It's uncanny how racing can throw up a story, often relating to a horse who is in the news.
We saw it last week with Homesman winning the Australian Cup just days after his part-owner Michael Gudinski died suddenly.
There have only been two editions of The All-Star Mile, but it has quickly proven itself a race that throws a result that transcends who won and how much they paid.
Matt Hill summed it up perfectly when he said Mystic Journey, the $11,000 yearling, 'is what dreams are made of' when she won the inaugural edition, while young Sunbury mum Tegan Abercrombie stole the show last year when she landed the $250,000 cheque as Regal Power's owner ambassador.
Often, it is not until after the race that the story emerges, but this year's field contains a number of runners with well-established narratives that will give the $5 million the reach of coverage it deserves should they score.
Here are five of the best:
1 - STILL A STAR: Don't worry about the story of the race, it would be one of the all-time great stories in Australian racing if she provided Tasmania with its second ASM winner in three years. The daughter of Toronado hasn't finished further back than second in 13 starts and made it five wins in a row with victory in the G3 Vamos Stakes at Launceston on February 24, her first start in a year. But the real story is the human connection. Still A Star's 73-year-old trainer Bill Ryan is battling an incurable lung disease and has defied doctor's orders to travel to Victoria for what will be the biggest race he has been involved in.
2 - ARCADIA QUEEN: Western Australia's representative does not boast the human interest element of Still A Star, but will have her admirers for the simple fact she'll be carrying arguably Australia's most popular jockey Willie Pike, who will be sporting the pink and white of leviathan owner Bob Peters, who provided the quinella last year with Regal Power and Superstorm. Mind you, the story around last year's Mackinnon Stakes winner in the week of the race has been her off foreleg, which was deemed two-of-five lame by Racing Victoria stewards on ASM eve, requiring her to pass a race-morning vet's examination in order to start. It would be a herculean task if she is able to win with that being the case.
3 - THE HARROVIAN: The winning streak is over, but that won't diminish the story if he is able to win. One of the best-bred horses in the race, the son of Fastnet Rock's first 14 runs were in Victoria, where his best results were wins in a Mornington maiden and a couple of modest regional Benchmark 58s. Yet, his most recent start, a fifth placing at Flemington, was his first time out of a quinella spot in 17 starts since being sold Northern Queensland in early 2019, which included a run of 11-straight victories.
4 - BEHEMOTH: One of the fairytale stories of the spring, thanks to wins in the Memsie Stakes and Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at G1 level. He banked $745,000 for those wins, and an extra $500,000-plus in his two other spring starts, which included The Everest - not bad for a horse who cost just $6000 as a yearling. Victory on Saturday, and the accompanying $2.25m winner's purse, would take his career earnings to a tick over $4.4m.
5 - REGALO DI GAETANO: What sets The All-Star Mile apart from any other race in Australia is that racing fans have the opportunity to select the majority of the field, which paves the way for the likes of Regalo Di Gaetano to race for big money alongside the likes of Sir Dragonet, Russian Camelot, Arcadia Queen and Probabeel. You wouldn't think the Morphettville BM86 form would match up with the records those horses bring into Saturday's race, but merely competing will be a thrill for the modestly bred's five-year-old owners and co-trainers Richard and Chantelle Jolly, who are one of the few father/daughter training combinations in Australia.
The five above are not the only ones with a good back story, with most of the runners in the world's richest mile race boasting a story that will give journos something to write about beyond the life-changing winner's purse.
SIR DRAGONET: The only runner for Victoria's leading stable, Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, who counts some of Australia's most successful owners among the group that race him. Flopped first-up in the G1 Orr Stakes, but returns to the scene of his Cox Plate win last spring.
STREETS OF AVALON: Carries the colours of Phil Warren, who bred the son of Magnus and offered cut-price shares to a few mates out of his desire to enjoy the ride of racehorse ownership with good friends. Victory would be the continuation of an eventful few months for affable trainer Shane Nichols, who survived a heart attack late last year and just a few weeks ago welcomed a baby daughter.
MR QUICKIE: Probably no more deserving owners of the $2.25m payday than those who race the Phillip Stokes-trained gelding. Racing fans often lament the exodus of Australian talent to Hong Kong and the son of Shamus Award was the subject of offers around the same amount as the ASM winner's cheque, which the owners knocked back in order to keep racing him in Australia. Will have his admirers for the simple fact Victoria's (and South Australia's!) most popular jockey, Jamie Kah, will ride.
STAR OF THE SEAS: The lone runner for Australia's premier big-race trainer and Hall of Fame inductee, Chris Waller, who will forever be synonymous with The Valley thanks to his deeds with four-time Cox Plate winner Winx.
MUGATOO: Bought to win a Melbourne Cup, the European import has gathered a big posse of fans thanks to victory in six of his first eight starts in Australia. Was arguably the run of the race, when fourth, in last year's Cox Plate and has the services of star Sydney jockey Hugh Bowman, who knows how to win a big race at The Valley.
RUSSIAN CAMELOT: The most exciting horse in Australia heading into last spring, who might not have scaled the heights many predicted, but it's hard to be critical given he still won a G1 (Underwood Stakes, defeating Arcadia Queen) and placed in the Cox Plate. His jockey, all-time great Damien Oliver, has won most of the biggest races in Australia, but would be desperate to add his name to the honour roll of a new race, but one that looks here to stay.
PROBABEEL: The only runner in the race who has an entire nation in her corner. The 4YO daughter of Savabeel is the lone Kiwi in the race but has done the bulk of her racing in Australia and has endeared herself to Victorian punters this campaign with wins in the G3 Bellmaine Stakes and G1 Futurity Stakes as favourite.
SHOUT THE BAR: Dual G1 winner who is trained by one of Australia's biggest stables, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, but she will be one of the more popular winners … by those on track, at least. The 4YO is the MVRC's representative and club boss Michael Browell confirmed during the week that the club would do as the mare's name suggests and offer free drinks if Shout The Bar wins.
GREYSFUL GLAMOUR: Darby Racing has developed a canny knack of finding horses who don't cost a lot of money at the yearling sales that go on achieve great things on the track. Think She Will Reign, a $20,000 buy who won a Golden Slipper, and Yankee Rose, who cost $10,000 and retired a G1 winner and Cox Plate placegetter. Greysful Glamour was a little more expensive than them, at $90,000, but she boasts a big group of owners who will have a horse that has amassed more than $3m in prizemoney if she wins on Saturday.
LUNAR FOX: Now occupies a place in Australian racing history that only the select group who backed him in the Australian Guineas, which he won at $301, are happy with. Although not quite those odds, he'll be one of the roughies again, with a likely highlight should he win being a sure-to-be-entertaining post-race interview with jockey Noel Callow.