Black Caviar set a modern weight record for a mare when carrying 58kg victory in 2011 and Imperatriz will have to do the same if she is to win her tenth Group 1 race and her first Yulong Newmarket Handicap.

The 2023 Yulong Newmarket Handicap was ranked as the world’s highest-rated sprint race and this year’s edition is set to uphold that status with a quality group of gallopers lining up to tackle the Flemington straight. Group 1 winners Magic Time (53kg) and Bella Nipotina (55.5kg) will be hoping to cause an upset with relatively light weights under handicap conditions.

The winning jockey of this year’s race will be awarded the inaugural Dean Holland Trophy, a special trophy created in memory of the late Dean Holland who won last year's race aboard In Secret.

The race day also marks the start of an important partnership extension with breeding and thoroughbred operation Yulong, who are guaranteed as the naming rights sponsor of the Newmarket Handicap for the next three years.

Other feature races on the day include the $300,000 Group 2 TAB Kewney Stakes (1600m) for three-year-old fillies and the $300,000 Group 2 MSS Security Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) for two-year-olds.

On course to catch all the racing action will be a three-time premiership player with the Hawthorn Football Club and keen racehorse owner Jack Gunston ahead of the AFL season’s start.