Horse Racing

The Turnbull Stakes 2016 is a Group 1 race for staying types held on the first Sunday of October at Flemington Racecourse a day after Sydney’s Epsom Handicap Day meeting.  The Turnbull Stakes originally ran on the same Saturday as the Epsom Handicap at Randwick, but Victorian Racing Club (VRC) rescheduled the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival program to account for the AFL Grand Final in Victoria.  There are four other Group status races on the Turnbull Stakes Day card with the Group 2 Edward Manifold Stakes (1600m), the Group 2 Blazer Stakes (1400m), Group 2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m) and the Group 3 The Bart Cummings (2500m) for Caulfield Cup types.

The Turnbull Stakes is for four-year-old entries and up run under set weight conditions plus penalties. Offering a generous prize purse of over $500 000, this 2000m middle-distance event always attracts an elite field of highly competitive runners, many of which use the race as a key lead-up to the carnival’s feature races including the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups. Since being awarded Group 1 status however, the Turnbull Stakes is now seen as a premier race in its own right and not simply a preparatory race. As the first quality middle-distance race at the carnival, the Turnbull Stakes provides stayers with a chance to run over the more suitable 2000m building up to the longer 2400m and 3200m races later in the spring.

In past years the Turnbull Stakes has proven a truly excellent guide to the spring feature races, with the Turnbull Stakes providing a number of Melbourne Cup , Caulfield Cup winners and Cox Plate winners. The Turnbull Stakes paired with any of these three later events makes for some great betting doubles throughout the carnival.

In 2016, the Turnbull Stakes will take place at Flemington on Sunday 2 October 2016.

Turnbull Stakes Field 2016

The 2016 Turnbull Stakes field and barrier draw was released on Wednesday September 28 at 10:00am (AEST) and features 13 hopefuls including last year’s winner Preferement, last start Hill Stakes champ Hartnell and the Mick Price-trained Tarzino.

See below for the complete 2016 Turnbull Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw and for a full race preview follow the link.

2016 Turnbull Stakes Betting

Check out the latest Turnbull Stakes 2016 betting odds below complete with links to your selections so you can back the Turnbull Stakes trifecta at Ladbrokes.com.au.

2016 Turnbull Stakes Nominations

The 2016 Turnbull Stakes nominations were released by Racing Victoria on Monday September 26 and feature a bumper 20 hopefuls including Hill Stakes winner Hartnell and the defending champion Preferment, both from Sydney.

Read the official 2016 Turnbull Stakes Nominations now.

Turnbull Stakes History

Named in honour of the incumbent VRC Chairman Mr. Richard Turnbull, the Turnbull Stakes was first run in 1948 when Beau Gem claimed victory. It was originally a 12 furlong (approx. 2400m) Principal race up until 1972 when the distance was changed to the shorter length of 2000m with Australia’s adoption of the metric system. The race was run as a handicap event through until 1963 when weight-for-age conditions were adopted until 1970 when eventually the Turnbull Stakes became a set weights plus penalties race. In 1979 the event was elevated to Group 2 status and remained the same until 2006 when it was installed as a Group 1 event following the win of the infamous Makybe Diva in 2005.

Notable winners of the Turnbull Stakes include Rising Fast (1954), Galilee (1968), Super Impose (1989), Let’s Elope (1991), Naturalism (1992), Sunline (2000), Northerly (2002) and Efficient (2009). In 2012 Green Moon won the Turnbull Stakes before taking out the ‘race that stops the nation’ with a Melbourne Cup victory two starts later on the first Tuesday of November.

Recent Turnbull Stakes Winners