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Recognised as one of the biggest races during the Perth Summer Racing Carnival, the 2023 Railway Stakes is a Group 1 mile race worth $1.5 million in prize money as of 2022. Open to all horses aged three years and older, the Railway Stakes takes place at Perth’s Ascot Racecourse in mid-late November.

Many of the better horses come from the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, while locally in Perth a key lead-up race into the Railway Stakes field is the Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes (1400m) held over 200m shorter a fortnight prior that last produced a winner with Bustler (5th in 2023).

Due to the hot conditions of Western Australia, the race is more suited to local horses accustomed to the heat of the area.

Many Railway Stakes contenders do go on to compete in the Group 1 Kingston Town Classic (1800m) held two weeks later and renamed in 2022 as the Northerly Stakes. Sniper’s Bullet (2009) was the last horse to complete the Railway Stakes – Kingston Town Classic double.

More recently the 2020 Railway Stakes winner Inspirational Girl finished a next-up second in the Kingston Town Classic that summer.

The Railway Stakes runs a week before the Group 1 $1.5 million Winterbottom Stakes (1200m), which is Perth’s premier sprint race.

The 2021 Railway Stakes form was franked with the winner Western Empire backing-up to run second in that year’s Kingston Town Stakes results, while Kissonallforcheeks ran third in both Group 1 events.

The brand new Group 3 $1.5 million The Gold Rush (1400m), held for the first time in 2022, run at Ascot in mid-December is also a potential target for horses out of the Railway Stakes field each summer.

In 2022 the Railway Stakes form was franked with the runner-up Comfort Me, also second the year before, went on to run third in the inaugural The Gold Rush results.

Horses that contest the summer’s Railway Stakes are also now likely to target a slot in Perth’s richest race, the $4 million The Quokka (1200m), taking place for the first time in April of 2023.

The 2023 Railway Stakes ran at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday November 25, 2023 to kick off Group 1 racing over the Perth Summer Racing Carnival and was won in an upset by the Neville Parnham-trained Playing God four-year-old Bustler ($9). 

Railway Stakes 2023
Date:	Saturday November 25, 2023
Track:	Ascot Racecourse
Distance:	1600m
Race Type:	3YO+ Open Handicap
Status:	Group 1
Prize money:	$1,500,000

2023 Railway Stakes Results

• 1st: #8 Bustler ($9)
• 2nd: #7 Alsephina
• 3rd: #4 Dom To Shoot

Neville Parham’s progressive four-year-old son of Playing God, Bustler ($9), went to the outside at the top of the straight before racing clear over the final 100m to defeat the beaten favourite Alsephina by over a length in the 2023 Railway Stakes results in Perth.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	8	BUSTLER	Neville Parnham	Steven Parnham		2	53kg		$9
	2	7	ALSEPHINA	Grant & Alana Williams	William Pike	1.04L	6	53kg		$3.40F
	3	4	DOM TO SHOOT	Sean & Jake Casey	Jordan Turner	1.47L	9	54kg		$21
	4	6	TRIX OF THE TRADE	Colin Webster	Troy Turner	2.23L	1	54kg		$26
	5	13	MOJO RHYTHM	Mitchell Pateman	Ms Holly Watson	2.27L	5	53kg		$31
	6	12	MASSIMO	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Clint Johnston-Porter	3.06L	14	53kg		$41
	7	3	COMFORT ME	Rhys Radford	Peter Knuckey	3.14L	15	54kg		$14
	8	2	MAROCCHINO	Lou Luciani	Chris Parnham	3.24L	11	57kg		$21
	9	16	THE VELVET QUEEN	Darren McAuliffe	Patrick Carbery	4.15L	13	53kg		$26
	10	5	ROOTS	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	4.66L	12	54kg		$6
	11	14	SEARCHIN’ ROC’S	Jim Taylor	Jason Brown	4.71L	4	53kg		$61
	12	1	TUVALU	Lindsey Smith	Ms Jamie Kah	4.72L	3	58kg		$4.80
	13	15	STARTRADE	Daniel Morton	Chris Nicoll	4.9L	8	53kg		$101
	14	9	FORGOT YOU (NZ)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Daniel Moor	6.49L	16	53kg		$21
	15	11	LAST OF THE LINE	Stephen Miller	Brad Parnham	9.14L	10	53kg		$101
	16	10	KARLI’S KARMA	Summer Dickson	Michael Poy	26.8L	7	53kg		$26
		19e	RIVER RUBICON	Steve Wolfe	Joseph Azzopardi		0
		18e	LET’S GALAHVANT	Daniel & Ben Pearce			0
		17e	CASINO SEVENTEEN	Grant & Alana Williams			0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Railway Stakes Betting Odds

The latest Railway Stakes odds 2023 on the field of hopeful milers from Perth and the eastern states will be listed below complete with links to Ladbrokes.com.au for you to lock in your Railway Stakes Betting Tips at the best summer racing odds.

Inspirational Girl ($2.60 in 2020) followed by Western Empire ($1.60 in 2021) and Trix Of The Trade ($5 in 2022) are the latest favourites in Railway Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

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

2023 Railway Stakes Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2022 RAILWAY STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 Railway Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Railway Stakes 2023 Tips on the $1.5 million summer showdown this season.

• To Win: #7 Alsephina ($4.80 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Open top-half of the markets but sticking with the local Grant & Alana Williams-trained Star Turn mare who was one of the winners in the barrier draw coming up trumps with gate seven for the ‘Wizard of the West’ Willie Pike. This classy chestnut has put together a lovely record to date (13-9:3:1) with the nine-time winner an absolute Ascot track specialist (8:6-2-0). She is unbeaten with a flawless three-from-three strike-rate over the mile but is up in grade here. Latest two runs saw her run second in both the Group 3 Asian Beau and RJ Peters Stakes here. Third-up she is fit and ready to fire getting back to her pet distance. Big chance to bag a Group 1 here.

2023 Railway Stakes Field

The official Railway Stakes Final Field is announced by Perth Racing on the Monday of race week followed by the full Railway Stakes Barrier Draw on the Tuesday and will be published in full below once released.

The 2023 Railway Stakes final field is now out with updated markets led by the likes of Chris Waller’s impressive Group 2 Hot Danish Stakes winning mare Roots, the Lindsey Smith-trained Tuvalu coming off a close third in the Group 2 Crystal Mile, and consistent local Star Turn mare Alsephina from the stables of Grant & Alana Williams who drew a treat in barrier seven.

Click here to read more on the key runners in the Railway Stakes 2023 field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	12x79x4323	TUVALU	Lindsey Smith	Ms Jamie Kah	4	58kg		114
2	011x10x017	MAROCCHINO	Lou Luciani	Chris Parnham	14	57kg		112
3	23x5225x33	COMFORT ME	Rhys Radford	Peter Knuckey	18	54kg		106
4	45x31823x2	DOM TO SHOOT	Sean & Jake Casey	Jordan Turner	12	54kg		106
5	410x52x501	ROOTS	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	15	54kg		106
6	x1316x0x98	TRIX OF THE TRADE	Colin Webster	Troy Turner	1	54kg		106
7	2111111×22	ALSEPHINA	Grant & Alana Williams	William Pike	7	53kg		97
8	5x60113x75	BUSTLER	Neville Parnham	Steven Parnham	2	53kg		102
9	430×762931	FORGOT YOU (NZ)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Daniel Moor	19	53kg		103
10	3x11200x61	KARLI’S KARMA	Summer Dickson	Michael Poy	8	53kg		102
11	x845221x30	LAST OF THE LINE	Stephen Miller	Brad Parnham	13	53kg		103
12	09x7008x44	MASSIMO	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Clint Johnston-Porter	17	53kg		102
13	x11751x351	MOJO RHYTHM	Mitchell Pateman	Ms Holly Watson	6	53kg		90
14	21x0180x18	SEARCHIN’ ROC’S	Jim Taylor	Jason Brown	5	53kg		96
15	x05912x809	STARTRADE	Daniel Morton	Chris Nicoll	10	53kg		102
16	141211x2x6	THE VELVET QUEEN	Darren McAuliffe	Patrick Carbery	16	53kg		98
17e	2112311×34	CASINO SEVENTEEN	Grant & Alana Williams	Shaun McGruddy	3	53kg		96
18e	4928322613	LET’S GALAHVANT	Daniel & Ben Pearce		9	53kg		94
19e	15×2317655	RIVER RUBICON	Steve Wolfe	Joseph Azzopardi	11	53kg		92

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Railway Stakes Nominations

The Railway Stakes nominations & weights close in mid-October over a month out from the opening Group 1 event of the Perth Summer Racing Carnival and will be published below once announced.

The 2023 Railway Stakes nominations close on Monday the 16th of October, 2023. 

The Railway Stakes 2023 nominations attracted a bumper 94 summer milers led in all-in betting by the ultra-consistent Grant & Alana Williams-trained Group 3 winning Star Turn mare Alsephina and Lindsey Smith’s Group 1 champ Tuvalu who recently ran second to Alligator Blood in Melbourne’s Underwood Stakes.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	3x114x21x7	A LOT OF GOOD MEN	C	3	Trevor Andrews		40kg		75
2	7125x2473x	ABOVE THE PEG	G	5	Simon A Miller		40kg		80
3	3261x2133x	ADMIRATION EXPRESS	M	4	Jason Miller		40kg		86
4	0847×72537	ALASKAN GOD	G	5	Daniel Morton		40kg
5	x12111111x	ALSEPHINA	M	5	Grant & Alana Williams		40kg		92
6	428x009x6x	ARAMAYO	G	8	Sam Kavanagh		40kg
7	0x412417x2	ARCADIA STAR	M	4	Michael Grantham		40kg
8	613106x01x	ASCENSION (GB)	G	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace		40kg
9	3x216Px520	ATISHU (NZ)	M	6	Chris Waller		40kg
10	52148x84x4	ATLANTIS BEACH	G	6	Cliff Green		40kg		70
11	x27410x890	BANK MAUR	H	4	Richard Laming		40kg
12	8x421111x2	BENJI’S	G	6	Cliff Green		40kg		80
13	1	BEST MOOD	C	3	Michael Grantham		40kg		60
14	226333111x	BLACK FANTASY	G	5	Daniel & Ben Pearce		40kg		86
15	11x545120x	BOOTS LIKE BRUCE	G	6	Anne King		40kg		69
16	3×21221317	BRAYDEN STAR (GB)	H	5	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young		40kg
17	125x60113x	BUSTLER	G	4	Neville Parnham		40kg		101
18	1154x5213x	CASCADIAN (GB)	G	9	James Cummings		40kg
19	242112311x	CASINO SEVENTEEN	G	6	Grant & Alana Williams		40kg		96
20	1023421511	CEPHEUS (GB)	G	7	Matthew Dunn		40kg
21	4523x5225x	COMFORT ME	G	7	Rhys Radford		40kg		106
22	x37160x000	COMMUNIST	G	4	Michael Freedman		40kg
23	0x73027x40	CONVERGE	G	5	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott		40kg
24	x24120x330	CORNER POCKET	G	7	Lindsey Smith		40kg
25	8101x8114x	CURRIMUNDI	G	5	Steve Wolfe		40kg		80
26	53x0x10x7x	DAJRAAN (GB)	H	6	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott		40kg
27	4410x9180x	DEFIANT DIORITE	G	4	Chris Willis		40kg		69
28	62225x323x	DEMOLISH	G	4	Neville Parnham		40kg		73
29	945x31823x	DOM TO SHOOT	G	6	Sean & Jake Casey		40kg		103
30	x563730849	EEYORE WAYZ	G	7	Raquel Reid		40kg		83
31	2142x7224x	EM TEE AYE	G	6	Trevor Andrews		40kg		92
32	13x1127x32	EN FRANCAIS	M	6	Jake Stephens		40kg
33	4x5958709x	EXCELLENT PROPOSAL	G	7	Michael Freedman		40kg
34	51x111120x	FAWKNER PARK (IRE)	G	5	Annabel Neasham		40kg
35	1990×08619	FLEUR DELACOUR	M	4	Chris Willis		40kg		58
36	x4430x7629	FORGOT YOU (NZ)	H	5	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young		40kg
37	3127x	FOXY CLEOPATRA	M	4	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young		40kg
38	311168141x	GINGER BAKER	G	6	Vernon Brockman		40kg		95
39	123x87707x	GOD HAS CHOSEN	G	6	Donna Riordan		40kg		102
40	000x82685x	HILAL	H	5	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott		40kg
41	x26844x407	HINGED	M	5	Chris Waller		40kg
42	11119×4111	IKNOWASTAR	G	4	Bjorn Baker		40kg
43	02369×9010	IRONCLAD (GB)	G	8	Will Clarken & Niki O’Shea		40kg
44	8x12312x5x	JOURNALISM	G	5	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott		40kg
45	3x11200x6x	KARLI’S KARMA	M	6	Summer Dickson		40kg		95
46	1x3131x925	KOVALICA (NZ)	G	4	Chris Waller		40kg
47	45x845221x	LAST OF THE LINE	G	7	Stephen Miller		40kg		104
48	6049283226	LET’S GALAHVANT	G	5	Daniel & Ben Pearce		40kg		90
49	112x74x421	LIFE LESSONS (NZ)	M	5	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman		40kg
50	51210×0488	LINDERMANN	H	4	Chris Waller		40kg
51	8x66445x13	LORD VLADIVOSTOK (NZ)	G	7	Michael Hickmott		40kg
52	x61011x10x	MAROCCHINO	G	7	Lou Luciani		40kg
53	3109x7008x	MASSIMO	G	7	Chris & Michael Gangemi		40kg		102
54	9181x76x7N	MINSK MOMENT	H	5	Chris Waller		40kg
55	08x11751x3	MOJO RHYTHM	G	5	Mitchell Pateman		40kg		75
56	23117x128x	MUNHAMEK (GB)	G	8	Nick Ryan		40kg
57	x6026x6473	MY OBERON (IRE)	G	7	Annabel Neasham		40kg
58	7x20480x45	NO COMPROMISE (NZ)	G	7	Chris Waller		40kg
59	x212x117x7	NOTEWORTHY (NZ)	M	4	Michael Grantham		40kg		68
60	113553×404	NUGGET (GB)	G	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace		40kg
61	51761×5730	OSIPENKO (NZ)	H	4	Chris Waller		40kg
62	146x2x1132	PHANTA	G	6	Chris & Michael Gangemi		40kg		101
63	7419x2117x	PLANET CASH	G	4	Hayden Ballantyne		40kg		76
64	733x17137x	PLAYING MARIKA	M	8	Stephanie Bakranich		40kg		96
65	12x80x5290	POLITICAL DEBATE	H	4	Chris Waller		40kg
66	11263×6408	POUNDING	G	5	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman		40kg
67	7x4298x626	PRIDE OF JENNI	M	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace		40kg
68	033x6057x6	PROCONSENT	G	8	Sean & Jake Casey		40kg		83
69	205x22630x	RED CAN MAN	G	7	Steve Wolfe		40kg		107
70	641211×110	REDIENER	G	4	Chris Waller		40kg
71	69x6124x51	RENAISSANCE WOMAN (NZ)	M	4	Bjorn Baker		40kg
72	10x90x7x14	RISE OF THE MASSES	H	4	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott		40kg
73	33215×2317	RIVER RUBICON	G	5	Steve Wolfe		40kg		89
74	x3410x52x5	ROOTS	M	5	Chris Waller		40kg
75	1x1131216x	RUSTY DREAMS	M	4	Michael Lane		40kg		77
76	21x0180x1x	SEARCHIN’ ROC’S	M	5	Jim Taylor		40kg		96
77	1x0x313x13	SENTIMENTAL HERO	G	6	Michael Grantham		40kg		79
78	2x460x4023	SIBAAQ (GB)	G	6	Annabel Neasham		40kg
79	x61043x200	SKYMAN (GB)	G	8	Chris Waller		40kg
80	723628x2x8	SPEED DREAM	G	6	Roland Piercey		40kg		79
81	30x05912x8	STARTRADE	G	7	Daniel Morton		40kg		104
82	5232x10x06	STEINEM (GB)	M	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace		40kg
83	16460x010x	SURF DANCER (IRE)	G	7	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott		40kg
84	x141211x2x	THE VELVET QUEEN	M	5	Darren McAuliffe		40kg		97
85	4x573747x3	TITAN BLINDERS	G	8	Chris & Michael Gangemi		40kg		96
86	20x1316x0x	TRIX OF THE TRADE	G	5	Colin Webster		40kg		106
87	12x79x432x	TUVALU	G	6	Lindsey Smith		40kg
88	51x86x8010	UNCLE BRYN (GB)	G	6	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young		40kg
89	7416×41112	WATEGOS	G	5	Bjorn Baker		40kg
90	91x520x339	WATERFORD (IRE)	G	5	Chris Waller		40kg
91	1122113×05	WEAPONSON	G	7	Daniel Morton		40kg		92
92	x1221x120x	WESTERN KNIGHT (NZ)	G	5	Michael Grantham		40kg		73
93	425x45137x	WICKLOW (IRE)	G	6	Chris Waller		40kg
94	41x217x32x	ZAAKI (GB)	G	9	Annabel Neasham		40kg

Railway Stakes History

Inaugurated in 1894 when Wandering Willie took the title, the Railway Stakes was won by Cox Plate winner Better Loosen Up in 1990 and Caulfield Cup winner Northerly in 2000.

There have only been three horses which have managed to win the race more than once and they are Tudor Mak in 1968-69, Miss Muffet in 1987-88 and Luckygray in 2011 and 2013. Throughout the race’s history there have been several distance changes from the original 12 furlongs. In 1926 the Stakes became an 8 furlong race until 1974 when it was decreased to 1500m. In 1984 it was finally changed back to a 1600m race and has remained so to this day.

The Railway Stakes has been run and won by plenty of nice horses from both local and interstate stables including the Perth-trained Regal Power (2019) who went on to win the following year’s $5 million All-Star Mile in Melbourne.

In 2020 jockey William Pike and trainers Grant & Alana Williams won the Railway Stakes for the third straight year with the success of race favourite Inspirational Girl before making it four straight in 2021 with odds-on favourite Western Empire.

Railway Stakes Winners

Below are the results for the Group 1 Railway Stakes since 2000.

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Railway Stakes	1st	Bustler	1 minute 34.80 seconds
	2nd	Alsephina
	3rd	Dom To Shoot
2022 Railway Stakes	1st	Trix Of The Trade	1 minute 35.82 seconds
	2nd	Comfort Me
	3rd	Startrade
2021 Railway Stakes	1st	Western Empire	1 minute 34.38 seconds
	2nd	Comfort Me
	3rd	Kissonallforcheeks
2020 Railway Stakes	1st	Inspirational Girl	1 minute 33.79 seconds
	2nd	Too Close The Sun
	3rd	Uni Time
2019 Railway Stakes	1st	Regal Power	1 minute 35.89 seconds
	2nd	Best Of Days
	3rd	Platoon
2018 Railway Stakes	1st	Galaxy Star	1 minute 34.08 seconds
	2nd	Gatting
	3rd	Material Man
2017 Railway Stakes	1st	Great Shot	1 minute 35.81 seconds
	2nd	Black Heart Bart
	3rd	Tom Melbourne
2016 Railway Stakes	1st	Scales Of Justice	1 minute 36.13 seconds
	2nd	Good Project
	3rd	Perfect Reflection
2015 Railway Stakes	1st	Good Project	1 minute 34.52 seconds
	2nd	Messene
	3rd	Balmont Girl
2014 Railway Stakes	1st	Elite Belle	1 minute 35.59 seconds
	2nd	Balmont Girl
	3rd	Moriarty
2013 Railway Stakes	1st	Luckygray	1 minute 36.75 seconds
	2nd	Platinum Rocker
	3rd	Fire Up Fifi
2012 Railway Stakes	1st	Mr Moet	1 minute 35.89 seconds
	2nd	Luckygray
	3rd	Rosie Rocket
2011 Railway Stakes	1st	Luckygray	1 minute 34.88 seconds
	2nd	He’s Remarkable
	3rd	Westriver Kevydonn
2010 Railway Stakes	1st	Gathering	1 minute 35.1 seconds
	2nd	Famous Roman
	3rd	Megatic
2009 Railway Stakes	1st	Sniper’s Bullet	1 minute 34.25 seconds
	2nd	Tarzi
	3rd	Colour Correct
2008 Railway Stakes	1st	Gilded Venom	1 minute 34.5 seconds
	2nd	Sniper’s Bullet
	3rd	Annenkov
2007 Railway Stakes	1st	El Presidente	1 minute 34.7 seconds
	2nd	Hartley’s Dream
	3rd	Mansion House
2006 Railway Stakes	1st	Belle Bizarre	1 minute 34.4 seconds
	2nd	Confectioner
	3rd	Niconero
2005 Railway Stakes	1st	Covertly	1 minute 34.8 seconds
	2nd	Early Express
	3rd	Blinded
2004 Railway Stakes	1st	Modem	1 minute 35.9 seconds
	2nd	Mr Sandgroper
	3rd	Blinded
2003 Railway Stakes	1st	Hardrada	1 minute 35.7 seconds
	2nd	Early Express
	3rd	Mapperholic
2002 Railway Stakes	1st	Old Fashion	1 minute 35.6 seconds
	2nd	Hardrada
	3rd	Corporate Bruce
2001 Railway Stakes	1st	Old Comrade	1 minute 37.6 seconds
	2nd	Mr Tanzania
	3rd	Finito
2000 Railway Stakes	1st	Northerly	1 minute 35.8 seconds
	2nd	Old Comrade
	3rd	Lizzy Long Legs