All-Star Mile: Buying into the dream

When Chelsey Power typed a racing pun into a Fox FM competition entry last year, she wasn’t thinking about prizemoney, Group 1 victories, or racehorse ownership. She was just having a bit of fun.

Twelve months on, the Woodend mother-of-two is part-owner of a two-year-old filly, counting down the days to the All-Star Mile, and has been tracking Tom Kitten’s form like a seasoned punter.

Power was one of 16 Owner Ambassadors selected for the 2025 All-Star Mile, each paired with a nominated horse for race day at Flemington. Her entry – “Like Mr Brightside I never back down, I cheer louder than Fangirl and I’m ready for Another Will to win” – was part racing pun, part personal mantra. Encouraged by her husband Ben, a lifelong racing enthusiast, she submitted it on a whim.

She could barely believe it when her allocated horse, Tom Kitten, stormed home in the $2.5 million feature, leaving her emotional in the Flemington mounting yard, $100,000 richer, and swept up in one of the great racing fairytales.

“I’ve always enjoyed the races with friends, and Ben comes from a long line of racing enthusiasts,” she says. “But nothing like this. The whole experience was on another level.”

And the memory of race day itself has stayed with her.

“It was such a magical day. You get to see what happens in the inner circle of the training and to ride the wave with the people who make the horse what it is and make the success happen. 

It was so great to see how excited the team got and how invested they are in the whole process. You can see their love for the horses, too. To experience that side was the coolest memory.”

The Powers have had shares in horses before, and the prizemoney gave them the chance to do it again. Their new filly, affectionately nicknamed Harriet, is a two-year-old by Harry Angel, the same sire as Tom Kitten, and trained by Julius Sandhu. She is in training and doing well. “I’m not sure when she is racing yet, but she’s happy and healthy, and that’s what’s most important,” says Power.

Power will be back at Flemington with her family this Saturday to cheer on Tom Kitten, having followed him closely all year. The horse has since moved from James Cummings to Anthony and Sam Freedman, and this year it’s Reservoir resident Scott Amiet who carries the The All-Star Mile Own The Mile baton – no doubt hoping for the same fairytale ending.