Horse Racing

The Australia Stakes is a Group 2 race held each year in late January at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne. Run over 1200m under weight-for-age conditions on one of Moonee Valley’s night race meetings, this sprint race is worth $200,000 in prize money.

It is one of only a couple of group races held in January anywhere in the country and signals the return of regular black type racing to Melbourne.

The Australia Stakes 2012 will be run on Friday January 27, 2012.

Australia Stakes History

Formerly called the Carlyon Stakes until 2010, the Moonee Valley Racing Club changed the race name to the Australia Stakes to celebrate Australia Day. The Group 1 William Reid Stakes, which was previously called the Australia Stakes, is now once again called the William Reid Stakes and runs in March.

Originally a Listed race and known as the Carlyon Stakes, this race earned Group 3 status in 1990 until 1994 when it was again elevated to Group 2 status. Also known as the Stanley Wootton Stakes, the fastest winning time since 1988 was recorded by Hareeba in 1995 with 1 minute 8.8 seconds. The slowest winning time was 1 minute 12.8 seconds by All Our Mob in 1996.

Recent Australia Stakes Winners