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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 form of the Aurie’s Star was also franked in 2021 with the winner The Astrologist going on to place second in the following year’s Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) back at the track in the autumn, as well as record a third in Adelaide’s Group 1 The Goodwood (1200m) later in 2022.

The Aurie’s Star Handicap 2023 ran on Saturday August 5, 2023 as the opening Group race in Melbourne for the season and was won by the Danny O’Brien-trained favourite It’sourtime ($3.90F). 

Aurie’s Star Handicap
Date:	Saturday August 5, 2023
Track:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	1200m
Race Type:	Open Handicap
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$200,000

2022 Aurie’s Star Handicap Results

• 1st: #4 It’sourtime ($3.90F)
• 2nd: #9 Uymgawa
• 3rd: #6 Chassis

Danny O’Brien’s Flemington specialist It’sourtime ($3.90F) produced a brilliant late sweeping run right down the outside to come from last at the 300m to first in the 2023 Aurie’s Star Handicap results when saluting for the punters at Headquarters.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	4	IT’SOURTIME	Danny O’Brien	Michael Dee		8	55.5kg		$3.90F
	2	9	UMGAWA	Leon & Troy Corstens	Harry Coffey	0.4L	9	54kg		$31
	3	6	CHASSIS	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Dean Yendall	0.8L	10	54kg		$21
	4	2	GENERAL BEAU	Mathew Ellerton	Damian Lane	1.8L	5	57kg		$4.80
	5	7	MUCH MUCH BETTER	Sara Ryan	Jye McNeil	2.2L	6	54kg		$7
	6	5	ZETHUS	James Cummings	Blake Shinn	2.4L	7	55.5kg		$10
	7	11	CAUSE FOR CONCERN	Shawn Mathrick	Craig Williams	2.5L	1	54kg		$4.40
	8	3	HERE TO SHOCK (NZ)	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Daniel Stackhouse	4.25L	2	57kg		$10
	9	8	DANCE TO DUBAI	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Ms Carleen Hefel (a)	5L	4	54kg		$19
	10	10	MR EXCLUSIVE	Matthew Brown	Beau Mertens	13L	3	54kg		$41
		1	INGRATIATING	James Cummings	Ben Melham		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Aurie’s Star Handicap Betting Odds

Betting on the Aurie’s Star Handicap 2023 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.

It’sourtime ($3.90 in 2023) was the last favourite in Aurie’s Star Handicap betting to salute for the punters.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 AURIE’S STAR HANDICAP ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Aurie’s Star Handicap Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 AURIE’S STAR HANDICAP FORM GUIDE

2023 Aurie’s Star Handicap Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Aurie’s Star Handicap 2023 Tips on the popular spring lead-up sprint at Flemington this season.

• To Win: #11 Cause For Concern ($3.50 at time of publish) – BET NOW

An open edition of the Aurie’s Star and, while there is a few representing a touch more value, hard to ignore the form down the famous straight of the current favourite who still looks backable at around $3.50 in betting. Craig Williams rides the four-year-old from the inside alley with Cause For Concern looking to add to his strong strike-rate at Headquarters (3:2-1-0). Listed Creswick Stakes second with 58kg two back before winning here in mid-July in a 3YOs handicap with 56kg over the 1400m. First run as a 4YO getting weight relief in on 54kg and looks rock hard fit.

2023 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.

More recently It’sourtime (2023) ran third in the Bletchingly Stakes before winning the Aurie’s Star.

The 2023 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 2023 final field features a quality line-up of sprinters including Cause For Concern with the inside run from barrier one, the Matthew Ellerton-trained Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes runner-up General Beau and It’sourtime coming off a third in the same key lead-up.

Click here to read more on the key runners in the Aurie’s Star Handicap 2023 field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	73x1200x51	INGRATIATING	James Cummings		3	59kg			102
2	x49x530232	GENERAL BEAU	Mathew Ellerton	Damian Lane	6	57kg			98
3	417x26111x	HERE TO SHOCK (NZ)	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Daniel Stackhouse	2	57kg			98
4	2x2x241423	IT’SOURTIME	Danny O’Brien	Michael Dee	9	55.5kg			95
5	36147×5436	ZETHUS	James Cummings	Blake Shinn	8	55.5kg			95
6	60455×8114	CHASSIS	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Dean Yendall	11	54kg			92
7	6x06441x22	MUCH MUCH BETTER	Sara Ryan	Jye McNeil	7	54kg			92
8	x93119x591	DANCE TO DUBAI	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Ms Carleen Hefel (a)	5	54kg			89
9	x17447x664	UMGAWA	Leon & Troy Corstens	Harry Coffey	10	54kg			86
10	305327×463	MR EXCLUSIVE	Matthew Brown	Beau Mertens	4	54kg			83
11	13×451121	CAUSE FOR CONCERN	Shawn Mathrick	Craig Williams	1	54kg			79

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Aurie’s Star Handicap Nominations

The early Aurie’s Star Handicap 2023 nominations are taken by the VRC on the Monday of race week with the full list of entries to be announced below.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	2113x570x0	FLYING MASCOT (NZ)	M	6	Tom Dabernig	1	57.5kg	57.5kg		103
2	73x1200x51	INGRATIATING	H	5	James Cummings	2	59kg	59kg		102
3	146x11117x	I AM ME	M	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	3	57kg	57kg		102
4	x49x530232	GENERAL BEAU	H	5	Mathew Ellerton	4	57kg	57kg		98
5	417x26111x	HERE TO SHOCK (NZ)	G	6	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	5	57kg	57kg		98
6	36147×5436	ZETHUS	G	5	James Cummings	6	55.5kg	55.5kg		95
7	2x2x241423	IT’SOURTIME	G	6	Danny O’Brien	7	55.5kg	55.5kg		95
8	9x69260x85	REGARDSMAREE	G	7	Nick Ryan	8	54.5kg	54.5kg		93
9	6x06441x22	MUCH MUCH BETTER	G	6	Sara Ryan	9	54kg	54kg		92
10	60455×8114	CHASSIS	M	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	10	54kg	52kg		92
11	x93119x591	DANCE TO DUBAI	M	6	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	11	54kg	50.5kg		89
12	311113x	BENEDETTA	M	4	Jason Warren	12	54kg	50kg		88
13	x17447x664	UMGAWA	G	5	Leon & Troy Corstens	13	54kg	51kg		86
14	x0066557x2	OCEAN BEYOND (NZ)	G	6	Andrew Bobbin	14	54kg	50kg		84
15	2928×60467	SARTORIAL SPLENDOR	G	7	John Sadler	15	54kg	49.5kg		83
16	305327×463	MR EXCLUSIVE	G	8	Matthew Brown	16	54kg	49.5kg		83
17	211x22312x	BELLE ET RICHE	M	5	Mitchell Freedman	17	54kg	47kg		82
18	106x9998x5	RANTING (NZ)	G	6	Nick Ryan	18	54kg	48.5kg		81
19	x332589x54	PIONEER RIVER	G	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	19	54kg	48kg		80
20	13×451121	CAUSE FOR CONCERN	G	4	Shawn Mathrick	20	54kg	47.5kg		79
21	1x00x453Fx	MAXIMILLIUS	G	4	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	21	54kg	47kg		78
22	38756369×3	WILLIAM THOMAS	G	9	John Price	22	54kg	47kg		78

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
2023 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	It’sourtime	1 minute 08.68 seconds
	2nd	Umgawa
	3rd	Chassis
2022 Aurie’s Star Handicap	1st	Sirius Suspect	1 minute 09.97 seconds
	2nd	Stageman
	3rd	Shooting For Gold
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