G1 Race history
VRC Champions Mile (registered as the Cantala Stakes)
- Track
- Flemington
- Distance
- 1600m
- Conditions
- Three-year-olds and up, weight for age (per VRC honour roll)
The Race
The VRC counts the race from 1 November 1919, when Chal won the first Cantala Stakes.
It has run under many names, including the George Adams Handicap (1962-1984), the Emirates Stakes (1998-2015) and the Kennedy Mile (2017-2018).
In 2016 the race moved to Victoria Derby day, swapping with the Mackinnon Stakes, and in 2022 it returned to the final day as the Champions Mile.
Amounis (1926, 1929) and Seascay (1994, 1995) are among the race's dual winners.
Pride Of Jenni won the 2023 Champions Mile a week after winning the 2023 Empire Rose Stakes, both ridden by Declan Bates.
Best Of Days ran 1:33.65 in 2018, the fastest of the ten winners from 2016 to 2025, while Ceolwulf's 1:38.94 in 2025 was the slowest.
No favourite won in the ten runnings from 2016 to 2025, according to OLBG.
Winners
| Year | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Ceolwulf | Joseph Pride | Chad Schofield | 7 | $5.00 |
| 2024 | Mr Brightside | Ben, Will & JD Hayes | Craig Williams | 3 | $5.00 |
| 2023 | Pride Of Jenni | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Declan Bates | 3 | $13.00 |
| 2022 | Alligator Blood | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Tim Clark | 3 | $5.50 |
| 2021 | Superstorm | Danny O'Brien | Damien Oliver | 12 | $8.00 |
| 2020 | Yulong Prince | Chris Waller | Damian Lane | 11 | $10.00 |
| 2019 | Fierce Impact | Matthew Smith | Craig Williams | 14 | $8.00 |
| 2018 | Best Of Days | James Cummings | Craig Williams | 1 | $12.00 |
| 2017 | Shillelagh | Chris Waller | Michael Dee | 2 | $12.00 |
| 2016 | Le Romain | Kris Lees | Hugh Bowman | 8 | $15.00 |
A blank cell means we could not confirm it from a source, so we left it blank rather than guess.
Patterns, Rated
- Interesting No favourite won in the last 10 runnings (n=10, 0 of 10)
- Pub stat Craig Williams rode 3 of the last 10 winners (2018, 2019, 2024) (n=10, 3 of 10)
- Pub stat Winners drew barrier 3 three years running (2022, 2023, 2024) (n=10, 3 of 10)
- Pub stat OLBG counts 4 of the last 10 winners as having run at Caulfield last start and 3 at Randwick (n=10, 4 of 10)
- Pub stat Chris Waller trained 2 of the last 10 winners (Shillelagh 2017, Yulong Prince 2020) (n=10, 2 of 10)
Strong signal: enough runnings and a racing reason behind it. Interesting: worth knowing, not worth betting on alone. Pub stat: fun at the bar, useless at the window.
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