By Bren O'Brien
Urban Ruler (Street Boss {USA}) may have only had one race at stakes company in his 27-start career, but clearly leads voting for the $5 million All Star Mile after one day.
Urban Ruler has over 800 owners and compiled well over 1300 votes on the first day to easily lead superstar The Autumn Sun (Redoute's Choice) (671) with Man Of His Word (Lope de Vega {Ire}), who is also owned by a large syndicate, in third on 529.
The grey, who recently transferred to the Chris Munce stables, has won six of his 27 races and over $270,000 in prizemoney. His most recent win was at Geelong back in October 2017.
Should he feature in the top 10 vote getters overall when voting closes on February 18, he will get an invite to the rich race. There will be an additional four 'wildcard' invitations issued.
Urban Ruler has over 1300 votes on the first day of voting
Man Of His Word is trained by Dean Krongold and was most recently seen when sixth in the G3 Sandown S. in November. His most recent win was over two years ago in a Listed race at Doomben.
Star 3-year-old The Autumn Sun is no guarantee to run in the race, while another 3-year-old, G1 Thousand Guineas winner Amphitrite (Sebring) is fifth, just behind Moss 'n' Dale (NZ) (Castledale {NZ}.
The other horses in the top ten as of 6pm Monday were Mr Money Bags (Written Tycoon), Grunt (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}, Penny To Sell (NZ) (Pentire {GB}), Foundry (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Material Man (Vital Equine {Ire}).
Lindsay Park have already ruled out their Group 1 winner Vega Magic (Lope De Vega {Ire}) confirming on Monday he'll be set for the G1 Newmarket Hcp instead.
Surprises a certainty
Racing Victoria Executive General Manager of Racing, Greg Carpenter, said there was bound to be some surprises crop up, especially at this early stage of the voting process.
"I've been in the sport 40 years and we've never been down this path before. It's really exciting and we are overwhelmed with the quality of entries and we are going to track what happens over the next four weeks," he told RSN.
"There will be people who are voting for the most popular horse, and there will be people who sit back and say I think this horse can win it." - Greg Carpenter
Carpenter said the voting concept, which also carries a $500,000 prize pool for those who vote, was always going to attract a variety of voting strategies and that it would be interesting to see how it plays out in the first year.
"There will be people who are voting for the most popular horse, and there will be people who sit back and say I think this horse can win it and they may attach themselves to a horse that they think is going to win the race," he said.
Ten Owner Ambassadors will be chosen at random from those who voted for each horse in the race with $250,000 for the winning Ambassador, with another $250,000 shared among the other nine.
Wildcards acts as insurance
The popularity concept, based on the Arima Kinen in Japan, is complemented by the four wildcards, which will allow RV to include horses at its discretion.
"When the top ten by popularity are determined, if the horse who is an out and out champion, like Happy Clapper (Teofilo {Ire}) or Le Romain (Hard Spun {USA}), or any one of the 35 Group 1 winners aren’t in the top ten, we will think about giving them a wildcard," he said.
Carpenter said a wildcard spot would be kept open for both the winner of the G1 Australian Guineas and for superstar mare Winx, (Street Cry {Ire}), who wasn't among the initial entrants.
"We will also reach out to the owners of Winx as a last resort for them, but I think they are firmly locked into Sydney." - Greg Carpenter
"We are certainly keeping one up our sleeves if a 3-year old emerges and wins the Australian Guineas on March 2 and wants to run in the All-Star Mile," he said.
"We will also reach out to the owners of Winx as a last resort for them, but I think they are firmly locked into Sydney."
"It is a safety valve for us, to ensure we get the top standard horses to supplement the top ten as voted by the public."
Under the competition rules, only Australian residents can vote.
The All-Star Mile drew 130 entries when they closed last week, with the $500 nomination fee going to the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal.
"That means that already around $650,000 will go to the Good Friday Appeal," Carpenter said.
