A week of glorious if ineffectual sunshine (tops still in the low teens) this week teased Melburnians that perhaps spring is not all that far away.

Another pointer to the coming scent of blossom and cut grass will be the running of the Sir John Monash Stakes at Caulfield this Saturday.

The Monash (née Moondah) has long been the first black-type weight-for-age sprint on the road to the Melbourne carnival, while gradually moving forward on the calendar from mid-August to mid-July.

The Monash was elevated to Group 3 status in 2014, but its glory days were earlier. In six of the 14 years from 1999 to 2012, the Monash winner was a past and/or future Group 1 winner — dead-heaters Flavour and Isca (1999), Rubitano (2002), Super Elegant (2004, 2005), Reward For Effort (2010) and Platelet (2012).

It was also won by a future champion Australian stallion in I Am Invincible (2009).

Only one Group 1 winner has taken the Monash since Platelet — Voodoo Lad (2018), who went on to take that year’s Winterbottom Stakes.

The next five Monash winners failed to win another race, but its honour roll was boosted by Recommendation in 2024 (won Group 3s at his next two starts) and In Flight last year (won the Group 2 Sapphire at the 2026 Championships).

There are no established Group 1 winners in Saturday’s field but one Group 1 placegetter is returning and will attract plenty of interest.

Bellatrix Star hasn’t raced since chipping a fetlock in the Doveton Stakes last November, in her comeback run from a broken neck.

She’s already a winner over the 1100-metre course of the Monash, as a filly against older horses in the Group 2 Schillaci of 2024. Her next run was a second to Switzerland in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes.