The Sydney Spring Racing Carnival offers top quality horse racing around Sydney with the feature events taking place at Rosehill Gardens and Royal Randwick. The highlight races each year at the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival include the Epsom Handicap, Golden Rose, The Metroploitan, Flight Stakes, Spring Champion Stakes and the George Main Stakes.
Chris Waller’s in-form import My Kingdom Of Fife has shot up the 2011 Cox Plate odds after a big race win at Randwick over the weekend, the six-year-old saluting for the punters in the $125,000 Group 3 Craven Plate (2000m).
Backing up from a game…
The Sydney Spring Racing Carnival revolves around two of the biggest jockey clubs in the country, the Australian Jockey Club and the Sydney Turf Club. Hosting the majority of the carnival’s races at Randwick and Rosehill racecourses, the season spans from August until late December.
The Golden Rose is the richest race of the carnival and is worth $1 million in prize money whereas the Epsom Handicap is regarded as one the best mile races of the season. Starting with the Missile Stakes Day on the first Saturday in August, the carnival features the Warwick Stakes Day, the Gloaming Stakes Day, the George Main Stakes Day and the Epsom Handicap Day.
The San Domenico Stakes is a Group 3 race specifically for horses aged three years old. Held at Randwick Racecourse in early August, the 1000m sprint events attracts some of the fastest horses from around the country. The set weights and penalties race is worth $125,000 in prize money.
Held in August, the Group 2 Warwick Stakes is a 1400 meter weight for age race which is worth $150,000 in prize money. The event is suited to fitter horses which are looking to step up from the 1200m distance.
Offering $125,000 in prize money, the Up and Coming Stakes is a Group 3 set weights and penalties race held specifically for three year old colts and geldings. Raced over a short 1200m distance, the event is great for horses getting ready for a big spring campaign.
The Silver Shadow Stakes is another 1200m event however open only to three year old fillies. With the same race conditions as the Up and Coming Stakes, the Group 3 event is worth $125,000 in prize money and is the lead-up race to the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes (1500m).
The Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes is a 1600m weight-for-age race held at Randwick Racecourse in early September. Worth $150,000 in prize money the event is the first weight-for-age race held over a mile in the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival.
Worth $150,000 in prize money, the Furious Stakes is a set weight race of 56kg for all three year old fillies. Racing over 1400 meters, the female contenders will normally go to the major Epsom Handicap.
The Tramway Quality Handicap is a Group 3 race for horses aged three years and older. The handicap race has a low weight of 53kg and a high weight of 61kg which is suited to horses which have previously raced in a handicap race. Worth $125,000 in prize money, the 1400 meter race is preceded by the Show County Quality Handicap held two weeks earlier.
The George Main Stakes is a Group 1 race held in late September at Randwick Racecourse. Worth $300,000 in prize money, the 1600 meter event is a tough weight-for-age race which attracts top horses from around the country.
The Group 2 Stan Fox Stakes is a 1400 meter set weights race for three year old horses. Colts and geldings must carry 56.5kg while fillies are required to carry 54.5kg. Worth $150,000 in prize money, the event attracts above average type race horses.
The $150,000 Colin Stephen Quality is a 2400 meter endurance race for horses aged three years and over. The quality handicap has a weight minimum of 53kg and a maximum weight of 61kg. The Group 3 event is the ideal lead-up race to the Group 1 The Metropolitan (2400m) held a week later.
The Group 3 Bill Ritchie Handicap is another quality handicap for horses aged three years and older. Worth $125,000 in prize money, the 1400 meter event has a minimum weight of 53kg and a maximum weight of 61kg.
Held in October at Royal Randwick Racecourse, the Group 1 Epsom Handicap is a 1600m event for horses aged three years and over. Worth $350,000 in prize money, the handicap race is the major mile event of the Randwick Spring Carnival.
The Metropolitan is a 2400m handicap event worth $350,000 in prize money. Open to horses aged three years and older, the Group 1 event has the same race conditions as the Group 1 Caulfield Cup held later in spring.
The 1600m Flight Stakes is the only Group 1 race in the Sydney Spring Carnival for three year old fillies. The $300,000 event has set weight conditions and attracts some of the country’s best middle-distance females.
Another Group 1 race held on the Epsom Handicap Day is the Spring Champion Stakes worth $300,000 in prize money. Raced over a 2000m distance, the set weight race is open to all horses aged three years old. Colts and geldings carry 56.5kg while fillies must carry 54.5kg.
The Shorts is an 1100m sprinting event for all horses aged three years and older. Worth $150,000 in prize money, the Group 2 event is a set weight and penalties race which attracts a good middle class of sprinters.
The Roman Consul Stakes is a set weights race for three year old horses which race over a 1200m distance. Worth $150,000 in prize money, the event is a Group 2 race which has seen Exceed and Excel win in 2003.
The weight-for-age Craven Plate is a 2000m staying event worth $125,000 in prize money. It is the last weight-for-age race in the carnival and has been won by the much adored horse Mummify in 2005.
The Group 2 Villiers Stakes is a 1600 meter open handicap for all horses aged three years and older. The event is worth $150,000 in prize money and takes place just before Christmas in December.
The Summer Cup is a 2400m staying event worth $125,000 in prize money. Held on Boxing Day in December, the Group 3 open handicap is the last race of the year held in Sydney.
The Missile Stakes is a Group 3 race held at Rosehill Racecourse in early August. The 1100m weight-for-age race is worth $125,000 in prize money and it is the first stakes race in the new racing season.
The Group 2 Premiere Stakes is a 1200m sprinting event held mid-August and is worth $150,000 in prize money. The Rosehill event is a weight-for-age race and features horses which have run in the Missile Stakes held earlier in the month.
The Run To The Rose is a Group 3 quality race for three year old horses. Run over a 1300m distance, the $125,000 event prepares horses for the $1 million Golden Rose held in two weeks.
The $1 million Golden Rose is the premier race of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival and is held on the last Saturday in August. Contested by three year old horses, the 1400m set weights event requires colts and geldings to carry 55.5kg and fillies 53.5kg.
The Concorde Stakes is an 1100m quality handicap for horses aged three years and older. The Group 3 event has a minimum weight of 53kg and a maximum weight of 61kg. Worth $125,000 in prize money, the Concorde Stakes is a good sprint race which prepares horses for the Group 2 Caulfield Sprint and the Theo Marks Stakes.
Held at Sydney’s Rosehill Racecourse during September, the Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes is a 1300m quality handicap. Contested by horses aged three years and over, the handicap’s minimum weight is 52kg while the maximum weight is 61kg. Worth $200,000 in prize money, the Theo Marks Stakes is the ideal lead-up race to the Group 1 Epsom Handicap.
The 1200m Research Stakes is a Group 3 quality handicap for fillies and mares. Worth $125,000 in prize money, the event’s minimum weight is 53kg and the maximum is 61kg.
The Kingston Town Stakes is another Group 3 quality handicap however the event is open to all horses aged three years and over. Run over 2000 meters, the $100,000 event has the same weight restrictions as the Research Stakes.
The Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes is reserved for three year old fillies which must carry a set weight of 55.5kg. This allows the better females to excel in the 1500m race worth $150,000 in prize money.
The Group 3 set weight Gloaming Stakes requires colts and geldings to carry 55.5kg and fillies 53.5kg. Worth $250,000 in prize money, the 1600m event is restricted to three year olds and is held during September at Rosehill Racecourse.
Worth $150,000 in prize money, the Group 2 Shannon Stakes is a quality handicap for horses aged three years and older. The 1500m race has a low weight of 52kg while the highest weight permissible is 61kg.
Run over the longer distance of 1900m is the Group 2 Hill Stakes held at Rosehill Racecourse. Worth $150,000 the weight-for-age race usually features a mix of both better and average type horses.
Held during September at Broadmeadow Racecourse in Newcastle, the Newcastle Cameron Handicap is a 1300m open handicap worth $150,000 in prize money. The race a Group 3 status and is the feature sprint race for the Newcastle Jockey Club.
The Group 3 Newcastle Spring Stakes is a set weight race for three year old horses. Run over a 1600m distance, the $175,000 event is the lead-up race to Randwick’s Spring Champion Stakes.
The Newcastle Gold Cup is a Group 3 open handicap which tests a staying horse’s abilities over a 2300m distance. Held during September, the $185,000 event is regarded as one of the better country cups of the season.
Another prominent country cup during the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival is the Hawkesbury Gold Cup held during November at Hawkesbury Racecourse. Run over a 1600m distance, the Group 3 open handicap is worth $130,000 in prize money.
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