Valley closure at centre of major changes to 2025/26 Victorian racing schedule
Temporary racetrack closures and a bid to increase field sizes and wagering turnover have led to a suite of changes for the 2025/26 Victorian racing season.
In releasing its fixtures on Tuesday, Racing Victoria (RV) outlined its plan to stage 530 race meetings with the closure of three tracks impacting the schedule.
RV says Moonee Valley’s major redevelopment and infrastructure works planned for Bendigo and Benalla after their Cup meetings have forced 32 fixtures to be reallocated.
Of the 503 meetings next season, 106 will be staged at a metropolitan level, 374 on country racetracks, 17 at country non-TAB venues and 33 at picnic racecourses.
But there will be 18 fewer meetings between December and May as RV tries to unclog what it says is a “congested period” for racing in the state.
There will be 52 night meetings staged, down from 57 in 2024/25 with the Thursday season under lights finishing at the end of April instead of May.
Meetings on the state’s synthetic tracks will be reduced from 27 to 26 while there will be a key addition to the twilight racing schedule.
The Victoria Racing Club (VRC) has abandoned its traditional New Year’s Day timeslot and will instead race on New Year’s Eve in a move that continues a shift away from public holiday racing in the state.
RV endorsed the decision after a request from the VRC.
There will be 17 race-free days across the season – the same as 2024/25.
“With up to three tracks offline for an extended period following their spring features, we’ve had to make a spread of changes to the schedule across both metropolitan and country meetings next season,” RV chief executive Aaron Morrison said.
“We have a great network of tracks and customer facilities to accommodate these transfers, whilst we continue to invest in upgrades for the long-term benefit of the sport.”
He said the 2025/26 schedule had been devised in an effort to balance the state’s volume of meetings in summer and autumn where field sizes have been “under stress”.
“Our goal is always to maximise returns to the industry and the 2025/26 race dates are structured to best achieve that in the knowledge that we’ll have up to three tracks offline for a large portion of it,” 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.”
In a key shift because of Moonee Valley’s closure, the 2026 Group 1 William Reid Stakes will be staged at Caulfield on March 21.
Warwick Barr
As previously announced, the Melbourne Racing Club’s move to reshape its spring calendar has been confirmed with the Thousand Guineas switched to Caulfield Cup day and the CF Orr Stakes, a traditional weight-for-age autumn launch race, taking a mid-November date.
The Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes will be restored to a September timeslot.
Caulfield, Cranbourne, Pakenham and Geelong will be used as replacement tracks during the Moonee Valley redevelopment.
Dates for the Moe Cup and Pakenham Cup have changed.
The Moe Cup will move from a Friday meeting in October to a Sunday fixture in mid-November while the Pakenham Cup will be held a week earlier this year on December 13.
Ballarat will host a Good Friday meeting for the first time in 2026 while Bendigo’s Golden Mile fixture has been moved back three weeks to allow for consecutive metropolitan cards to coincide with The Championships in Sydney.
A decision on a venue for 2026 Cox Plate is expected to be announced after an RV board meeting next month.
RV is also tipped to unveil its prize money distribution for the new seasons in June.
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