Horse Racing

The Metropolitan is one of the most prestigious and anticipated races run by the Australian Jockey Club (AJC) as part of their Sydney Spring Racing Carnival. Held on the last major race day of the carnival in early October at the Royal Randwick racecourse, the AJC Metropolitan Handicap is one of four fantastic Group 1 events at the meeting, the others include the Epsom Handicap (1600m), Flight Stakes (1600m) and the Spring Champion Stakes (2000m).

The Metropolitan is a 2400m staying event run under open handicap conditions by entries aged three-years-old and over. Held at the end of the carnival, punters who have watched the earlier races closely should have a fairly strong indication of the dominant runners of the season. Entries in the AJC Metropolitan may come via a range of races including the Group 3 Colin Stephen Quality Handicap (2400m) the week before, or the Group 3 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill in September. In recent years the Colin Stephen, run at the same course, distance and conditions, has been the most important guide to the Metropolitan. Horses to take out this Colin Stephen – Metropolitan double include Railings (2005), Dress Circle (2001), Coco Cobanna (2000), Vita Man (1999), In Joyment (1998), Heart Ruler (1997) and Hula Flight (1996).

The Metropolitan will be the last event for the contending runners at Sydney, although many of the well performing horses will continue their spring campaigns by taking part in some of the premier races of the year at the illustrious Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. The AJC Metropolitan Handicap is an excellent lead-up race to the esteemed $2.5million Caulfield Cup, as it is run under much the same conditions. The race has been a good guide to the Caulfield Cup in recent years, with Metropolitan winners Tawqueet (2006) and Railings (2005) both travelling to Melbourne after the race and claiming victory in the Caulfield Cup as well.

The Metropolitan Handicap History

The Metropolitan Handicap has a rich history dating all the way back to the race’s inception in 1863, which was won by Regno. It began as a principal race run over 16 furlongs until 1892 when the race distance was decreased to 12 furlongs. In 1920 the length of the event went up to 13 furlongs and was then converted to 2600m in 1972. Not long after in 1979 the Metropolitan Handicap became a Group 1 event. In 2001 the race distance was decreased by 200m bringing it to today’s length of 2400m. In its long history, there has only been one year the AJC Metropolitan Handicap was not held and that was in 1997 due to the Equine Flu virus.

Recent Metropolitan Handicap Winners