The 2017 Hill Stakes is a Group 2 weight-for-age race held at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse in late September or early October as part of the bumper Epsom Handicap Day line-up. Epsom Handicap Day takes place on the same Saturday as Melbourne’s AFL Grand Final and is headlined by three Group 1 races: the Epsom Handicap (1600m), The Metropolitan (2400m) and the Flight Stakes (1600m) for three-year-old fillies.
Contested over 1800m, the $500,000 Hill Stakes is a nice race for spring staying types starting to warm-up towards a possible Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival bid and a target race like the Group 1 $3 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley at the end of October.
Horses may come into the Hill Stakes field via a lead-up run in the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) at Randwick three weeks earlier, a double recently completed by Trusting (2011) and Hartnell (2016). Hartnell went on to run second to superstar mare Winx in the Cox Plate results of 2016 and third in that year’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m).
This year the Hill Stakes 2017 is set to run on September 30th, 2017, 2017.
| 2017 Hill Stakes | |
|---|---|
| Date: | September 30th, 2017, 2017 |
| Track: | Randwick Racecourse |
| Distance: | 1800m |
| Race Type: | Weight-for-age |
| Status: | Group 2 |
| Prize Money: | $500,000 |
2017 Hill Stakes Betting
Hill Stakes betting is traditionally led by gallopers coming off an earlier Sydney run in a race like the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes or Group 1 George Main Stakes, both run over the Randwick mile.
The latest Hill Stakes 2017 odds and betting links to the markets at Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below as soon as released.
2017 Hill Stakes Field
The Hill Stakes field attracts a quality line-up of gallopers each spring, many of which head south later during the carnival to contest the Melbourne majors like the Cox Plate.
The official 2017 Hill Stakes field of final acceptances and barrier draw will be released on the Wednesday leading-up to Epsom Handicap Day and will be published in full below.
2017 Hill Stakes Nominations
The 2017 Hill Stakes nominations are taken by Racing NSW on the Monday of race week and the full list of early Hill Stakes entries will be available here once announced.
In 2017 the Hill Stakes attracted 17 nominations led by the Chris Waller-trained mare Foxplay, the Group 1 winning daughter of Foxwedge coming off a third to her star stablemate Winx in the George Main Stakes a fortnight ago. Foxplay also holds an entry for the day’s Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) where she will get in on 54kg compared to 56kg in the Hill Stakes.
| # | Form (Last 10) | Horse | Sex | Age | Trainer | Ballot | Weight | Hcp. Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | x12x3361x8 | SENSE OF OCCASION | G | 7 | Kris Lees | 1= | 59kg | 112 |
| 2 | 4x24141x23 | FOXPLAY | M | 4 | Chris Waller | 1= | 56kg | 112 |
| 3 | 55x3642x94 | WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (NZ) | G | 9 | Chris Waller | 3 | 59kg | 108 |
| 4 | 480×350112 | SOUND PROPOSITION (NZ) | G | 6 | Kris Lees | 4= | 59kg | 107 |
| 5 | 670x910x56 | HEAVENS ABOVE | M | 6 | Tim Martin | 4= | 57kg | 107 |
| 6 | 10x8747x46 | HE’S OUR ROKKII (NZ) | G | 5 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | 6= | 59kg | 106 |
| 7 | 311255×427 | RED EXCITEMENT | G | 8 | Gerald Ryan | 6= | 59kg | 106 |
| 8 | x156495x84 | MCCREERY (GB) | G | 6 | Chris Waller | 8 | 59kg | 105 |
| 9 | 0x0D71x000 | AMRALAH (IRE) | H | 8 | Robert Hickmott | 9 | 59kg | 104 |
| 10 | 3x1333x0x7 | HAVANA COOLER (IRE) | G | 8 | James Cummings | 10= | 59kg | 103 |
| 11 | 13540x0x65 | MACKINTOSH (NZ) | G | 5 | Chris Waller | 10= | 59kg | 103 |
| 12 | 028x337x76 | MAURUS (GB) | G | 7 | John P Thompson | 12= | 59kg | 100 |
| 13 | 33x1106x73 | SPECTROSCOPE (USA) | H | 5 | James Cummings | 12= | 59kg | 100 |
| 14 | 144×802225 | CLASSIC UNIFORM | G | 5 | Gary Moore | 14 | 59kg | 98 |
| 15 | 2210×67911 | EMBLEY | G | 6 | Bjorn Baker | 15 | 59kg | 91 |
| 16 | x931422x62 | PERFECT RHYME | M | 4 | Ron Leemon | 16 | 56kg | 86 |
| 17 | 53324658×8 | SHALMANESER | G | 7 | Richard Litt | 17 | 59kg | 78 |
Hill Stakes History
First held in 1921 and won by Beauford, the Hill Stakes was originally a 10 furlong race which was then changed to 1750m up until 1990 and again in 2001. In 2011, the race began to be run over 2000m. The race was not held in 2007 however there have been plenty of double winners in this event including Phar Lap.
Hill Stakes double winners: Desert War (2005-06), Toi Port (1963-64), Redcraze (1956-57), Hydrogen (1952-53), Yaralla (1942-43), Gold Rod (1938-39), Chatham (1933-34), Peter Pan III (1932, 35), Phar Lap (1930-31), Limerick (1927-28) and The Hawk (1923,25).
Recent Hill Stakes Winners
| Year | Place | Horse | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Hill Stakes |
1st | TBD | TBD |
| 2nd | TBD | ||
| 3rd | TBD | ||
| 2016 Hill Stakes |
1st | Hartnell | 2 minutes 4.11 seconds |
| 2nd | Who Shot Thebarman | ||
| 3rd | Storm The Stars | ||
| 2015 Hill Stakes |
1st | Preferment | 2 minutes 6.81 seconds |
| 2nd | Magic Hurricane | ||
| 3rd | Complacent | ||
| 2014 Hill Stakes |
1st | Junoob | 2 minutes 6.12 seconds |
| 2nd | Criterion | ||
| 3rd | Bagman | ||
| 2013 Hill Stakes |
1st | Moriarty | 2 minutes 3.62 seconds |
| 2nd | Glencadam Gold | ||
| 3rd | Masked Marvel | ||
| 2012 Hill Stakes |
1st | Lamasery | 2 minutes 6.25 seconds |
| 2nd | Mourayan | ||
| 3rd | Lights Of Heaven | ||
| 2011 Hill Stakes |
1st | Trusting | 2 minutes 2.93 seconds |
| 2nd | Hawk Island | ||
| 3rd | Tullamore | ||
| 2010 Hill Stakes |
1st | Descarado | 1 minute 56.48 seconds |
| 2nd | Triple Honour | ||
| 3rd | Purple | ||
| 2009 Hill Stakes |
1st | Miss Marielle | 1 minute 56.13 seconds |
| 2nd | Pacino | ||
| 3rd | Roman Emperor | ||
| 2008 Hill Stakes |
1st | Fiumicino | 1 minute 57.38 seconds |
| 2nd | Dealer Principal | ||
| 3rd | Hurrah | ||
| 2007 Hill Stakes |
Race Not Held | ||
| 2006 Hill Stakes |
1st | Desert War | 1 minute 56.28 seconds |
| 2nd | Eremein | ||
| 3rd | Grand Zulu | ||
| 2005 Hill Stakes |
1st | Desert War | 1 minute 56.67 seconds |
| 2nd | Portland Singa | ||
| 3rd | Dizelle | ||
| 2004 Hill Stakes |
1st | Natural Blitz | 1 minute 56.62 seconds |
| 2nd | Vouvray | ||
| 3rd | Just Polite | ||
| 2003 Hill Stakes |
1st | Excellerator | 1 minute 56.84 seconds |
| 2nd | Platinum Scissors | ||
| 3rd | Carnegie Express | ||
| 2002 Hill Stakes |
1st | Dress Circle | 1 minute 56.63 seconds |
| 2nd | Bedouin | ||
| 3rd | Republic Lass | ||
| 2001 Hill Stakes |
1st | Mulan Princess | 1 minute 47.02 seconds |
| 2nd | Altiero | ||
| 3rd | Dottoressa | ||
| 2000 Hill Stakes |
1st | Pasta Express | 1 minute 57.83 seconds |
| 2nd | Pravda | ||
| 3rd | Padfoot Charlie | ||