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The 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 the day before the NRL’s Grand Final of Football 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.

Now contested over 2000m (having previously been an 1800m event), 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 $5 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 2019 ran on Saturday October 5, 2019 and was won by Chris Waller’s ATC Oaks winner Verry Elleegant. 

2019 Hill Stakes
Date:	Saturday October 5, 2019
Track:	Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	2000m
Race Type:	Weight-for-age
Status:	Group 2
Prize Money:	$500,000

2019 Hill Stakes Results

• 1st: #9 Verry Elleegant
• 2nd: #1 Samadoubt
• 3rd: #3 Life Less Ordinary

ATC Oaks winner Verry Elleegant returned to winning form with a narrow photo-finish win in the Hill Stakes 2019 Results on Epsom Day. The Chris Waller-trained mare saluted for the punters after holding out Samadoubt for the win ahead of a potential run in either the Caulfield Cup (2400m) or Cox Plate (2040m) later in the month.

Read more on the 2019 Hill Stakes win by the Waller mare Verry Elleegant. 

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Br.	Wgt.	SP
1	9	VERRY ELLEEGANT (NZ)	Chris Waller	James McDonald	–	8	56kg	$2.40F
2	1	SAMADOUBT	Bjorn Baker	Tim Clark	0.1L	3	59kg	$5.50
3	3	LIFE LESS ORDINARY (IRE)	Chris Waller	Hugh Bowman	0.9L	1	59kg	$7.50
4	5	TALLY	James Cummings	Joshua Parr	1.9L	5	59kg	$26
5	7	CARIF	Peter & Paul Snowden	Kerrin McEvoy	3L	2	58kg	$51
6	4	OUR CENTURY (IRE)	Kim Waugh	Jason Collett	3.1L	4	59kg	$51
7	8	YOUNGSTAR	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	3.3L	7	57kg	$10
8	6	ANGEL OF TRUTH	Gwenda Markwell	Nash Rawiller	4.8L	6	58kg	$4.20
–	2	BEST OF DAYS (GB)	James Cummings	Ms Rachel King	–	0	–	–

2019 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 2019 odds and betting links to the markets at Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below as soon as released.

2019 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 2019 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.

The Hill Stakes 2019 Final Field features nine weight-for-age hopefuls including the two top staying three-year-olds in Sydney last season: ATC Oaks champ Verry Elleegant and the ATC Derby winenr Angel Of Truth drawn in barriers nine & seven respectively, both third-up this spring.

Update: #2 Best Of Days (3) has been scratched from the Hill Stakes 2019 field in favour of a Group 1 run in the Epsom Handicap over the mile on the same day.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	241915×116	SAMADOUBT	Bjorn Baker	Tim Clark	4	59kg	112
2	211x5Nx738	BEST OF DAYS (GB)	James Cummings	Ms Rachel King	3	59kg	109
3	233x8124x0	LIFE LESS ORDINARY (IRE)	Chris Waller	Hugh Bowman	1	59kg	108
4	013x121x07	OUR CENTURY (IRE)	Kim Waugh	Jason Collett	5	59kg	105
5	514x6770x6	TALLY	James Cummings	Joshua Parr	6	59kg	102
6	1x16511x65	ANGEL OF TRUTH	Gwenda Markwell	Nash Rawiller	7	58kg	106
7	147225×501	CARIF	Peter & Paul Snowden	Kerrin McEvoy	2	58kg	73
8	76x059x878	YOUNGSTAR	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	8	57kg	106
9	57x2111x94	VERRY ELLEEGANT (NZ)	Chris Waller	James McDonald	9	56kg	106

2019 Hill Stakes Nominations

The 2019 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.

There are 19 early Hill Stakes 2019 nominations led by trainer Chris Waller with six hopefuls including the ATC Oaks winner Verry Elleegant who leads early betting on the race.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp. Rating
1	1x16511x65	ANGEL OF TRUTH	G	4	Gwenda Markwell	106
2	211x5Nx738	BEST OF DAYS (GB)	G	6	James Cummings	109
3	22008326×7	BIG DUKE (IRE)	G	8	Kris Lees	103
4	147225×501	CARIF	H	4	Peter & Paul Snowden	73
5	55x1x34x51	FINCHE (GB)	G	6	Chris Waller	110
6	01x6112x94	GREY LION (IRE)	G	8	Matthew Smith	105
7	41x5496x04	KAONIC (NZ)	G	5	Chris Waller	97
8	233x8124x0	LIFE LESS ORDINARY (IRE)	G	8	Chris Waller	108
9	x812511x88	MANTASTIC (IRE)	G	6	Chris Waller	100
10	0x58158x83	NETTOYER	M	6	Wendy Roche	98
11	013x121x07	OUR CENTURY (IRE)	G	9	Kim Waugh	105
12	241915×116	SAMADOUBT	G	6	Bjorn Baker	112
13	1x23727x27	SCARLET DREAM	M	4	Mark Newnham	91
14	444740×705	SIR CHARLES ROAD	G	6	Lance O’Sullivan & Andrew Scott	101
15	2x00x048x0	SOUND (GER)	H	7	Michael Moroney	104
16	3013215×60	SWEET THOMAS (GER)	G	8	Matthew Smith	100
17	514x6770x6	TALLY	G	7	James Cummings	102
18	57x2111x94	VERRY ELLEEGANT (NZ)	M	4	Chris Waller	106
19	76x059x878	YOUNGSTAR	M	5	Chris Waller	106

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
2019 Hill Stakes	1st	Verry Elleegant	2 minutes 5.03 seconds
	2nd	Samadoubt
	3rd	Life Less Ordinary
2018 Hill Stakes	1st	Ace High	2 minute 2.57 seconds
	2nd	It’s Somewhat
	3rd	Egg Tart
2017 Hill Stakes	1st	Classic Uniform	1 minute 49.98 seconds (over 1800m)
	2nd	Embley
	3rd	Mackintosh
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