Melbourne Cup carnival week will get a significantly new look this year when the weight-for-age Mackinnon Stakes and the Emirates Stakes - group 1 races that bookend the biggest week on the racing calendar - will be swapped and their names changed.
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In addition, prizemoney for the 2000 metre Mackinnon will double to $2 million with racing officials hoping the race will prove an even bigger attraction for both Australian-trained and overseas horses who contest the Cox Plate in late October to back up a fortnight later.
The Emirates will become the Longines Mile, a group 1 handicap over 1600 metres. It will retain its $1 million prizemoney but become a huge attraction on derby day rather than one of the headline events of the final day of the four-day carnival.
The changes, say the VRC, are the biggest alterations to the traditional Melbourne Cup Carnival in more than a century.
The Mackinnon Stakes will be renamed the Emirates Stakes.
The changes also reflect the way Australian racing has evolved, particularly in relation to the Cup lead-up races.
In the old days, trainers would run their Cup horses in the Mackinnon for a pipe-opener before the big race on Tuesday, but that is no longer the case, especially with foreign raiders playing such a key part in Australia's greatest race.
VRC chief executive Simon Love says the race formerly known as the Mackinnon will now be a more attractive target for top-flight middle-distance gallopers.
"Now spaced an ideal two weeks apart, the Cox Plate and new Emirates Stakes offer a lucrative combined $5 million ($US3.75m) in prizemoney that will no doubt promote increased overseas participation across the spring," Love said.
"We don't make changes lightly, with the Melbourne Cup Carnival's traditional four-day format serving it well for over a century. These changes balance innovation with tradition to improve the Carnival's already outstanding racing product into the future.
"The VRC proposed these changes following our annual review, and they have now been approved by the Australian and Asian Pattern Committees."
Outgoing Racing Victoria chief executive Bernard Saundry welcomed the changes saying they would further enhance the appeal of the entire carnival, both locally and abroad.
"Packaged with the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley, we have a great opportunity to attract more high-quality international weight-for-age horses to compete in Victoria, whilst further encouraging the connections of our home-grown stars to showcase them on multiple occasions throughout our Spring Racing Carnival."
The four days of the Melbourne Cup Carnival are the most attended anywhere in Australia, with the event providing an economic benefit to Victoria of almost $400 million each year, according to the VRC.
