Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
2025 VRC Champions Mile Preview
Known as simply the Champions Mile and registered as the Cantala Stakes, this Group 1 race is run on the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington as part of one of three 'Champions' races, the Saturday after the Melbourne Cup.
The race has been known under numerous names since its creation in 1881 when it was first called the Coburg Stakes. Since 1979, it has been a Group 1 race. Although the distance has dropped, it was first run over 1,800m but has been run over roughly 1,600m since 1895.
VRC Champions Mile Information:
- VRC Champions Mile Past Winners
- VRC Champions Mile Trainer Statistics
- VRC Champions Mile Jockey Statistics
If you are interested in other predictions at Flemington then head over to the Flemington tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG racing tipsters and also compare those predictions to the runners that make the trend shortlist when added below. You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Races Covered during the Melbourne Cup Carnival section for links to these.
How competitive is the VRC Champions Mile market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2008 when the race had an over-round of 111%. The race in 2010 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 119%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the VRC Champions Mile, the over-round has been 116%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £116 which is bet.
VRC Champions Mile Trends:
Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the VRC Champions Mile next time out then you would have backed a total of 2 winners. Backing all 18 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -11.00. Ahead of the 2025 VRC Champions Mile why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?
The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2019 renewal when Fierce Impact from Matthew A Smith under the guidance of Craig A Williams, won in a time of 1:38.21, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Best Of Days, trained by James Cummings and ridden by Craig A Williams set the quickest time of 1:33.65 in the 2018 renewal.
These are the top three quickest-run VRC Champions Mile over the last 20 renewals:
- Best Of Days (1:33.65) in 2018
- All American (1:33.98) in 2009
- Yulong Prince (1:34.57) in 2020
VRC Champions Mile Past Winners
Here are the VRC Champions Mile past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the VRC Champions Mile are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 1:36.02 | Mr Brightside (NZ) 7yo 9-4 (3 of 11) 4/1 | Craig A Williams Ben, Will & JD Hayes (AUS) |
| 2023 1:34.75 | Pride Of Jenni (AUS) 6yo 9-0 (3 of 7) 12/1 | Declan Bates Ciaron Maher & David Eustace (AUS) |
| 2022 1:35.63 | Alligator Blood (AUS) 6yo 9-4 (3 of 11) 9/2 | Timothy Clark Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott (AUS) |
| 2021 1:35.25 | Superstorm (AUS) 5yo 8-11 (12 of 14) 7/1 | Damien Oliver Danny O'Brien (AUS) |
| 2020 1:34.57 | Yulong Prince (SAF) 6yo 8-9 (11 of 16) 9/1 | Damian Lane Chris Waller (AUS) |
| 2019 1:38.21 | Fierce Impact (JPN) 5yo 8-11 (14 of 16) 7/1 | Craig A Williams Matthew A Smith (AUS) |
| 2018 1:33.65 | Best Of Days (GB) 4yo 8-3 (1 of 16) 11/1 | Craig A Williams James Cummings (AUS) |
| 2017 1:35.01 | Shillelagh (NZ) 6yo 8-3 (2 of 14) 11/1 | Michael Dee Chris Waller (AUS) |
| 2016 1:34.92 | Le Romain (AUS) 4yo 8-10 (8 of 16) 14/1 | Hugh Bowman Kris Lees (AUS) |
| 2015 1:36.26 | Turn Me Loose (NZ) 4yo 8-13 (10 of 15) 8/1 | Kerrin McEvoy Murray Baker (NZ) |
Where have the winning runners come from?
Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the VRC Champions Mile have been based:
- AUS: 17 winners with an additional 45 placings from 260 runners
- NZ: 2 winners with an additional 1 placing from 14 runners
- HK: 1 winner with an additional 1 placing from 8 runners
- GB: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 4 runners
- SIN: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 2 runners
- MAC: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 1 runner
- GER: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 1 runner
VRC Champions Mile Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the VRC Champions Mile over the last 20 renewals is Chris Waller who has won the race four times with those four winners coming from Albert The Fat (2011), Boban (2013), Shillelagh (2017) and Yulong Prince (2020). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the VRC Champions Mile is Danny O'Brien (2 wins). Multiple trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the VRC Champions Mile, Darren Weir (0-12), Michael Moroney (0-11) and Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes (0-10) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.
Here are some of the top VRC Champions Mile trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):
| Trainer | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Waller | 35-4-7 | +8.60 | -1.34 |
| Danny O'Brien | 7-2-3 | +27.00 | +15.38 |
| James Cummings | 9-1-4 | +3.00 | +5.01 |
| David A Hayes | 8-1-2 | +33.00 | +18.37 |
| Grahame Begg | 6-1-3 | +0.50 | +1.76 |
| Ciaron Maher | 4-1-1 | +97.00 | +47.00 |
| Kris Lees | 4-1-2 | +11.00 | +7.75 |
| Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | 4-1-1 | +1.50 | -0.30 |
| Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | 3-1-1 | +10.00 | +5.50 |
| Mark Kavanagh | 3-1-2 | +3.00 | +2.51 |
VRC Champions Mile Jockey Statistics
The leading jockey in the VRC Champions Mile over the last 20 renewals is Craig A Williams who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Best Of Days (2018), Fierce Impact (2019) and Mr Brightside (2024). Other jockeys who have recorded multiple wins in the VRC Champions Mile are Damien Oliver (2 wins) and Hugh Bowman (2 wins). There is one jockey who has not had the best of times in the VRC Champions Mile, Glen Boss has ridden 12 runners to the race without recording any wins.
Here are some of the top VRC Champions Mile jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craig A Williams | 17-3-9 | +8.00 | +12.60 |
| Damien Oliver | 12-2-3 | +9.00 | +4.13 |
| Hugh Bowman | 9-2-2 | +12.00 | +4.88 |
| Kerrin McEvoy | 12-1-2 | -3.00 | -5.63 |
| Dwayne Dunn | 10-1-2 | -3.50 | -5.19 |
| Mark Zahra | 7-1-3 | +10.00 | +6.83 |
| Corey Brown | 6-1-1 | +35.00 | +20.00 |
| Michael Dee | 6-1-1 | +6.00 | +1.88 |
| Damian Lane | 6-1-2 | +4.00 | +1.53 |
| Stephen Baster | 6-1-1 | +0.00 | -1.87 |
2025 VRC Champions Mile Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 3, (1, 7), 10, 1, 2, 1, 5, 2, 1, 8, (8, 12), (4, 5), 8, 4, (6, 9), 13, 4, 7, 4, 11
The percentage shown is the percentage of the total number of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones as you would expect them to do well. The trend information is based on the available information on the racing post in terms of previous runs etc.
- 20 / 20 (86%) - Placed within last 3 starts
- 20 / 20 (89%) - Dam is not FR/IRE/SAF bred
- 19 / 20 (82%) - Carried 117 - 131lbs (LTO)
- 19 / 20 (83%) - In a field of 9 - 20 (Debut)
- 19 / 20 (87%) - Ran over 5f - 1m (Debut)
- 19 / 20 (89%) - No more than -3yrs (Vs Max Age)
- 19 / 20 (89%) - Not in a LST/Cl2 (LTO)
- 19 / 20 (89%) - Not in FRA/DEU/HKG/IRL/JPN/USA (Debut)
- 18 / 20 (69%) - Break of 7 - 56 days (Last Place)
- 18 / 20 (76%) - Achieved an RPR of 99+ (LTO)
- 18 / 20 (84%) - No older than a 6yo
- 18 / 20 (85%) - No bigger than 60/1 (LTO)
- 17 / 20 (67%) - No bigger than 16/1 (Debut)
- 17 / 20 (69%) - Won within last 4 starts
- 17 / 20 (71%) - Carried 119 - 131lbs (Last Win)
Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Flemington racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the VRC Champions Mile. Did you know that we have an OLBG Betting School section on OLBG? It is a place to help you improve your betting experience with articles like How to Find Winners - 101 Tips to Choose A Winning Horse Racing Bet.
Are you already a member? If not, then why not? With over £6,000 given away each month in the tipster competition, why not get involved? Remember, It is completely FREE! So, head over to the registration page to sign up today! If you are already a member, then share your thoughts on the VRC Champions Mile by adding a tip on the race here.
VRC Champions Mile Trend Analysis
✅ The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +97.10 is when runners had 0 career places over further.
❌ The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 1 career place on the going, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-47.
Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2024: Winner in 3 (10,8) [11 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 3 (2) [7 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 3 (8,4) [11 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 12 (14,13) [14 Runners]
- 2020: Winner in 11 (14,2,15) [16 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the VRC Champions Mile is Caulfield, there has been a total number of 7 winners of this race who ran at Caulfield last time out. The next best course which has produced the second most winners is Moonee Valley, there has been a total number of 6 winners of this race who ran at Moonee Valley last time out.
The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 17 winners from a total of 251 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 3 winners from a total of 39 runners.
These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the VRC Champions Mile despite multiple attempts:
- Encosta De Lago (0 Wins from 8 runners)
- Redoutes Choice (0 Wins from 6 runners)
- Testa Rossa (0 Wins from 6 runners)
- Danzero (0 Wins from 5 runners)
- Fastnet Rock (0 Wins from 5 runners)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Tears I Cry in 2007, winning for Ciaron Maher at odds of 100/1 under the guidance of Nikita Beriman. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 4 winning favourites in the race. Whilst we wait for the 2025 VRC Champions Mile remember you can get daily racing predictions from the top racing tipsters on the best racing tipsters page. All figures and trends above, such as the horse's previous runs are based on the information that is available on the racing post.
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this VRC Champions Mile Preview are at hand, Andy and James. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for International racing.
James Banting
Tipster Competition Assistant
Andy Powell
Content Editor
Races Covered during the Melbourne Cup Carnival
Here are the other races that take place at the Flemington Racetrack during the Melbourne Cup Carnival that we also cover with blogs.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| Coolmore Stud Stakes Victoria Derby Day | Switzerland (AUS) 3yo - 9/2 | Chris Waller James McDonald |
| Empire Rose Stakes Victoria Derby Day | Atishu (NZ) 7yo - 13/5 | Chris Waller James McDonald |
| Victoria Derby Victoria Derby Day | Goldrush Guru (AUS) 3yo - 7/1 | Andrew Gluyas Jamie Kah |
| Melbourne Cup Melbourne Cup Day | Knights Choice (AUS) 5yo - 90/1 | John Symons & Sheila Laxon Robbie Dolan |
| Crown Oaks Kennedy Oaks Day | Treasurethe Moment (AUS) 3yo - 21/10 | Matt Laurie Damian Lane |
| VRC Champions Mile Champions Stakes Day | Mr Brightside (NZ) 7yo - 4/1 | Ben, Will & JD Hayes Craig A Williams |
| VRC Champions Sprint Champions Stakes Day | Sunshine In Paris (AUS) 5yo - 4/1 | Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald James McDonald |
| VRC Champions Stakes Champions Stakes Day | Via Sistina (IRE) 6yo - 3/5 | Chris Waller James McDonald |
