Marcel From Madrid (Image: Atkins Photography)
The Valley's second meeting in August does not have the fanfare of the Caulfield meetings it is sandwiched between, but racing fans with an eye to the spring features are now trained to track its runners closely.
The Carlyon Stakes (1000m), this year headlined by dual Group 1 winner Hey Doc, shares top billing as one of two $120,000 Listed events on the card, but it can easily be argued the other is the most anticipated.
It has certainly left a bigger imprint on spring in the past decade.
The McKenzie Stakes, a 1200-metre set-weights-and-penalties event for three-year-olds, has produced a Cox Plate champion (Shamus Award), two Caulfield Guineas winners (Anacheeva and Long John) and four Caulfield Guineas minor placegetters in that time.
Add that to the 1200-metre fillies' race, which has produced a Thousand Guineas winner in Commanding Jewel, a Guineas third placegetter in Gregers and a G2 Thousand Guineas Prelude winner in Afleet Esprit, and you've got a meeting that plays a big hand in shaping the Caulfield classics.
This year looks like being no different.
Brutal, the $13 joint favourite in bet365's Caulfield Guineas market, heads a McKenzie Stakes field that also includes fellow Guineas fancy Marcel From Madrid, the classy Ocean Knight and untapped winners Mig Energy and Leonardo Da Hinchi.
Multaja, according to many the horse to beat in the Thousand Guineas - in which she is BetEasy's $13 second favourite - is the headline act of an MSC Signs Plate that also includes Blue Diamond runner-up Enbihaar, Kinky Boom and promising types including Cristal Eyes and Metronome.
It would not shock if the two three-year-olds who claim G1 Guineas glory at Caulfield on October 13 come out of Saturday's meeting.
But punters who looked beyond the three-year-old races at Saturday's meeting have also been rewarded in recent years with what were once nothing more than support races proving key spring form references.
Last year's 1519-metre open event, to be run on Saturday as the Harrolds Handicap, saw Boom Time finish third before going on to win the Caulfield Cup.
Two years earlier The United States won that race before winning the G2 Moonee Valley Cup, and having his admirers in the Melbourne Cup, and in 2011 December Draw finished runner-up before winning the G3 Naturalism Stakes and G1 Turnbull Stakes en route to starting hot favourite in the Caulfield Cup.
He was injured in the run and failed to beat a runner home, but the second placegetter in that race - Green Moon - also came out of The Valley event.
It would surprise if some of those involved in Saturday's $100,000 event are not major players in some of the spring's biggest races.
Last year's G2 Zipping Classic winner The Taj Mahal, Vinery Stud Stakes winner and leading Caulfield Cup prospect Hiyaam, one-time South Australian Derby favourite Odeon, Australasian Oaks winner Sopressa and the ever-improving Night's Watch are among those engaged.
That Night's Watch - the early favourite - can only get in as third emergency underlines how popular the race has become.
Along with appealing to in-form 'milers', such as Theanswermyfriend, Moss 'N' Dale, Chamois Road and Malaise, it is attractive for trainers who don't want to take the weight-for-age path to the big ones.
In addition, the 1Print Handicap (2040m) is also increasing in presence, best emphasised by the fact Almandin ran in, and finished second, last year.
The 2016 Melbourne Cup winner's owner Lloyd Williams will again have a presence this year, set to run a couple of Northern Hemisphere recruits whose performances will be hotly monitored.
Our Venice Beach is a Group 3 winner who ran second to bona fide star Cracksman two starts ago, while Midterm flopped at his Aussie debut in the Golden Mile at Bendigo but boasts a second placing in the G2 Prix Niel at Chantilly on his resume.
Where they fit in this spring we are not yet sure. But if recent years are anything to go by, Saturday's meeting can be relied upon to toss up a spring star.