Trainer seeks to saddle up support

THERE’S a local chance in the Seppelt Wines All-Star Mile, with five-year-old gelding Just Folk among the list of potential starters for the mid-February race held at Flemington.

Bendigo trainer Josh Julius has had Just Folk nominated to compete in the event which includes a $5 million prize pool, but it’s up to the public to vote him in.

“The ten horses who receive the most votes are automatic entries,” he said.

“Throw a vote in because any vote counts. Get your partner to vote or your mum and dad because if we can turn one vote into four votes that might be the difference of squeezing into the field or missing out.”

Some trainers will be holding onto hope for their horse’s spot in the race, after not gaining automatic entry.

Two horses in the race will be made to earn their spots by winning a qualification race prior to the day.

“It’ll be a field of 15. There’s two races that are exemption races so if you win you qualify for the race,” Julius said.

“Then there’s the remaining three spots up for grabs that are wild card entries and those are determined by a preselected All-Star Mile committee.”

Trainers like Julius have been eager to enter the event which first ran three years ago and was inspired by Japan’s famous fan voted race, the Arima Kinen.

“It’s been a relatively recent introduction to Racing Victoria’s calendar but it’s a new way to invent racing and it’s pretty exciting to be a part of it,” Julius said.

“Even though it’s not a group race it’s still the richest mile race in the world so to be a part of that and have a horse vying for a spot in the field like that is very exciting.”

With the horse racing industry fortunate not to have been heavily impacted by COVID-19, Julius said he’s looking forward to another year of racing.

“Racing’s been really lucky. We had some pretty strict guidelines at the start of COVID, but we’ve only lost one or two days,” he said.