Ladbrokes Tip: Recent Aurie’s Star Handicap winners have won next-up in Sydney Group races

The Aurie’s Star Handicap is the first Group race of the new racing season held in Melbourne and takes place in early August at Flemington Racecourse. Holding Group 3 status the open handicap sprint is contested over 1200m down the famous Flemington ‘Straight Six’ track and offers a total of $160,000 in prize money.

Officially held during the winter racing season, the Aurie’s Star Handicap makes a good starting point for Melbourne and Sydney Spring Racing Carnival hopefuls. Often graduates out of the Aurie’s Star Handicap race at Flemington step-up in distance and target the season’s first elite level race, the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield. In 2019 the upset Aurie’s Star winner So Si Bon went on to run second in the Memsie Stakes.

The latest edition of the Aurie’s Star Handicap ran on Saturday August 8, 2020 and was won by the 2018 runner-up Home Of The Brave. 

2020 Aurie’s Star Results

The full Aurie’s Star Handicap results and finishing order for 2020 will be updated right here once the Group 3 takes place on Saturday August 8, 2020 at Flemington.

• 1st: #2 Home Of The Brave
• 2nd: #5 Great Again
• 3rd: #10 Game Keeper

After a second to Voodoo Lad in his Australian race debut two years ago in 2018, the Godolphin-raced import Home Of The Brave ($5) broke a nearly 700 winning drought to salute in the 2020 Aurie’s Star Handicap results. Voodoo Lad (2018) was ridden to victory by jockey Damien Oliver who won the event for a record fifth time on Home Of The Brave in 2020.

Colour	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	2	HOME OF THE BRAVE (IRE)	James Cummings	Damien Oliver		7	59kg		$5
	2	5	GREAT AGAIN	Lindsey Smith	Declan Bates	0.75L	8	57kg		$4.40F
	3	10	GAME KEEPER	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Damian Lane	1.15L	4	55kg		$9
	4	1	SO SI BON	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Mark Zahra	2.15L	2	60kg		$6.50
	5	7	YULONG JANUARY	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Melham	2.65L	5	56kg		$10
	6	9	HIGHTAIL	Peter & Paul Snowden	Dean Yendall	3.65L	1	55kg		$10
	7	4	WIDGEE TURF	Patrick Payne	Billy Egan	4.05L	3	57.5kg		$5.50
	8	8	TROPE	Julius Sandhu	Jye McNeil	10.05L	6	55.5kg		$12
		11	THE CRUSHA	Mark C Webb	Jamie Kah		0
		3	REYKJAVIK	Lindsey Smith	John Allen		0
		6	SIGNORE FOX	Peter & Paul Snowden	Luke Nolen		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Aurie’s Star Handicap Race Info

• Date: Saturday August 8, 2020
• Track: Flemington Racecourse
• Distance: 1200m
• Conditions: Open Handicap
• Status: Group 3
• Prize Money: $160,000
• First Run: 1996

Aurie’s Star Betting

Proven sprinters with a strong record over the distance (1200m) sit high up the Aurie’s Star Handicap betting markets, especially those with past experience down the famous Flemington straight.

Favourites have a dominant recent record in the race including odds-on favourites in the Aurie’s Star Handicap betting markets.

Shorter Aurie’s Star Handicap odds are usually offered for the class horses in the race, especially any previous Group 1 performers. For example, the 2018 Aurie’s Star Handicap was won by Hey Doc who had saluted in the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at the track during that year’s autumn carnival.

That said, upsets do occur with the longest-priced Aurie’s Star Handicap winner in recent history being So Si Bon (2019) who jumped at $21 Aurie’s Star odds.

2020 Aurie’s Star Handicap Odds

The latest Aurie’s Star Handicap 2020 odds and betting market links on the Flemington Group 3 sprint will be available below as soon as markets open on the August showdown.

2019 Aurie’s Star Handicap winner So Si Bon. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Aurie’s Star Handicap Field

The Aurie’s Star Handicap field attracts a quality line-up of early season spring sprinters, many of which have upcoming Group 1 ambitions over the coming Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

The majority of horses in the Aurie’s Star Handicap field are resuming racing. There are however a number of potential lead-up races held over the winter that gallopers may have contested on their way to the Aurie’s Star Handicap field including Caulfield’s Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) over 100m shorter in mid-July.

Another potential lead-up into the field for the Aurie’s Star Handicap is the Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m), contested over the same distance at Caulfield Racecourse in late July.

The 2018 Aurie’s Star Handicap winner Voodoo Lad improved on a lead-up second in the Bletchingly Stakes before his win in the Group 3 event. Voodoo Lad also won the Sir John Monash Stakes earlier that winter and went on to take out the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) in Perth that December.

Horses out of the Aurie’s Star Handicap field may go on to contest Caulfield’s Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) or be kept at the traditional 1200m sprint distance over the carnival season. In 2017 Hey Doc won the Aurie’s Star Handicap before a Memsie Stakes fourth. He would also go on to win the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate Eve as a $21 roughie.

The race nominations close the Monday of race week with the final field and barrier draw released the Wednesday before the race takes place that Saturday.

2020 Aurie’s Star Handicap Field

The Aurie’s Star Handicap 2020 Final Field & Barriers are set for release on the Wednesday leading-up to the race and the full list of acceptors and gates will be detailed below once announced.

In-form eight-year-old Great Again is favourite in the 11-horse Aurie’s Star Handicap 2020 final field, the last start Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes placegetter drawn out wide in barrier 10.

Scratchings: #3 Reykjavik (6); #6 Signore Fox (11) – also scratched from Sydney’s Group 2 Missile Stakes at Rosehill due to a Heavy track; #11 The Crusha (1).

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2020 Aurie’s Star Handicap Nominations

Nominations for the Aurie’s Star Handicap 2020 are announced by the VRC the Monday of race week with the complete list of early entries to be published here.

A class line-up of 12 potential runners led by Group 1 Caulfield Stakes winner Cape Of Good Hope make up the 2020 Aurie’s Star Handicap nominations.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Aurie’s Star Handicap Tips

Good Aurie’s Star Handicap tips to consider each season include looking for the proven Flemington straight track performers in the field coming off a strong lead-up that are well-weighted in the handicap feature.

Another top Aurie’s Star Handicap betting tip is to lock-in the favourites in the markets with punters’ picks boasting a strong recent record in the race. Previous Group 1 winners and those with a gun first-up record when resuming in the spring lead-up also make good Aurie’s Star betting tips.

2020 Aurie’s Star Handicap Tips

Our insider Ladbrokes’ 2020 Aurie’s Star Handicap betting tips will be detailed below the week of the race.

Aurie’s Star Handicap Form Guide

The Aurie’s Star Handicap form guide is released when the field comes out the Wednesday of race week and details all the information from jockeys, trainers, barriers and weights to the lead-up runs and track / distance records of the sprinters in the field.

Over the years the Aurie’s Star Handicap form has stacked up in later spring Group races in both Sydney and Melbourne including the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m) that the 2011 winner Temple Of Boom took out two starts later.

Temple Of Boom also ran second in the 2012 Aurie’s Star Handicap before a second in the Group 3 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) at the same track next start. The 2012 Aurie’s Star third placegetter Zamorar meanwhile came off a Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) second and also ran second in the Group 2 PB Lawrence Stakes (1400m) next s tart.

2020 Aurie’s Star Handicap Form

A link to our detailed Aurie’s Star Handicap 2020 Form Guide and betting preview will be provided for punters the week of the race.

Results of the Aurie’s Star Handicap

The Aurie’s Star Handicap results have been dominated by single-figure chances and notable recent Aurie’s Star Handicap winners include Tiger Tees (2014), Temple Of Boom (2011) and Mic Mac (2009). There has been plenty of classy Aurie’s Star Handicap winners in the past few years including Hey Doc (2017) and Voodoo Lad (2018) who both went on to enjoy Group 1 wins.

In 2020 the Aurie’s Star Handicap results saw the 2018 runner-up Home Of The Brave atone and hand jockey Damien Oliver with a record fifth win in the race.

Aurie’s Star Handicap Winners