Black-out in place on All Star Mile votes

Orr Stakes winner Manuel is climbing up the ladder in the race for public votes on the All Star Mile with the help of actor John Cleese.

Manuel is named for the character played by Andrew Sachs in the cult TV series Fawlty Towers created by, and starring, Cleese.

With the backing of Cleese on social media, Manuel rose 19 places to No.18 when the public voting went into black-out mode at noon on Friday.

The popular vote for 10 of the 14 spots in the $5 million race on March 16 closes on Monday and will be revealed on Thursday with Racing Victoria to announce four wild card entries by March 4.

A number of horses in three states will put their credentials on the line on Saturday.

Twenty-nine horses are set to run over the weekend of which eight are currently in the top 20, three in the top 10.

Balf’s Choice, trained in Adelaide by Ryan Balfour, surged into fourth place by Friday’s blackout and is set to run at Morphettville on Saturday.

Mr Money Bags and Man Of His Word, seventh and ninth respectively, both run at Flemington with good performance sure to consolidate their places in the top 10.

* The top 20 ahead of the blackout on Friday

1-The Autumn Sun (trainer Chris Waller) 9157

2-Urban Ruler (Chris Munce) 8321

3-Grunt (Mick Price) 6275

4-Balf’s Choice (Ryan Balfour) 5872 (runs Morphettville on Saturday)

5-Alizee (James Cummings) 4958

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6-Foundry (Terry Kelly) 4700

7-Mr Money Bags (Robbie Griffiths) 4681 (runs Flemington Saturday)

8-Material Man (Justin Warwick) 4643

9-Man of His Word (Dean Krongold) 4619 (runs Flemington Saturday)

10-Moss ‘N’ Dale (Peter Gelagotis) 4586

11-Extra Brut (Ciaron Maher and David Eustace) 4377 (runs Flemington Saturday)

12-Amphitrite (Lindsay Park) 4287 (runs Flemington Saturday)

13-Land Of Plenty (Peter and Paul Snowden) 3542

14-Tom Melbourne (Chris Waller) 3247 (runs Randwick Saturday)

15-Mystic Journey (Adam Trinder) 3151

16-Ringerdingding (Chris Waller) 2804 (runs Flemington Saturday)

17-Happy Clapper (Pat Webster) 2481 (runs Randwick Saturday)

18-Manuel (Tony McEvoy) 2206

19-Penny to Sell (Mick Sell) 1853 (runs Flemington Saturday)

20-Magic Consol (Paul Preusker) 1591