People power could give Queensland a surprise runner in the inaugural $5 Million All-Star Mile, with 800 owners set to throw their support behind the Chris Munce-trained Urban Ruler.

The All Star Mile, to be run at Flemington on March 16, will have 14 runners, 10 of which will be decided by a public vote, which opens on Monday.

Urban Ruler, who was a Flemington winner in June 2017, is among 130 nominations for the race.

Being the first year of the concept, it’s uncertain how many votes will be required to get a horse in the field, but given the huge number of owners in the Shelley Hancox syndicated horse, Urban Ruler has a good head start.

Voting opens on Monday morning and runs until February 18.

Australian residents aged 18 or over are eligible to vote and notably, each person can only vote once.

Munce, off the back of a highly successful summer carnival, said it would be a huge thrill to be part of the new race and confirmed there’s a bit of excitement in the Urban Ruler camp.

“There’s 800 of them. I haven’t spoken to them all, but everyone you bump into is quite keen and quite excited about the prospect of having a runner in the race,” he said.

“If he gets in, he’ll be going. He hasn’t raced since last September, but the plan would be to have one or two lead-ups before we head south.

“With the voting system, it will be interesting to see what the field turns out to be.

“He’s a tough honest horse, who has raced the Melbourne way most of his life, so it will be nothing new for him.”

Urban Ruler started his career in Victoria before switching to Munce’s stable in August last year.

The trainer’s association with Hancox, who was a pioneer in the syndicating of horses in Australia, dates back to his riding days.

“I rode for Shelley in Sydney and won the (Group 1) Goodwood on Sword (in 1996) for her. She’s been a good person to deal with and they have a good model,” Munce said.

“Shelley has been a good supporter since I started and we’ve had winners like Expertea, Johnny Whitesox and Moss Cheval, who was sold to Hong Kong after he won his maiden.”

Votes can be registered at www.allstarmile.com.au.

The 10 horses with the most votes will be revealed three days after voting closes, with Racing Victoria to unveil the four Wildcard runners no later than Monday March 4.

Kilcoy’s traditional Australia Day meeting will be run a day later this year, with the club hosting a monster 10-race card on Sunday.

With Caloundra hosting the metropolitan meeting on Australia Day on the Saturday, Kilcoy has switched to the Sunday, where there will be seven gallop races and three mini trot events.

“The day will be to celebrate this wonderful country we live in and enjoy the country hospitality, friendship, family fun and, most of all, country racing at its best,” Kilcoy Race Club’s Con Searle said.

“We want everyone to know we are racing this weekend, but a day after our traditional Australia Day spot.”