Victory Stakes

The Victory Stakes is a Group 2 sprint run during the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival as a potential lead-up to the Doomben 10,000.

2023 Victory Stakes Results

  • 1st: #4 Rothfire
  • 2nd: #6 King Of Sparta
  • 3rd: #8 Prince Of Boom



The Group 2 Victory Stakes takes place in late April or early May during the annual Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival and is traditionally run at Eagle Farm Racecourse.

Run over the sprint distance of 1200m it is a weight-for-age event worth a $300,000 as of 2023 and was previously known as the Sir Byrne Hart Stakes.

Prize money for the 2020 Victory Stakes was down to $175,000 due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the race running as a set weights plus penalties event in May as part of a reduced Brisbane Winter Carnival.

The Victory Stakes is an excellent lead up to the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m), another 1200m weight-for-age event run at Doomben. Quality runners may then progress onto both the Group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1350m) in late May and Queensland’s richest race, the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1350m) in June.

The last horse to do the Victory Stakes – Stradbroke Handicap double in a single season was Srikandi (2015). In 2018 Impending won the Victory Stakes having taken on the previous year’s Stradbroke Handicap (2017).

The form of the 2021 Victory Stakes was franked with the runner-up Vega One winning the Kingsford-Smith Cup next start before a subsequent second in that winter’s Stradbroke Handicap quinella.

The Victory Stakes 2023 ran on Saturday April 29, 2023 at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane and was won narrowly by the Rob Heathcote-trained Rothfire ($4.40). 

2023 Victory Stakes
Date: Saturday April 29, 2023
Track: Eagle Farm Racecourse
Distance: 1200m
Conditions: Weight-for-age
Status: Group 2
Prizemoney: $300,000
Inaugurated: 1980

2023 Victory Stakes Results

  • 1st: #4 Rothfire ($4.40)
  • 2nd: #6 King Of Sparta
  • 3rd: #8 Prince Of Boom

Rob Heathcote’s former Group 1 JJ Atkins winner Rothfire ($4.40) returned to his best with a gritty, hard-fought victory over King Of Sparta in the Victory Stakes 2023 results in Brisbane.

Finish No. Horse Trainer Jockey Margin Bar. Weight Penalty Starting Price
1 4 ROTHFIRE Robert Heathcote Nash Rawiller 9 58.5kg $4.40
2 6 KING OF SPARTA Peter & Paul Snowden Chad Schofield 0.21L 5 58.5kg $7
3 8 PRINCE OF BOOM Robert Heathcote James Orman 0.39L 7 58.5kg $9.50
4 3 PAULELE James Cummings Ben Melham 0.43L 2 58.5kg $8.50
5 1 PRIVATE EYE Joseph Pride Brenton Avdulla 1.42L 3 58.5kg $2.40F
6 2 A CASE OF YOU (IRE) Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) Ben Thompson 1.81L 8 58.5kg $14
7 5 BALLER Tony Gollan Ryan Maloney 2.57L 4 58.5kg $21
8 7 HOLYFIELD Annabel Neasham Brodie Loy 3.4L 1 58.5kg $41
9 9 DRAGON LEAP Lance O’Sullivan & Andrew Scott Damien Thornton 4.53L 6 58.5kg $61

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Victory Stakes Betting Odds

The updated Victory Stakes 2023 betting odds and market links to Ladbrokes.com.au on the potential Doomben 10,000-bound winter sprinters will be available below the week of the race.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 VICTORY STAKES ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Victory Stakes Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 VICTORY STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 Victory Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Victory Stakes 2023 Tips on the Group 2 winter sprint this Brisbane Festival of Racing.

  • To Win: #8 Prince Of Boom ($6.50 at time of publish) 

What a top edition of the Victory Stakes as the winter Group 1-bound sprinters do battle on Saturday. Sticking with a local and have the Rob Heathcote-trained Spirit Of Boom four-year-old on top. He’s got a 50% winning strike rate from six previous starts at the distance, and he presents fit second-up off a win fresh. First-up he won a Listed sprint here by three lengths carrying 55.5kg over 1000m. Improves off that with more distance. Rises in the weights obviously but is up to this.

2023 Victory Stakes Field

The Victory Stakes field attracts a class line-up of Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival hopes usually having their first Queensland run of the season. Horses that contested the race the season prior often return, while a host of interstate raiders dominate the Victory Stakes final acceptances including runners out of the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) in Sydney earlier in the month.

The official Victory Stakes 2023 Field & Barriers are set for release by Racing Queensland on the Wednesday of race week and will be published in full below.

The 2023 Victory Stakes final field features a star line-up of winter sprinters led in betting by Joe Pride’s Sydney raider Private Eye down in grade and racing in Brisbane for the first time since his Group 1 Stradbroke second last season.

No Last 10 Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight Probable Weight Penalty Hcp Rating
1 82x1217x40 PRIVATE EYE Joseph Pride Brenton Avdulla 3 58.5kg 116
2 12130x00x5 A CASE OF YOU (IRE) Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) Ben Thompson 8 58.5kg 114
3 22x61801x8 PAULELE James Cummings Ben Melham 2 58.5kg 112
4 43x15285x2 ROTHFIRE Robert Heathcote Nash Rawiller 9 58.5kg 109
5 815x133x70 BALLER Tony Gollan Ryan Maloney 4 58.5kg 108
6 x6146x1146 KING OF SPARTA Peter & Paul Snowden Chad Schofield 5 58.5kg 107
7 4176x1233x HOLYFIELD Annabel Neasham Brodie Loy 1 58.5kg 104
8 1110x840x1 PRINCE OF BOOM Robert Heathcote James Orman 7 58.5kg 103
9 4x244x146x DRAGON LEAP Lance O’Sullivan & Andrew Scott Damien Thornton 6 58.5kg 101

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Victory Stakes Nominations

The Victory Stakes nominations close on the Monday of race week and traditionally feature Doomben 10,000 bound sprinters kicking off their Brisbane campaigns for the winter.

Victory Stakes History

The first horse to win the race then called the Sir Byrne Hart Stakes was Golden Rhapsody in 1980 when the race was inaugurated. Beginning as a Listed race the following year in 1981 it reached Group 3 status before being installed as a Group 2 event in 1992. First run over 1810m, the Sir Byrne Hart Stakes has gone through a number of distance changes throughout its history but is now a 1200m sprint at the Eagle Farm Racecourse for gallopers heading towards the Group 1 Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival features.

In recent years the Victory Stakes has been run at Doomben Racecourse (2016 & 2018) due to ongoing track issues at Eagle Farm.

In 2020 the Victory Stakes took place in May as a set weights plus penalties event due to COVID-19 and was the key Stradbroke lead-up that year.

Victory Stakes Distance:
1980 – 1983: 1810m
1984 – 1986: 2100m
1987: 2125m
1988: 1810m
1989: 2125m
1990 – 2005: 1400m
2006 onwards: 1200m

Victory Stakes Winners

Year Place Horse Time
2023
Victory Stakes
1st Rothfire 1 minute 10.32 seconds
2nd King Of Sparta
3rd Prince Of Boom
2022
Victory Stakes
1st Count De Rupee 1 minute 09.61 seconds
2nd Scallopini
3rd Jamaea
2021
Victory Stakes
1st Niccanova 1 minute 11.90 seconds
2nd Vega One
3rd Pennino
2020
Victory Stakes
1st Victorem 1 minute 10.60 seconds
2nd Niccanova
3rd Deep Image
2019
Victory Stakes
1st I Am Excited 1 minute 9.64 seconds
2nd Redzel
3rd Jonker
2018
Victory Stakes
1st Impending 1 minute 10.06 seconds
2nd Most Important
3rd I Am Excited
2017
Victory Stakes
1st Music Magnate 1 minute 13.27 seconds
2nd Hopfgarten
3rd Miss Cover Girl
2016
Victory Stakes
1st Fell Swoop 1 minute 9.02 seconds
2nd Didntcostalot
3rd Artlee
2015
Victory Stakes
1st Srikandi 1 minute 9.63 seconds
2nd Ball Of Muscle
3rd Dances On Stars
2014
Victory Stakes
1st Temple Of Boom 1 minute 9.0 seconds
2nd Spirit Of Boom
3rd Snitzerland
2013
Victory Stakes
1st Buffering 1 minute 8.54 seconds
2nd Spirit Of Boom
3rd Albrecht
2012
Victory Stakes
1st Meeting Abandoned
2nd
3rd
2011
Victory Stakes
1st Buffering 1 minute 13.0 seconds
2nd Atomic Force
3rd Azzaland
2010
Victory Stakes
1st Ghetto Blaster 1 minute 09.6 seconds
2nd The Jackal
3rd Albert The Fat
2009
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes
1st Swiss Ace 1 minute 9.7 seconds
2nd Sniper?s Bullet
3rd Red Element
2008
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes
1st Swiss Ace 1 minute 9.8 seconds
2nd Atapi
3rd Dance The Waves
2007
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes
1st Mitanni 1 minute 9.7 seconds
2nd Anwaar
3rd Tellem
2006
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes
1st All Bar One 1 minute 8.5 seconds
2nd Falaise
3rd Impaler
2005
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes
1st Wager 1 minute 21.9 seconds
2nd Deuxieme
3rd Dezigna
2004
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes
1st Only Words 1 minute 25.8 seconds
2nd Our Egyptian Raine
3rd Defier
2003
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes
1st Tit For Taat 1 minute 21.5 seconds
2nd Scenic Peak
3rd Mr Bureaucrat
2002
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes
1st Mr Bureaucrat 1 minute 23.3 seconds
2nd Salgado
3rd Faiza
2001
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes
1st Make Mine Magic 1 minute 20.8 seconds
2nd Play Station
3rd Camarena
2000
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes
1st Cheiron 1 minute 22.8 seconds
2nd Narwong
3rd City Fair

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