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The Empire Rose Stakes, previously known as the Myer Classic, is a Group 1 race run over a mile (1600m) for the season’s best fillies and mares held on the opening day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival in late October / early November annually.

The weight-for-age race is one of only two Group 1 events for fillies and mares offered during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Held on the same day as the prestigious Victoria Derby, the Empire Rose Stakes offers half a million dollars in prize money.

Raced at Flemington Racecourse the Empire Rose Stakes is also featured on the same day as the Kennedy Mile and the Coolmore Stud Stakes, totalling four Group 1 races on the one day of elite spring racing.

The 2019 Empire Rose Stakes ran on Victoria Derby Day at Flemington – Saturday November 2, 2019 – and was won by outstanding New Zealand-trained mare Melody Belle. 

Empire Rose Stakes 2019
Date:	Saturday November 2, 2019
Track:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	1600m
Race Type:	3YO+ Fillies and Mares Weight-For-Age
Status:	Group 1
Prize Money:	$1 million

2019 Empire Rose Stakes Results

• 1st: #2 Melody Belle
• 2nd: #3 Aristia
• 3rd: #6 Spanish Reef

The Empire Rose Stakes 2019 results saw bonny Kiwi mare Melody Belle celebrate her 10th Group 1 success and fourth on the trot, the Jamie Richards-trained flyer finally breaking through at elite level down under with a dominant win from out wide in the mile classic on VRC Derby Day.

Read more on the impressive 2019 Empire Rose Stakes win by Melody Belle.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Barrier	Weight
1	2	MELODY BELLE (NZ)	Jamie Richards	Opie Bosson	–	13	57kg	$3.80F
2	3	ARISTIA	Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra	Craig Williams	1.5L	1	57kg	$17
3	6	SPANISH REEF	Ken Keys	Mark Zahra	3.25L	6	57kg	$20
4	7	PRINCESS JENNI (NZ)	David Brideoake	Damien Oliver	4L	10	57kg	$14
5	12	BACCARAT BABY	David Vandyke	Micheal Hellyer	6.5L	3	57kg	$21
6	8	NOIRE	Chris Waller	Michael Walker	7.25L	11	57kg	$41
7	9	POHUTUKAWA	James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	7.35L	7	57kg	$4.40
8	14	MISS SISKA	Grahame Begg	Ms Linda Meech	7.45L	2	57kg	$26
9	10	NETTOYER	Wendy Roche	Brad Rawiller	8.7L	9	57kg	$16
10	15	FIDELIA	Robbie Griffiths	Jamie Mott	10.7L	16	57kg	$19
11	13	ANGELIC RULER	Daniel & Ben Pearce	Brett Prebble	10.9L	15	57kg	$26
12	1	INVINCIBELLA	Chris Waller	John Allen	11.2L	14	57kg	$21
13	4	SAVATIANO	James Cummings	James Doyle	11.7L	12	57kg	$8.50
14	11	SPANISH WHISPER	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Dwayne Dunn	14.95L	8	57kg	$41
15	5	AMPHITRITE	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Luke Nolen	19.95L	4	57kg	$31
16	16	NAIVASHA	Pat Carey	Rhys McLeod	25.95L	5	57kg	$201

2019 Empire Rose Stakes Betting Odds

The latest Empire Rose Stakes 2019 odds will be listed below with links to the markets at Ladbrokes.com.au to back your 2019 Empire Rose Stakes betting tips at the best spring racing odds.

2019 Empire Rose Stakes Field

The Empire Rose Stakes field attracts a quality line-up of fillies and mares each spring coming off a variety of different lead-up races including the Group 2 Tristarc Stakes at Caulfield, which last produced a winner in 2013 when Red Tracer did the double. Fillies in the Empire Rose Stakes field may come off a run the Saturday before in the Group 2 Moonee Valley Fillies Classic (1600m), a Cox Plate Day race that I Am A Star ran third in before her 2016 Empire Rose Stakes victory over the older mares.

The official Empire Rose Stakes 2019 Final Field & Barriers are announced by Racing Victoria on the Wednesday leading-up to Derby Day in Melbourne and will be published in full below.

The 2019 Empire Rose Stakes field features a line-up of 16 female gallopers with the favourite from NZ, Melody Belle, drawing out in barrier 13 as she chases a fourth straight Group 1 win.

The majority of the top-rated Empire Rose Stakes runners suffered a wide draw including Godolphin’s last start Tristarc Stakes winner Savatiano (12) and the ultra-consistent Angelic Ruler (15).

Read more on the 2019 Empire Rose Stakes Field & Odds led by Melody Belle.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	71x0611x45	INVINCIBELLA	Chris Waller	John Allen	14	57kg	110
2	30111×4111	MELODY BELLE (NZ)	Jamie Richards	Opie Bosson	13	57kg	114
3	x33306x757	ARISTIA	Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra	Craig Williams	1	57kg	99
4	3295213×41	SAVATIANO	James Cummings	James Doyle	12	57kg	107
5	0x1360x600	AMPHITRITE	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Luke Nolen	4	57kg	104
6	41257×0041	SPANISH REEF	Ken Keys	Mark Zahra	6	57kg	103
7	x71116x710	PRINCESS JENNI (NZ)	David Brideoake	Damien Oliver	10	57kg	104
8	073447×545	NOIRE	Chris Waller	Michael Walker	11	57kg	100
9	516832×424	POHUTUKAWA	James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	7	57kg	100
10	58158×8361	NETTOYER	Wendy Roche	Brad Rawiller	9	57kg	102
11	x2196x2193	SPANISH WHISPER	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Dwayne Dunn	8	57kg	101
12	9142201×16	BACCARAT BABY	David Vandyke	Micheal Hellyer	3	57kg	100
13	131232×232	ANGELIC RULER	Daniel & Ben Pearce	Brett Prebble	15	57kg	98
14	32x147x278	MISS SISKA	Grahame Begg	Ms Linda Meech	2	57kg	96
15	41111×5363	FIDELIA	Robbie Griffiths	Jamie Mott	16	57kg	92
16	25x516x722	NAIVASHA	Pat Carey	Rhys McLeod	5	57kg	75

2019 Empire Rose Stakes Nominations

The Empire Rose Stakes 2019 nominations close the Monday of race week and the full list of early entries for the mile Group 1 on Victoria Derby Day will be published below once announced.

The 2019 Empire Rose Stakes nominations attracted a bumper 22 fillies and mares with the flying Kiwi raider Melody Belle the clear favourite after winning her past three races on the trot in Group 1 company back home.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	71x0611x45	INVINCIBELLA	M	6	Chris Waller	1	57kg	110
2	30111×4111	MELODY BELLE (NZ)	M	5	Jamie Richards	2	57kg	114
3	x33306x757	ARISTIA	M	4	Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra	3	57kg	99
4	3295213×41	SAVATIANO	M	5	James Cummings	4	57kg	107
5	0x1360x600	AMPHITRITE	M	4	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	5	57kg	104
6	41257×0041	SPANISH REEF	M	6	Ken Keys	6	57kg	103
7	x71116x710	PRINCESS JENNI (NZ)	M	4	David Brideoake	7	57kg	104
8	073447×545	NOIRE	M	6	Chris Waller	8	57kg	100
9	516832×424	POHUTUKAWA	M	4	James Cummings	9	57kg	100
10	x2196x2193	SPANISH WHISPER	M	4	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	10	57kg	101
11	5x10x750x8	JAMAICAN RAIN	M	7	Richard Laming	11	57kg	98
12	214253×054	ALIFEROUS	M	4	Kris Lees	12	57kg	84
13	81555310×0	ETANA	M	4	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	13	57kg	90
14	2241949×50	NAANTALI (NZ)	M	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	14	57kg	96
15	58158×8361	NETTOYER	M	6	Wendy Roche	15	57kg	102
16	9142201×16	BACCARAT BABY	M	4	David Vandyke	16	57kg	100
17	41111×5363	FIDELIA	M	4	Robbie Griffiths	17	57kg	92
18	245×16811	PRETTY BRAZEN	F	3	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	18	50kg	74
19	25x516x722	NAIVASHA	M	5	Pat Carey	19	57kg	75
20	131232×232	ANGELIC RULER	M	4	Daniel & Ben Pearce	20	57kg	98
21	32x147x278	MISS SISKA	M	6	Grahame Begg	21	57kg	96
22	5115448×13	SWEET SCANDAL	M	5	Chris Waller	22	57kg	95

Empire Rose Stakes History

Since 1988 when Concordance won, the Myer Classic has gone through several sponsor names starting with Honda. First named “The Honda Legend”, the race went on to be named the Hong Kong Bank Stakes, Hardy Brothers Classic and Nestle Peters Classic. In 2005 it was named the Myer Classic. It’s registered name is the Empire Rose Stakes.

Regarded as the best sprint race for fillies and mares, the Myer Classic is often raced by horses which have competed in the Rose Of Kingston Stakes and the Tristarc Stakes. Although no Myer Classic winner has gone on to win the WS Cox Plate or Melbourne Cup, the Emirates Stakes has been won by Divine Madonna in 2006 and Bonanova in 1997.

In 2003 the event became a Group 2 race and was changed from a set weight race with penalties to a weight-for-age race. In 2004 it was upgraded to Group 1 status. In 2016 I Am A Star became the first three-year-old filly to beat the mares in the Myer Classic results in over 20 years, then the following year Shoals (2017) made it back-to-back wins for the youngsters with her narrow victory for the punters.

The 2019 Empire Rose Stakes saw New Zealand-trained mare Melody Belle continue her outstanding string of Group 1 wins with her 10th elite level victory and first on Aussie turf.

Empire Rose Stakes Results

Read through the list of Empire Rose Stakes winners and place getters from 2000.

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2019 Empire Rose Stakes	1st	Melody Belle	1 minute 37.78 seconds
	2nd	Aristia
	3rd	Spanish Reef
2018 Empire Rose Stakes	1st	Shillelagh	1 minute 34.86 seconds
	2nd	Bring Me Roses
	3rd	Fundamentalist
2017 Myer Classic	1st	Shoals	1 minute 35.26 seconds
	2nd	Eckstein
	3rd	Dixie Blossoms
2016 Myer Classic	1st	I Am A Star	1 minute 35.56 seconds
	2nd	French Emotion
	3rd	Denmagic
2015 Myer Classic	1st	Politeness	1 minute 37.75 seconds
	2nd	Fenway
	3rd	Azkadellia
2014 Myer Classic	1st	Bonaria	1 minute 36.55 seconds
	2nd	Sweet Idea
	3rd	Catkins
2013 Myer Classic	1st	Red Tracer	1 minute 36.45 seconds
	2nd	Catkins
	3rd	Fire Up Fifi
2012 Myer Classic	1st	Appearance	1 minute 34:97 seconds
	2nd	Soft Sand
	3rd	Secret Admirer
2011 Myer Classic	1st	Hurtle Myrtle	1 minute 37:50 seconds
	2nd	Sacred Choice
	3rd	Dysphonia
2010 Myer Classic	1st	Sacred Choice	1 minute 38:91 seconds
	2nd	Typhoon Tracy
	3rd	Hot Danish
2009 Myer Classic	1st	Typhoon Tracy	1 minute 35:3 seconds
	2nd	Lady Lynette
	3rd	Zarita
2008 Myer Classic	1st	Forensics	1 minute 35.9 seconds
	2nd	Absolutely Fabulous
	3rd	Mimi Lebrock
2007 Myer Classic	1st	Divine Madonna	1 minute 36.1 seconds
	2nd	Translate
	3rd	Red For Lou
2006 Myer Classic	1st	Lyrical Bid	1 minute 37.6 seconds
	2nd	Sea Change
	3rd	Kosi Bay
2005 Myer Classic	1st	Lotteria	1 minute 35.4 seconds
	2nd	Miss Potential
	3rd	Shania Dane
2004 Myer Classic	1st	Miss Potential	1 minute 37.5 seconds
	2nd	Alinghi
	3rd	Infinite Grace
2003 Myer Classic	1st	Zanna	1 minute 38.4 seconds
	2nd	Infinite Grace
	3rd	Mrs Tendulkar
2002 Myer Classic	1st	Miss Zoe	1 minute 35.8 seconds
	2nd	Purple Groove
	3rd	Ramanos Star
2001 Myer Classic	1st	Market Price	1 minute 34.2 seconds
	2nd	Pernod
	3rd	Calm Smytzer
2000 Myer Classic	1st	Super Sequel	1 minute 37.8 seconds
	2nd	Its Platonic
	3rd	Nova Claus