most of our outstanding facilities,” VRC Chief Executive Officer Kylie Rogers said.
This calendar shift at Flemington is one of several changes, as Racing Victoria accommodates extended works at key venues. Moonee Valley will close for racing following the Cox Plate on October 25, with its meetings redistributed to Cranbourne, Pakenham, Geelong, and Caulfield. Additional reshuffles affect Bendigo and Benalla, with a number of meetings relocated accordingly.
The 2025-26 racing season in Victoria will consist of 530 scheduled meetings: 106 metropolitan, 368 country, 17 country non-TAB, and 33 picnic meets. While the number of race-free days remains at 17, the total number of meetings between December and May will reduce by 18 to help boost field sizes and wagering turnover.
Notable updates include a shift of the C F Orr Stakes meeting to November 15, capping off 12 straight weekends of Group 1 racing beginning with the Memsie Stakes at Caulfield on August 30. The Pakenham Cup will now take place a week earlier on December 13 to create a tighter lead-up to the Southside Slot Series races.
Additionally, Caulfield will host meetings on both days of The Championships in NSW (April 4 & 11), with the Golden Mile meeting at Bendigo rescheduled to May 2 to accommodate the reshuffle.
Racing Victoria’s CEO Aaron Morrison expressed confidence in the revised structure. “We’ve built a schedule of 530 race meetings that best caters for the active racing population and balances our volume of meetings in summer and autumn where field sizes have been under stress,” he said.
“We are continuing to consult with stakeholders on the prizemoney schedule for next season and beyond that the active horse population. This includes discussions on an appropriate reallocation of prizemoney from those meetings removed from the schedule.”
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