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Held during the early stages of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, the Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes is named in honour of racing champion and 1991 Melbourne Cup winner Let’s Elope.

The 1400m race takes place at Flemington Racecourse in early – mid September on Makybe Diva Stakes Day and is worth $300,000 in prize money as of 2021. Many of the Let’s Elope Stakes runners will come via the Group 3 Cockram Stakes (1200m) held earlier at Caulfield and could continue onto the Group 1 Myer Classic (1600m) – now known as the Empire Rose Stakes – back at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

No mare has completed the Let’s Elope Stakes – Myer Classic (now Empire Rose Stakes) double in the same season however since Rose Of Portland (1996).

The Let’s Elope Stakes form has stacked-up in tougher races many times however including in 2020 when the runner-up Arcadia Queen went on to complete the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes – Mackinnon Stakes double that spring.

The 2021 Let’s Elope Stakes form was franked with the runner-up Mystic Journey also running second in that year’s Empire Rose Stakes results.

In 2022 the Let’s Elope Stakes winner Kissonallforcheeks went on to finish runner-up at Ascot in Perth’s Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) and Group 3 $1.5 million The Gold Rush (1400m) that summer.

The latest edition of the 2023 Let’s Elope Stakes ran on Saturday September 16, 2023 and was won first-up by Simon Miller’s Group 1 winning WA mare Amelia’s Jewel ($1.95F) in her first run outside of Perth. 

2023 Let’s Elope Stakes
Date:	Saturday September 16, 2023
Track:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	1400m
Race Type:	Mares 4YO & Over – Set Weights & Penalties
Status:	Group 2
Prize Money:	$300,000

2023 Let’s Elope Stakes Results

Check out the official Let’s Elope Stakes 2023 Results & Finishing Order below following the event.

• 1st: #1 Amelia’s Jewel ($1.95F)
• 2nd: #14 Life Lessons
• 3rd: #8 El Patroness

The brilliant Group 1 winning Perth raider Amelia’s Jewel ($1.95F) was too good for her rivals first-up in her interstate debut when beginning her late run at the clocktower, letting down at the 150m to charge home for an impressive win over roughie hopefuls Life Lessons ($31) and El Patroness ($101) in the Let’s Elope Stakes 2023 results.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	1	AMELIA’S JEWEL	Simon A Miller	Damian Lane		14	58.5kg		$1.95F
	2	14	LIFE LESSONS (NZ)	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Daniel Stackhouse	1L	9	55kg		$31
	3	8	EL PATRONESS	Danny O’Brien	Jye McNeil	1.5L	2	55kg		$101
	4	2	SEE YOU IN HEAVEN	Richard & Chantelle Jolly	Craig Williams	2.75L	8	57.5kg		$8.50
	5	4	CASTE	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Michael Dee	2.85L	11	57.5kg		$9
	6	12	PRIDE OF JENNI	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Declan Bates	3.15L	10	55kg		$14
	7	7	PAPILLON CLUB	Greg Eurell	Ben Melham	3.25L	13	57kg		$17
	8	3	SHUFFLE DANCER	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Luke Nolen	4L	12	57.5kg		$71
	9	13	PIPPALI	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Ms Carleen Hefel (a)	5L	6	55kg		$61
	10	5	FOXY FRIDA	Andrew Noblet	Billy Egan	5.2L	4	57kg		$12
	11	10	ELUSIVE EXPRESS (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ms Jamie Kah	7.7L	7	55kg		$81
	12	6	WROTE TO ARATAKI (NZ)	Matthew Williams	Mark Zahra	7.9L	3	57kg		$9.50
	13	11	TOREGENE (NZ)	Matthew Williams	John Allen	15.9L	5	55kg (cd 55.5kg)		$26
	14	9	SPARKLE (JPN)	Danny O’Brien	Blake Shinn	22.9L	1	55kg		$51
		15	TAJNEED	Peter & Paul Snowden			0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Let’s Elope Stakes Betting Odds

The spring’s top Let’s Elope Stakes 2023 betting markets and links to the odds at Ladbrokes.com.au on the hopeful mares racing in the Group 2 Flemington race will be provided for punters below once released.

Kissonallforcheeks ($3.60 in 2022) and Amelia’s Jewel ($1.95 in 2023) are the latest Let’s Elope Stakes favourites to salute for the punters.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 LET’S ELOPE STAKES ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Let’s Elope Stakes Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 LET’S ELOPE STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 Let’s Elope Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Let’s Elope Stakes 2023 Tips on the September showdown at Flemington this season.

• To Win: #1 Amelia’s Jewel ($1.85 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Excellent edition of the Let’s Elope Stakes, but even with a wide alley first-up the odds-on favourite Amelia’s Jewel over from Perth is impossible to bet against here. The Group 1 Northerly Stakes winner from last summer has seven wins from nine starts. She is yet to finish worse than second and is a genuine star. She was last seen finishing runner-up to Overpass in the inaugural $4 million The Quokka slot race in April, and she has been brought-on fitness-wise with a couple of nice trials at home. Fresh for the spring she makes her four-year-old debut heading interstate for the first time. After such a dominant WA record she is deserving of a shot in Sydney and looks like she’ll get the job done ahead of the spring majors.

2023 Let’s Elope Stakes Field

The Let’s Elope Stakes field attracts a quality line-up of mares each Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival who may have had an earlier run in the Cockram Stakes a fortnight prior, which is the traditional lead-up into the Flemington clash.

The official Let’s Elope Stakes 2023 field & barriers are released the Wednesday leading-up to Makybe Diva Stakes Day and will be published below once announced.

The 2023 Let’s Elope Stakes final field features a quality line-up of mares led in betting by the Group 1 winning Amelia’s Jewel in her first run outside of WA.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	1x1211x12x	AMELIA’S JEWEL	Simon A Miller	Damian Lane	15	58.5kg			111
2	9731x22x12	SEE YOU IN HEAVEN	Richard & Chantelle Jolly	Craig Williams	8	57.5kg			99
3	6x3121146x	SHUFFLE DANCER	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Luke Nolen	12	57.5kg			86
4	127x111x	CASTE	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Michael Dee	11	57.5kg			96
5	405x12116x	FOXY FRIDA	Andrew Noblet	Billy Egan	4	57kg			105
6	49x33112x3	WROTE TO ARATAKI (NZ)	Matthew Williams	Mark Zahra	3	57kg			98
7	2x11321x5	PAPILLON CLUB	Greg Eurell	Ben Melham	14	57kg			83
8	81x847014x	EL PATRONESS	Danny O’Brien	Jye McNeil	2	55kg			103
9	7x0x93110x	SPARKLE (JPN)	Danny O’Brien	Blake Shinn	1	55kg			89
10	x92906x57x	ELUSIVE EXPRESS (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ms Jamie Kah	7	55kg			93
11	1x112x200x	TOREGENE (NZ)	Matthew Williams	John Allen	5	55kg			91
12	1537x4298x	PRIDE OF JENNI	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Declan Bates	10	55kg			99
13	24x0300x64	PIPPALI	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Ms Carleen Hefel (a)	6	55kg			90
14	x1112x74x4	LIFE LESSONS (NZ)	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Daniel Stackhouse	9	55kg			80
15	139x8x735	TAJNEED	Peter & Paul Snowden		13	55kg			78

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Let’s Elope Stakes Nominations

The Let’s Elope Stakes 2023 nominations are released by Racing Victoria the Monday of race week and will be available below.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	1x1211x12x	AMELIA’S JEWEL	M	4	Simon A Miller	1	58.5kg			111
2	9731x22x12	SEE YOU IN HEAVEN	M	4	Richard & Chantelle Jolly	2	57.5kg			99
3	127x111x	CASTE	M	4	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	3	57.5kg			96
4	11614x64x9	BOOGIE DANCER	M	4	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	4	57.5kg			88
5	6x3121146x	SHUFFLE DANCER	M	4	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	5	57.5kg			86
6	1223x31x22	PRINCESS GRACE (USA)	M	7	Chris Waller	6	57kg			112
7	405x12116x	FOXY FRIDA	M	6	Andrew Noblet	7	57kg			105
8	49x33112x3	WROTE TO ARATAKI (NZ)	M	5	Matthew Williams	8	57kg			98
9	2x11321x5	PAPILLON CLUB	M	4	Greg Eurell	9	57kg			83
10	x5112813x3	PARTY PRINCESS	M	4	Andrew Gluyas	10	56kg			76
11	81x847014x	EL PATRONESS	M	5	Danny O’Brien	11	55kg			103
12	1537x4298x	PRIDE OF JENNI	M	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	12	55kg			99
13	804x3421x8	THUNDER BEAUTY (IRE)	M	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	13	55kg			98
14	x92906x57x	ELUSIVE EXPRESS (NZ)	M	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	14	55kg			93
15	1x112x200x	TOREGENE (NZ)	M	5	Matthew Williams	15	55kg			91
16	24x0300x64	PIPPALI	M	6	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	16	55kg			90
17	7x0x93110x	SPARKLE (JPN)	M	6	Danny O’Brien	17	55kg			89
18	122x689x2	CLIMBING STAR (NZ)	M	4	Phillip Stokes	18	55kg			80
19	211333898x	FORBIDDEN CITY	M	5	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	19	55kg			80
20	x1112x74x4	LIFE LESSONS (NZ)	M	5	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	20	55kg			80
21	x345x61817	STARLIGHT SCOPE	M	6	Pat Carey & Harris Walker	21	55kg			79
22	139x8x735	TAJNEED	M	4	Peter & Paul Snowden	22	55kg			78
23	1153×21	NUNTHORPE	M	4	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	23	55kg			77
24	38×9111	OUR RED MORNING (NZ)	M	4	Greg Eurell	24	55kg			75
25	x877x1192x	IN DE SUMMERTIME	M	5	Keith Dryden	25	55kg			73

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Let’s Elope Stakes History

Originally a Listed race from 1987 to 2004, the Let’s Elope Stakes then elevated to Group Three status from 2005 to 2008 and in 2009 it finally reached Group Two status. Previously known as the Milady Stakes, the event’s fastest winning time was recorded in 2013 when Commanding Jewel won in a sharp 1:22.5. Commanding Jewel returned to take out the race again in 2014.

The Let’s Elope Stakes retains an important place in the Spring Racing Carnival as a reasonably accurate form indicator for punters in later Group 1 races, including in 2011 when the winner Pinker Pinker won the Cox Plate that October.

Recent Let’s Elope Stakes Winners

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Amelia’s Jewel	1 minute 23.33 seconds
	2nd	Life Lessons
	3rd	El Patroness
2022 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Kissonallforcheeks	1 minute 25.32 seconds
	2nd	Lady Of Honour
	3rd	Yearning
2021 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Turaath	1 minute 23.69 seconds
	2nd	Mystic Journey
	3rd	Still A Star
2020 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Pretty Brazen	1 minute 22.84 seconds
	2nd	Arcadia Queen
	3rd	Bonvicini
2019 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Spanish Whisper	1 minute 22.23 seconds
	2nd	Miss Siska
	3rd	Fidelia
2018 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	I Am A Star	1 minute 23.11 seconds
	2nd	Bella Martini
	3rd	Sheezdashing
2017 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Sword Of Light	1 minute 23.50 seconds
	2nd	Swampland
	3rd	Lovani
2016 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Don’t Doubt Mamma	1 minute 24.5 seconds
	2nd	Thames Court
	3rd	Manageress
2015 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Amicus	1 minute 23.07 seconds
	2nd	Precious Gem
	3rd	May’s Dream
2014 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Commanding Jewel	1 minute 23.61 seconds
	2nd	Dear Demi
	3rd	Nautical
2013 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Commanding Jewel	1 minute 23.08 seconds
	2nd	Catkins
	3rd	A Time For Julia
2012 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Zurella	1 minute 23.38 seconds
	2nd	Hi Belle
	3rd	Total Attraction
2011 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Pinker Pinker	1 minute 23.8 seconds
	2nd	Mid Summer Music
	3rd	Parables
2010 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	No Evidence Needed	1 minute 26.85 seconds
	2nd	Response
	3rd	Live In Sin
2009 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Cats Whisker	1 minute 25 seconds
	2nd	Romneya
	3rd	Symphony Miss
2008 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Mimi Lebrock	1 minute 28.2 seconds
	2nd	Bellini Rose
	3rd	Devil Moon
2007 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Devil Moon	1 minute 23.4 seconds
	2nd	Eskimo Queen
	3rd	Bellini Rose
2006 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Rewaaya	1 minute 24.2 seconds
	2nd	Be Delicious
	3rd	Celtic Bloom
2005 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Dea	1 minute 23.3 seconds
	2nd	Timbourina
	3rd	Catscan
2004 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Beautiful Gem	1 minute 24.4 seconds
	2nd	Galvanized
	3rd	Demerger
2003 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Ain’t Seen Nothin	1 minute 24.4 seconds
	2nd	Classic Patches
	3rd	Reactive
2002 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Purple Groove	1 minute 24.9 seconds
	2nd	Tickle My
	3rd	Crimson Gem
2001 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Flushed	1 minute 24.5 seconds
	2nd	Miss Power Bird
	3rd	Lolita Star
2000 Let’s Elope Stakes	1st	Tickle My	1 minute 28.4 seconds
	2nd	Love’s Choice
	3rd	Monterosso