---

---

The Aurie’s Star Handicap is a Group 3 sprint hosted at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne every year around early August. Run over 1200m under open handicap conditions, the Aurie’s Star Handicap pays a total of $200,000 prize money.

The Aurie’s Star Handicap is one of the first group races of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, and as a result tends to attract punting attention in excess of its status. Keep a close eye on the Aurie’s Star Handicap results, as they can provide a good indicator for later form in Group 1 races including the Manikato Stakes at The Valley that the 2017 Aurie’s Star winner Hey Doc went onto win.

More recently the 2019 Aurie’s Star Handicap winner So Si Bon, who won at 20/1, went on to run second next start in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m).

The Aurie’s Star Handicap 2021 ran on Saturday August 7, 2021 and was won by fit winter type The Astrologist. 

Aurie’s Star Handicap
Date:	Saturday August 7, 2021
Track:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	1200m
Race Type:	Open Handicap
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$200,000

2021 Aurie’s Star Handicap Results

• 1st: #5 The Astrologist
• 2nd: #4 Romancer
• 3rd: #14 Too Good Too Hard

Zoustar five-year-old The Astrologist ($6) continued his strong winter bid improving on a lead-up third in the Bletchingly Stakes to post a one-length win in the Aurie’s Star Handicap 2021 results ahead of a spring bid targeting the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	5	THE ASTROLOGIST	Leon & Troy Corstens	Damien Thornton		8	57kg		$6
	2	4	ROMANCER (NZ)	Grahame Begg	Jordan Childs	1L	6	57kg		$31
	3	14	TOO GOOD TOO HARD	Phillip Stokes	Will Price (a)	1.75L	10	54kg		$11
	4	8	BANQUO	Danny O’Brien	Damian Lane	1.85L	3	55.5kg		$7
	5	10	SECRET BLAZE	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Jye McNeil	2.25L	7	55.5kg		$41
	6	15	IRISH SONGS	Kurt Goldman	Beau Mertens	2.45L	14	54kg		$81
	7	11	SIRIUS SUSPECT	Saab Hasan	Damien Oliver	2.65L	13	55.5kg		$12
	8	6	GREAT AGAIN	Lindsey Smith	Declan Bates	2.75L	2	56.5kg		$13
	9	12	REGARDSMAREE	Nick Ryan	Fred Kersley	3.25L	1	54kg		$11
	10	2	ORDER OF COMMAND	Danny O’Brien	Craig Williams	4L	5	58.5kg		$9.50
	11	3	AYSAR	Ben & JD Hayes	Ms Jamie Kah	4.1L	9	57.5kg		$4.80F
	12	7	TACTICAL ADVANTAGE	Kris Lees	Craig Newitt	4.85L	12	56.5kg		$41
	13	1	JOHNNY GET ANGRY (NZ)	Denis Pagan	Jamie Mott	9.85L	11	59kg		$91
	14	9	KING OF HASTINGS	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Brett Prebble	10.35L	4	55.5kg		$10
	SB	13	I AM SOMEONE	Matt Laurie	Lachlan Neindorf (a)		0	54kg

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2021 Aurie’s Star Handicap Odds

Betting on the Aurie’s Star Handicap 2021 opens as soon as nominations are out the Monday of race week, the latest Aurie’s Star Handicap betting odds to be published below complete with market links to Ladbrokes.com.au.

2021 Aurie’s Star Handicap Field

Many horses come into the Aurie’s Star Handicap field off the winter lead-up races held in Melbourne including the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield in mid-July and the Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) a fortnight later. In 2018 Voodoo Lad won the Sir John Monash Stakes – Aurie’s Star Handicap double and finished runner-up in Caulfield’s Bletchingly Stakes in between. The Astrologist (3rd in 2021) was the last Bletchingly Stakes graduate to back-up and win the Aurie’s Star Handicap.

The 2021 Aurie’s Star Handicap field and barriers are announced the Wednesday of race week and the full list of acceptances will be available below once released.

The Aurie’s Star Handicap 2021 final field features 15 hopefuls including Glasshouse Handicap winner King Of Hastings, returning Caulfield Guineas runner-up Aysar, the spring’s VRC Derby champion Johnny Get Angry and the in-form The Astrologist last seen running third in Caulfield’s Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes.

Click here to read more on the key chances in the 2021 Aurie’s Star field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	0329431x	JOHNNY GET ANGRY (NZ)	Denis Pagan	Jamie Mott	11	59kg		104
2	722x329x98	ORDER OF COMMAND	Danny O’Brien	Craig Williams	5	58.5kg		103
3	x1622x229x	AYSAR	Ben & JD Hayes	Ms Jamie Kah	9	57.5kg		101
4	7174346×18	ROMANCER (NZ)	Grahame Begg	Jordan Childs	6	57kg		100
5	2145×54113	THE ASTROLOGIST	Leon & Troy Corstens	Damien Thornton	8	57kg		100
6	x16232x483	GREAT AGAIN	Lindsey Smith	Declan Bates	2	56.5kg		99
7	8568436×98	TACTICAL ADVANTAGE	Kris Lees	Craig Newitt	12	56.5kg		99
8	25x7277x52	BANQUO	Danny O’Brien	Damian Lane	3	55.5kg		97
9	9x615x0641	KING OF HASTINGS	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Brett Prebble	4	55.5kg		97
10	11218227×0	SECRET BLAZE	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Jye McNeil	7	55.5kg		97
11	60x311x76x	SIRIUS SUSPECT	Saab Hasan	Damien Oliver	13	55.5kg		97
12	34x131114x	REGARDSMAREE	Nick Ryan	Fred Kersley	1	54kg		94
13	36x99x7407	I AM SOMEONE	Matt Laurie	Lachlan Neindorf (a)	14	54kg		90
14	72233×7711	TOO GOOD TOO HARD	Phillip Stokes	Will Price (a)	10	54kg		89
15	403×439067	IRISH SONGS	Kurt Goldman	Beau Mertens	15	54kg		76

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2021 Aurie’s Star Handicap Nominations

The early Aurie’s Star Handicap 2021 nominations are taken by the VRC on the Monday of race week with the full list of entries to be announced below.

The 2021 Aurie’s Star Handicap nominations drew 20 entries including returning Victoria Derby champion Johnny Get Angry, last year’s Caulfield Guineas runner-up Aysar and the in-form Leon & Troy Corstens-trained The Astrologist.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	0329431x	JOHNNY GET ANGRY (NZ)	G	4	Denis Pagan	1	59kg		104
2	722x329x98	ORDER OF COMMAND	G	7	Danny O’Brien	2	58.5kg		103
3	x1622x229x	AYSAR	H	4	Ben & JD Hayes	3	57.5kg		101
4	2145×54113	THE ASTROLOGIST	G	5	Leon & Troy Corstens	4	57kg		100
5	7174346×18	ROMANCER (NZ)	G	8	Grahame Begg	5	57kg		100
6	8568436×98	TACTICAL ADVANTAGE	G	8	Kris Lees	6	56.5kg		99
7	x16232x483	GREAT AGAIN	G	9	Lindsey Smith	7	56.5kg		99
8	9x615x0641	KING OF HASTINGS	G	5	Anthony & Sam Freedman	8	55.5kg		97
9	25x7277x52	BANQUO	H	5	Danny O’Brien	9	55.5kg		97
10	11218227×0	SECRET BLAZE	G	6	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	10	55.5kg		97
11	60x311x76x	SIRIUS SUSPECT	G	7	Saab Hasan	11	55.5kg		97
12	34x131114x	REGARDSMAREE	G	5	Nick Ryan	12	54kg		94
13	x6062329x0	BRAVE SONG	G	7	Peter & Paul Snowden	13	54kg		94
14	086x6673x8	HIGHTAIL	G	5	Peter & Paul Snowden	14	54kg		93
15	36x99x7407	I AM SOMEONE	G	7	Matt Laurie	15	54kg		90
16	72233×7711	TOO GOOD TOO HARD	M	6	Phillip Stokes	16	54kg		89
17	112x1101x2	LA MEXICANA	M	4	Anthony & Sam Freedman	17	54kg		88
18	4522×52161	KALKARNI ROYALE	M	5	Kevin Corstens	18	54kg		83
19	x31536x021	FREE TO MOVE	G	4	Ken & Kasey Keys	19	54kg		76
20	403×439067	IRISH SONGS	G	6	Kurt Goldman	20	54kg		76

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Aurie’s Star Handicap History

The Aurie’s Star Handicap was inaugurated in 1996 as an unlisted event, with Homestead taking out the first edition of the race. In 2005, the Aurie’s Star Handicap was upgraded to a listed event and given a boost in prize money. In 2010, it was ran as a Group 3 event, however was downgraded to listed status for the 2011 edition. In 2012, the Aurie’s Star Handicap was again upgraded to Group 3 and has remained at that status since.

The Aurie’s Star Handicap was held for a year at Moonee Valley Racecourse in 2007, but is now certainly a Flemington race. Although the Aurie’s Star Handicap only has a brief history, it has played an important role in the preparation of many sprinters for the spring campaigns.

In 2020 jockey Damien Oliver won the Aurie’s Star Handicap for a record fifth time taking out the race aboard Home Of The Brave who, in 2018, ran second to the Oliver-ridden winner Voodoo Lad when debuting down under.

Notable Aurie’s Star Handicap winners include Homestead (1996), Fields Of Omagh (2002), Sports (2003), Temple Of Boom (2011) and Voodoo Lad (2018) who went on to win Perth’s Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) later in the year.

Aurie’s Star Handicap Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2021 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	The Astrologist	1 minute 10.50 seconds
	2nd	Romancer
	3rd	Too Good Too Hard
2020 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Home Of The Brave	1 minute 10.58 seconds
	2nd	Great Again
	3rd	Game Keeper
2019 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	So Si Bon	1 minute 11.07 seconds
	2nd	Malibu Style
	3rd	Sesar
2018 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Voodoo Lad	1 minute 9.64 seconds
	2nd	Home Of The Brave
	3rd	Brave Song
2017 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Hey Doc	1 minute 9.9 seconds
	2nd	Cannyescent
	3rd	Grande Rosso
2016 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Sooboog	1 minute 10 seconds
	2nd	Dibayani
	3rd	Tashbeeh
2015 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Shiraz	1 minute 09.4 seconds
	2nd	Play Master
	3rd	Le Bonsir
2014 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Tiger Tees	1 minute 09.9 seconds
	2nd	Mr Chard
	3rd	Zamorar
2013 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Broken	1 minute 12.5 seconds
	2nd	Temple Of Boom
	3rd	Cavallo Nero
2012 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Shanghai Warrior	1 minute 11.4 seconds
	2nd	Golden Archer
	3rd	Zamorar
2011 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Temple Of Boom	1 minute 10.7 seconds
	2nd	Rekindled Interest
	3rd	Offenders
2010 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Elusive Touch	1 minute 11.1 seconds
	2nd	Leica Larrikin
	3rd	Beltrois
2009 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Mic Mac	1 minute 09.7 seconds
	2nd	All American
	3rd	El Segundo
2008 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Grand Duels	1 minute 10.5 seconds
	2nd	Stavka
	3rd	Valedictum
2007 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Monet Rules	1 minute 12.0 seconds
	2nd	Orange County
	3rd	El Segundo
2006 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Bel Danoro	1 minute 09.9 seconds
	2nd	El Segundo
	3rd	Apache Cat
2005 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Niconero	1 minute 02.8 seconds
	2nd	Valedictum
	3rd	Tszyu
2004 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	General Bayton	1 minute 11.2 seconds
	2nd	Deprave
	3rd	Via De Lago
2003 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Sports	1 minute 10.2 seconds
	2nd	Naden
	3rd	Prince Rubiton
2002 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Fields Of Omagh	1 minute 09.4 seconds
	2nd	Pindi Ridge
	3rd	Gypsy Lad
2001 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Sound The Alarm	1 minute 08.9 seconds
	2nd	Slalom
	3rd	Le Zagaletta
2000 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Roktzar	1 minute 10.8 seconds
	2nd	Le Zagaletta
	3rd	Mystic Morse