Champions Stakes Day 2026: Flemington's 3 A$3M Races, How to Watch

Saturday is the last day of Australia's biggest week of racing, and it saves three of its richest races for the end. Champions Stakes Day 2026 at Flemington puts A$3 million on each of a sprint, a mile and a 2000m race, so every kind of top horse gets one last shot at a title before summer.

Fields and barriers are now drawn. Here's what's on, when to watch from wherever you live, and why this card is built the way it is.

Champions Stakes Day 2026: date, times and the three big races

TAB Champions Stakes Day is Saturday 7 November 2026 at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival. Gates open at 10:40am and the first race goes at 12:40pm local time (AEDT), with the last race at 5:50pm.

The three Group 1s, all worth A$3,000,000 and all run at weight-for-age with no apprentice claims:

• VRC Champions Sprint, 1200m (Race 6, 3:50pm). Its registered name is the Victoria Racing Club Stakes, and this is the 66th running. Under sponsors' names it has been the Darley Sprint Classic and the Darley Champions Sprint.
• VRC Champions Mile, 1600m (Race 7, 4:30pm). Its registered name is the Cantala Stakes (107th running). From 1998 to 2015 it was known as the Emirates Stakes.
• TAB Champions Stakes, 2000m (Race 8, 5:10pm). This is the old LKS Mackinnon Stakes, first run in 1869. This is the 157th running.

The undercard includes the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes for mares (2000m) and the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m). The VRC forecast showers and about 15°C, so check the track rating on the day (what track ratings mean).

What time is it where you are?

Melbourne is on daylight time (UTC+11). The US and Europe have already turned their clocks back, so for American viewers the three big races fall late on Friday night, 6 November.

More time zones for the three Group 1s (Sprint / Mile / Stakes):

• Los Angeles: 8:50pm, 9:30pm, 10:10pm Friday
• Mexico City: 10:50pm, 11:30pm Friday, 12:10am Saturday
• Buenos Aires: 1:50am, 2:30am, 3:10am Saturday
• Madrid / Paris: 5:50am, 6:30am, 7:10am Saturday

Race times can slip by a few minutes, so tune in early.

The fields: who to watch

These fields and riders match the official Racing Australia race book. Late jockey changes do happen, so check the VRC or racing.com on race morning.

Champions Sprint (1200m)

• Giga Kick (Clayton Douglas, Jamie Mott, barrier 7) won this race last year on a heavy track. No horse has won it two years in a row since the great mare Black Caviar in 2010 and 2011.
• Headwall (Matthew Smith, barrier 6) is ridden by Ethan Brown.
• Twelve go, including Tempted, who won The Everest this spring, and Joliestar with James McDonald.

Champions Mile (1600m)

• Nine runners, including Tom Kitten (Mark Zahra), Lindermann and Autumn Glow.
• Sepals, trained by Cliff Brown, gets Ethan Brown from barrier 5.

TAB Champions Stakes (2000m)

• Eleven runners, led by Cox Plate winner Cosmic Crusader (Andrea Leek, William Pike).
• Sir Delius, Light Infantry Man, Aeliana and the Joseph O'Brien-trained Omni Man also line up.
• Land Legend (Ciaron Maher, barrier 8) is Ethan Brown's ride.

Brown rides all three of those horses four days after winning the Melbourne Cup on Point Of Law (who Ethan Brown is | Melbourne Cup 2026).

Why three distances on one day?

Australian racing splits its top horses by distance. Sprinters, milers and middle-distance horses are different athletes, much as a 100m runner isn't built like a 1500m runner.

Champions Day gives each group a single A$3 million final at the end of the spring. It works like a season finale: the best sprinters meet over 1200m down Flemington's famous straight, the milers go 1600m, and the 2000m race usually draws Cox Plate horses.

The VRC moved the mile back to the final day in 2022, when the day was rebranded as Champions Day. The aim was a clear message: win here and you're the champion of your distance for the spring.

How weight-for-age works

In a handicap, officials give better horses more weight to even up the race. Weight-for-age (WFA) does the opposite: weight depends only on a horse's age and sex, plus the distance and time of year, not on how good it is.

That makes WFA races a true test of the best horse. Here's what it looks like in practice:

• Mares and fillies carry less. In this year's Sprint the males carry 58.5kg and the mares 56.5kg; in the Mile and Stakes it's 59kg against 57kg.
• Three-year-olds get relief. Younger horses are still maturing, so the scale gives them less weight against older horses, especially in spring.
• No apprentice claims. All three Group 1s run without the weight allowance young jockeys usually get.

The same idea runs the Cox Plate and many of the world's biggest races, which is why WFA wins carry so much prestige. Learn more terms in our glossary.

How to watch

• Australia: free-to-air on Channel 9 and streaming on 9Now, plus racing.com (website, app and TV). For radio, try Triple M Racing or RSN.
• Outside Australia: the VRC offers a free international live stream through its broadcast guide, but it isn't available in Australia or the United States.
• United States: look for Australian racing in your racing TV or streaming listings for Friday night.
• At the track: general admission was A$65 per adult on the VRC site, and many reserved areas had already sold out.

We're here for the sport: this page has no tips, odds or betting advice.

What to watch next (and next year)

• Saturday's results: check the official VRC or racing.com results once the races are run. Will Giga Kick go back-to-back, and can Ethan Brown add a Group 1 in Cup week?
• Next year's date: Champions Day is always the Saturday after Melbourne Cup day (the first Tuesday in November). For 2027, that should be Saturday 6 November, so wait for the VRC to confirm.
• Time-zone trap for 2027: US clocks won't change until 7 November 2027. Americans will still be on daylight time, so expect the races one hour later than this year's ET times. Mexico City, Bogotá and Buenos Aires don't change their clocks, and Melbourne is on daylight time both years, so their conversions should stay the same if the local start times don't change.
• Before race day: watch the barrier draw (usually midweek) and the track rating on race morning.

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