Style to the fore as elegance celebrated on Crown Oaks Day

Crown Oaks Day is the third day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, which has seen more than 170,000 racegoers make their way through the famous Flemington gates. The raceday celebrates the fillies and mares who are the stars of the show on the track.  

Jockeys will lead a Guard of Honour in Flemington’s Mounting Yard after Race 4 with the Crown Resorts Foundation pledging to donate $500 to the Good Friday Appeal for every jockey who participates.

The Crown Oaks features Derby Day’s Group 2 HKJC World Pool Wakeful Stakes winner Getta Good Feeling attempting to become the 40th filly to complete the Wakeful Stakes - Oaks double. Treasure the Moment was the most recent filly to win the double last year.

Jockeys will lead a Guard of Honour in Flemington’s Mounting Yard after Race 4 with the Crown Resorts Foundation pledging to donate $500 to the Good Friday Appeal for every jockey who participates.

The Crown Oaks features Derby Day’s Group 2 HKJC World Pool Wakeful Stakes winner Getta Good Feeling attempting to become the 40th filly to complete the Wakeful Stakes - Oaks double. Treasure the Moment was the most recent filly to win the double last year.

Mark Zahra, who currently holds a commanding lead in the Ron Hutchinson Award standings for the Carnival’s top rider, maintains the ride on the Danny O’Brien-trained Getta Good Feeling as she takes on 12 rivals in the Oaks.

Among her rivals are Group 1 placegetter The Pearls, G3 Ethereal Stakes winner Spicy Lu and Wakeful placegetters Strictly Business and Voting Rights.

The $300,000 Group 3 3AW Red Roses Stakes (1100m) for three-year-old fillies and the $350,000 Inglis Bracelet (1600m) for fillies and mares sold through an Inglis sale are two of the feature races on the card.

Another highlight is the ever popular $500,000 Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Final (1600m), restricted to country-trained horses who have qualified through a series of heats at regional racecourses. Last year’s Final produced Torranzino, who ran fifth in Tuesday’s Lexus Melbourne Cup.

Also making a return to Crown Oaks Day is the $150,000 RDA Subzero Handicap (1400m), restricted to grey horses. It was run on this card from its inception in 1996 until 2021, when it was switched to Lexus Melbourne Cup Day.

The world-famous Birdcage Enclosure will play host to a who’s who of entertainment, sport, business and media. Including Special Guest of Crown and Real Housewife of Beverly Hills, Dorit Kemsley, alongside Crown Ambassador Tom Hawkins and wife Emma Hawkins, Abbey Gelmi and Kane Lambert in the Crown Marquee. LANDMARK by Lexus include Ambassadors Kate Waterhouse, Emma Freedman and Melissa Leong. In the G.H Mumm Marquee, a suite of lifestyle personalities will glam up for Oaks Day, including TV Personality Clint Stanaway, Entrepreneur Georgia Danos and Miss Universe 2023, Moraya Wilson. TAB will host 2015 Melbourne Cup winning Jockey, Michelle Payne alongside media personalities, Jacqui & Michael Felgate.

The hotly contested Melbourne Cup Carnival Fashions on the Field competition hosted on the Club Lawn will reach its crescendo in the Best Dressed and Best Suited categories, with the Cup Week daily finalists set to come up against the digital winners in the Grand Final at 3:35pm and 4:05pm respectively. 

Grand Final judges will include Crown special guest and international style icon Dorit Kemsley, Lexus Ambassadors Kate Waterhouse and Melissa Leong and Melbourne Cup Carnival Ambassador  Michelle Payne OAM.  

Winners and finalists of Fashions on the Field will share in a prize pool of over $300,000. The Best Dressed and Best Suited categories each boast over $90,000 in prizes, with overall winners receiving an ABC Bullion Gold Bar valued at $17,500 and $AUD10,000 in cash, along with fantastic prices from VRC partners including Crown, Schweppes, TAB and TCL Electronics.     

Flemington’s home for global headline acts, The Elms Live Stage, presented by Maccas, will host British superstar Craig David in the vibrant new precinct at the end of the straight.  The UK-based star will perform

Craig David Presents TS5 with smash hits including 7 Days, Fill Me In and Walking Away set to thrill thousands of racing and music fans.  It will be Craig’s only public performance in Melbourne in 2025, with the UK-based star flying into Australia following a successful UK arena tour.

This year, The Park is the ultimate family friendly destination with with a dedicated Equine Wellbeing Zone, home to Racing Victoria’s Off The Track, Equine Pathways Australia and Riding for the Disabled Victoria.

The Victoria Racing Club’s Pin & Win campaign has raised more than $9 million for charities since it was introduced in 1995. This year, pins will be sold across the course for charity partner, Ronald McDonald House Charities Victoria & Tasmania, assisting them as they help seriously ill and injured children and their families stay together and close to hospital by providing accommodation, living support, education and scholarships.

Through the Pin & Win partnership, the charity will be aiming to raise a record amount to cover 4,000 nights of accommodation.

The commemorative pins sell for $10 for the Lexus Melbourne Cup pin and $15 for the diamante horseshoe, with all purchasers eligible to enter the draw to win over $214,000 worth of prizes including a brand new 2025 Lexus RX 450h+ car. 

The Victoria Racing Club’s Pin & Win campaign has raised more than $9 million for charities since it was introduced in 1995. This year, pins will be sold across the course for charity partner, Ronald McDonald House Charities Victoria & Tasmania, assisting them as they help seriously ill and injured children and their families stay together and close to hospital by providing accommodation, living support, education and scholarships.

Through the Pin & Win partnership, the charity will be aiming to raise a record amount to cover 4,000 nights of accommodation.

The commemorative pins sell for $10 for the Lexus Melbourne Cup pin and $15 for the diamante horseshoe, with all purchasers eligible to enter the draw to win over $214,000 worth of prizes including a brand new 2025 Lexus RX 450h+ car.

Pin & Win Ambassadors Elly Wicks, Lisa Davenport, Grant Smillie, Mikayla & Jack Crisp and Rachel Watts will all be on track to promote the campaign.