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The A.J. Moir Stakes, previously known as the Schweppes Stakes, is a 1000m sprint event worth $750,000 in prize money having been reduced in stakes from $1 million ahead of the 2023 edition.

The Group 1 short-distance feature is held at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne during the Spring Carnival under the lights on a special Friday night feature. The weight-for-age event attracts a good group of horses suited to the tight track, many heading towards the Group 1 Ladbrokes Manikato Stakes (1200m) back at the track on Cox Plate Eve.

The best lead-up races include the 1000m Schillaci Stakes held two weeks prior and the Group 2 McEwen Stakes (1000m) at the same track and distance as the Moir. The Schillaci Stakes – Moir Stakes betting double is popular with punters and was last achieved by Black Caviar (2010 & 2011).

Imperatriz (2023) was the last runner to complete the McEwen Stakes – Moir Stakes double at The Valley.

The Moir Stakes shares a race program with the Group 2 Stutt Stakes, Group 2 Stocks Stakes, and Group 3 Scarborough Stakes.

The AJ Moir Stakes also now serves as a potential lead-up for sprinters heading towards a run in the world’s richest turf race, Sydney’s $20 million The Everest (1200m) held the following month at Randwick.

It is also a key lead-up to Flemington’s Group 1 VRC Sprint Classic – currently run as the Champions Stakes – during the Melbourne Cup Carnival with Nature Strip (2019) the last to win both races in the same season.

The 2022 Moir Stakes form was franked with the winning filly Coolangatta returning the next autumn to win the 2023 Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) at Flemington. The Moir runner-up in 2022 Bella Nipotina meanwhile won the Manikato at her next start and also placed third in WA’s inaugural $4 million The Quokka race the next year.

The 2023 Moir Stakes ran on Friday September 29, 2023 under the lights at The Valley and saw the odds-on favourite Imperatriz ($1.65F) storm home for a sensational victory breaking her own 1000m track record.  

A.J. Moir Stakes
Date:	Friday September 29, 2023
Track:	Moonee Valley Racecourse
Distance:	1000m
Race Type:	Weight-For-Age
Status:	Group 1
Prize Money:	$750,000

2023 Moir Stakes Results

• 1st: #7 Imperatriz ($1.65F)
• 2nd: #8 Asfoora
• 3rd: #3 Uncommon James

First-up McEwen Stakes winner Imperatriz ($1.65F) continued her dominant record down under at The Valley with the brilliant Kiwi mare storming home to blitz her rivals in the 2023 Moir Stakes results saluting as the odds-on favourite and breaking her own 1000m track record when celebrating her sixth Group 1 success.

Click here to read more on the impressive Moir Stakes 2023 win by Imperatriz.

2023 Moir Stakes Results & Finishing Order

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	7	IMPERATRIZ	Mark Walker	Opie Bosson		5	56.5kg		$1.65F
	2	8	ASFOORA	Henry Dwyer	Mitchell Aitken	1.25L	6	56.5kg		$8
	3	3	UNCOMMON JAMES	Steven O’Dea & Matthew Hoysted	Damian Lane	2.25L	7	58.5kg		$8.50
	4	2	THE INFERNO	Cliff Brown	Jake Noonan	3.25L	8	58.5kg		$61
	5	1	ROTHFIRE	Robert Heathcote	Blake Shinn	3.45L	1	58.5kg		$5.50
	6	4	ZOUSTYLE	Tony Gollan	Damien Oliver	4.45L	3	58.5kg		$21
	7	5	GENERATION	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Mark Zahra	4.85L	2	58.5kg		$26
	8	6	ACROMANTULA	Daniel & Ben Pearce	Craig Williams	9.35L	4	58.5kg		$51

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Moir Stakes Betting

The season’s best Moir Stakes 2023 betting odds and market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below once released. Proven sprinters at the tight Moonee Valley track and any Group winners resuming with a nice first-up record usually sit top of the Moir Stakes odds each spring.

Nature Strip ($3.30 in 2019) and Imperatriz ($1.65 in 2023) are the latest favourites in A.J. Moir Stakes betting to salute.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 MOIR STAKES ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Moir Stakes Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 MOIR STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 Moir Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Moir Stakes 2023 Tips on the Moonee Valley night racing Group 1 sprint this spring carnival season.

• To Win: #7 Imperatriz ($1.75 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Small field and the odds-on elect is no value, but with just seven rivals and the consistent lead-up is really hard to bet against the talented Mark Walker-trained New Zealander. The multiple Group 1 winning daughter of I Am Invincible has proven elite level status down under saluting at The Valley track in the autumn’s William Reid Stakes. She has a lovely affinity for the tight Valley circuit winning here again fresh in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes on September 9. Kept fresh since, was a 2.5 length winner over the 1000m first-up with improvement to come. She is so versatile having won up to a mile, so the Moir distance second-up looks ideal. Cracking record two runs in (5:4-0-1) and reunites with Opie Bosson. Wins again.

2023 Moir Stakes Field

The Moir Stakes field is a key early spring feature for short-distance specialists that could target upcoming Group 1 features including Flemington’s VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) run down the straight during the Melbourne Cup Carnival. Lots of horses run first-up in the Moir Stakes field, while the Group 2 Schillaci Stakes has provided the most Moir Stakes winners than any other lead-up race over the past 20 years.

The official 2023 Moir Stakes field and barrier draw will be released the Wednesday leading-up to Moir Stakes Night and will be available below once announced.

The AJ Moir Stakes 2023 final field features just eight spring sprinters with markets dominated by classy Kiwi mare Imperatriz who has won the Group 1 William Reid Stakes and Group 2 McEwen Stakes at The Valley at her two latest starts either side of a fresh-up.

Click here to read more about the key contenders in the 2023 Moir Stakes field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	285x2132x2	ROTHFIRE	Robert Heathcote	Blake Shinn	1	58.5kg			111
2	x400x9275x	THE INFERNO	Cliff Brown	Jake Noonan	8	58.5kg			101
3	x111x2128x	UNCOMMON JAMES	Steven O’Dea & Matthew Hoysted	Damian Lane	7	58.5kg			109
4	2332x506x4	ZOUSTYLE	Tony Gollan	Damien Oliver	3	58.5kg			103
5	2436x885x4	GENERATION	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Mark Zahra	2	58.5kg			99
6	452213×315	ACROMANTULA	Daniel & Ben Pearce	Craig Williams	4	58.5kg			99
7	48x11121x1	IMPERATRIZ	Mark Walker	Opie Bosson	5	56.5kg			116
8	1711x344x1	ASFOORA	Henry Dwyer	Mitchell Aitken	6	56.5kg			106

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Moir Stakes Nominations

The Moir Stakes 2023 nominations are released by Racing Victoria on the Monday of race week and will be published below in full as soon as announced.

The 2023 Moir Stakes nominations have been extended until 10am on Tuesday with only a dozen early entries taken led by all-in favourite Imperatriz with the multiple Group 1 winning Kiwi mare coming off a first-up Group 2 McEwen Stakes victory at The Valley.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp Rating
1	452213×315	ACROMANTULA	G	6	Daniel & Ben Pearce	99
2	1711x344x1	ASFOORA	M	5	Henry Dwyer	106
3	19x30236x3	BELLA NIPOTINA	M	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	111
4	2436x885x4	GENERATION	H	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	99
5	48x11121x1	IMPERATRIZ	M	5	Mark Walker	116
6	67x111101x	JIGSAW	G	5	Cindy Alderson	106
7	4158x28x27	QUEEN OF THE BALL	M	4	Michael Freedman	90
8	118x147x15	REMARQUE	G	5	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	108
9	285x2132x2	ROTHFIRE	G	6	Robert Heathcote	111
10	x400x9275x	THE INFERNO	G	7	Cliff Brown	101
11	x111x2128x	UNCOMMON JAMES	G	5	Steven O’Dea & Matthew Hoysted	109
12	2332x506x4	ZOUSTYLE	G	8	Tony Gollan	103

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Moir Stakes History

Officially known as the A.J. Moir Stakes, the principal race was a 1000m event until 2007 when it was increased to 1200m. Once the race was elevated to Group 2 status in 1979, it was won by With Me twice in 1990-91 and The Judge in 1978-79. Apart from the A.J. Moir Stakes, the event was also called the Schweppervescence Stakes for some time. The Moir Stakes is now run over 1000m.

In 2013 the Moir Stakes was elevated from Group 2 to Group 1 status and attracts better sprinters every year. The most notable Moir Stakes winners include Black Caviar (2010-11) and triple champion Buffering (2012, 2014 & 2015).

In 2022 Coolangatta became the first filly to win the Moir Stakes since She Will Reign (2017).

In 2023 star New Zealand mare Imperatriz won the Moir Stakes in a slick 56.47 seconds breaking her own 1000m track record.

Recent AJ Moir Stakes Winners

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Moir Stakes	1st	Imperatriz	56.47 seconds (R)
	2nd	Asfoora
	3rd	Uncommon James
2022 Moir Stakes	1st	Coolangatta	59.16 seconds
	2nd	Bella Nipotina
	3rd	Zoustyle
2021 Moir Stakes	1st	Wild Ruler	57.08 seconds
	2nd	The Inferno
	3rd	Trekking
2020 Moir Stakes	1st	Pippie	58.39 seconds
	2nd	Trekking
	3rd	Bella Vella
2019 Moir Stakes	1st	Nature Strip	57.78 seconds
	2nd	Miss Leonidas
	3rd	Sunlight
2018 Moir Stakes	1st	Viddora	57.70 seconds
	2nd	Brave Smash
	3rd	Spright
2017 Moir Stakes	1st	She Will Reign	58.30 seconds
	2nd	Viddora
	3rd	Sheidel
2016 Moir Stakes	1st	Extreme Choice	58.74 seconds
	2nd	Heatherly
	3rd	Wild Rain
2015 Moir Stakes	1st	Buffering	57.2 seconds
	2nd	Ball Of Muscle
	3rd	Angelic Light
2014 Moir Stakes	1st	Buffering	1 minute 10.91 seconds
	2nd	Lankan Rupee
	3rd	Rebel Dane
2013 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Samaready	1 minute 11.25 seconds
	2nd	Buffering
	3rd	Le Bonsir
2012 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Buffering	1 minute 10.97 seconds
	2nd	Ready To Rip
	3rd	Thankgodyou’rehere
2011 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Black Caviar	1 minute 10.13 seconds
	2nd	Doubtful Jack
	3rd	Here De Angels
2010 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Black Caviar	1 minute 11.01 seconds
	2nd	Hot Danish
	3rd	True Persuasion
2009 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Apache Cat	1 minute 10.01 seconds
	2nd	Mic Mac
	3rd	Bank Robber
2008 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Lucky Secret	1 minute 9.9 seconds
	2nd	Bel Mer
	3rd	Mr Baritone
2007 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Miss Andretti	1 minute 10.6 seconds
	2nd	Gold Edition
	3rd	Lets Go Thommo
2006 Schweppes Stakes	1st	California Dane	58.4 seconds
	2nd	Lets Go Thommo
	3rd	Poets Voice
2005 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Virage De Fortune	59.1 seconds
	2nd	Miss Mooney Mooney
	3rd	Imprisoned
2004 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Bomber Bill	58.4 seconds
	2nd	Regimental Gal
	3rd	Dance The Waves
2003 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Our Egyptian Raine	57.7 seconds
	2nd	Spinning Hill
	3rd	Dantana
2002 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Spinning Hill	57.7 seconds
	2nd	Bomber Bill
	3rd	Mistegic
2001 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Mistegic	58.7 seconds
	2nd	Regal Shot
	3rd	Appoint
2000 Schweppes Stakes	1st	Falvelon	59.8 seconds
	2nd	Notoire
	3rd	Super Elegant