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The Epona Stakes is a Group 3 race for fillies and mares held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse on Golden Slipper Day in March.

Golden Slipper Day is one of the highlights of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival and features five Group 1 races with the running of the Golden Slipper Stakes, Ranvet Stakes, The Galaxy, George Ryder Stakes, and Rosehill Guineas. There are also a number of key support acts on the card that hold Group status including the Epona Stakes.

Run under set weights plus penalties conditions the Epona Stakes is contested over 1900m by female stayers and offers $250,000 in prize money. Fillies and mares may come into the Epona Stakes field via a number of lead-ups including a tougher run in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) the weekend before or the Group 3 Aspiration Quality (1600m) at the start of the month.

In 2018 the Epona Stakes winner The Pinnacle improved on a lead-up second in the Aspiration Quality, while in 2023 Gin Martini ran sixth in the Aspiration Quality before her upset Epona Stakes victory.

Osmose (2nd in 2024) was the last Aspiration Quality graduate to back-up and win the Epona Stakes.

Possible later autumn targets for Epona Stakes graduates including the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) and the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m). In 2016 Heavens Above ran second in both the Epona Stakes and Queen Of The Turf Stakes.

Mares looking for longer distance targets may contest the Group 2 Chairman’s Handicap (2600m) at Royal Randwick on Day 1 of ‘The Championships’ or even the following weekend’s Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m).

In 2021 the Epona Stakes third placed She’s Ideel franked the form running second next-up in the Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) before a fourth in that autumn’s Sydney Cup results.

The 2022 Epona Stakes form was franked with the runner-up Nerve Not Verve winning the Group 2 Chairman’s Stakes next-up that April, the next year Gin Martini won the Epona before a Chairman’s Stakes second at her next start.

The Epona Stakes 2024 ran at Rosehill Racecourse on Saturday March 23, 2024 as part of Golden Slipper Day card in Sydney and was narrowly won by the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained favourite Osmose ($2.90F). 

2024 Epona Stakes
Date:	Saturday March 23, 2024
Track:	Rosehill Racecourse
Distance:	1900m
Race Type:	SW+P / F&M 3YO&Up
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$250,000

2024 Epona Stakes Results & Finishing Order

• 1st: #5 Osmose ($2.90F)
• 2nd: #1 Thalassophile
• 3rd: #18e Rivaport

The Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Zoffany mare Osmose ($2.90F) was given a perfectly-timed ride second-up by Tim Clark to hit the front 300m out from the line and give a good kick to hold off the challenge by Thalassophile and narrowly salute for the punters in the 2024 Epona Stakes results.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	5	OSMOSE (FR)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark		4	54kg		$2.90F
	2	1	THALASSOPHILE	Chris Waller	James McDonald	0.39L	10	56kg		$7
	3	18e	RIVAPORT (FR)	Grahame Begg	Ms Rachel King	1.02L	7	54kg		$41
	4	7	LITTLE MIX	Annabel Neasham	Blake Shinn	1.34L	13	54kg (cd 55kg)		$7
	5	10	PREMISE (NZ)	John O’Shea	Tyler Schiller	2.23L	5	54kg		$13
	6	14	PRINCIPESSA (NZ)	Joseph Pride	Chad Schofield	2.74L	3	54kg		$21
	7	13	YANKEE HUSSEL	Kris Lees	Sam Clipperton	3.33L	9	54kg		$12
	8	11	HOWGOODAREYOU	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Regan Bayliss	3.34L	1	54kg		$6
	9	2	VERONA (NZ)	Ciaron Maher	Jason Collett	4.06L	14	56kg		$31
	10	4	REBEL RAMA	Marc Conners	Jay Ford	4.95L	11	55kg		$51
	11	15e	PODIUM QUEEN (NZ)	Chris Waller	Zac Lloyd (a)	6.29L	2	54kg		$101
	12	12	ITA	Bjorn Baker	Tom Marquand	7.68L	8	54kg (cd 54.5kg)		$31
	13	8	SO DAZZLING (NZ)	John Sargent	Damian Lane	10.26L	6	54kg (cd 54.5kg)		$21
	14	3	PIEROSSA	Peter & Paul Snowden	Tom Sherry	14.67L	12	56kg		$31
		20e	CITY OF LIGHTS	Joseph Pride	Chad Schofield		0
		19e	QUEENMAKER	Edward Cummings			0
		17e	MASCARET (GB)	Chris Waller	Craig Williams		0
		9	GAN TEORAINN (IRE)	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry		0
		6	FOXY CLEOPATRA	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Luke Currie		0
		16e	BLACKCOMB	Kris Lees	Dylan Gibbons (a)		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2024 Epona Stakes Betting Odds

The updated Epona Stakes 2024 betting odds on the staying fillies & mares racing in the Group 3 this Golden Slipper Day will be available below.

Osmose ($2.90 in 2024) was the last favourite in Epona Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2024 EPONA STAKES ODDS (Final Field)

2024 Epona Stakes Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2024 EPONA STAKES FORM GUIDE

2024 Epona Stakes Field

The Epona Stakes field features a smart line-up of fillies and mares either proven at staying distances or testing the waters over more metres during the autumn.

The official 2024 Epona Stakes field and barriers are set for release on Wednesday March 20, 2024 and will be published below as soon as available.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	5x94252x58	THALASSOPHILE	Chris Waller	James McDonald	15	56kg			95
2	0x094139x7	VERONA (NZ)	Ciaron Maher	Jason Collett	20	56kg			89
3	40x54219x7	PIEROSSA	Peter & Paul Snowden	Tom Sherry	17	56kg			83
4	x9600x4783	REBEL RAMA	Marc Conners	Jay Ford	16	55kg			86
5	9344x032x2	OSMOSE (FR)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	4	54kg			97
6	27x228x263	FOXY CLEOPATRA	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Luke Currie	11	54kg			96
7	x335112x85	LITTLE MIX	Annabel Neasham	Blake Shinn	18	54kg			96
8	200x7059x0	SO DAZZLING (NZ)	John Sargent	Damian Lane	7	54kg			89
9	4x753533x0	GAN TEORAINN (IRE)	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	10	54kg			86
10	330x090x04	PREMISE (NZ)	John O’Shea	Tyler Schiller	6	54kg			86
11	121113×406	HOWGOODAREYOU	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Regan Bayliss	1	54kg			83
12	58×6563710	ITA	Bjorn Baker	Tom Marquand	13	54kg			82
13	6×57461110	YANKEE HUSSEL	Kris Lees	Sam Clipperton	14	54kg			81
14	311×757610	PRINCIPESSA (NZ)	Joseph Pride	Chad Schofield	3	54kg			79
15e	346x80x670	PODIUM QUEEN (NZ)	Chris Waller	Zac Lloyd (a)	2	54kg			79
16e	5131314×50	BLACKCOMB	Kris Lees	Dylan Gibbons (a)	19	54kg			76
17e	x6717x5963	MASCARET (GB)	Chris Waller	Craig Williams	12	54kg			74
18e	16537×7384	RIVAPORT (FR)	Grahame Begg	Ms Rachel King	9	54kg			74
19e	3393448×70	QUEENMAKER	Edward Cummings		8	54kg			73
20e	1x515x19	CITY OF LIGHTS	Joseph Pride	Chad Schofield	5	54kg			73

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2024 Epona Stakes Nominations

Early Epona Stakes nominations in 2024 are taken the Monday of race week and will be updated below once released.

Epona Stakes History

The Epona Stakes was first run in 1998 and won by Burning Embers. Since then some nice types have taken out the race including Fibrillation (2012), and Scratchy Bottom (2015). It only gained black-type status in 2001 as a Listed race before a Group 3 upgrade in 2012. The race is named after Celtic-Roman god Epona known as the protector of horses.

Known by a number of different names over the years the Epona Stakes has run as the Epona Mares Quality Plate, De Bortoli Wines Stakes and Percy Sykes Tribute Stakes in recent years. From 2000 – 2002 the race took place at Canterbury Park and from 1998 – 1999 it was contested over 2000m instead of the current 1900m distance.

In 2021 the original Golden Slipper Stakes race day including the Epona Stakes was abandoned due to heavy rainfall and unsafe track conditions and postponed to the following Saturday.

Recent Epona Stakes Winners

See below for the full Epona Stakes results and winners going back to the year 2000.

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2024 Epona Stakes	1st	Osmose	1 minute 55.82 seconds
	2nd	Thalassophile
	3rd	Rivaport
2023 Epona Stakes	1st	Gin Martini	1 minute 56.12 seconds
	2nd	Thalassophile
	3rd	Douceur
2022 Epona Stakes	1st	Monegal	2 minutes 00.62 seconds
	2nd	Nerve Not Verve
	3rd	Feel The Rush
2021 Epona Stakes	1st	Polly Grey	1 minute 57.80 seconds
	2nd	Aliferous
	3rd	She’s Ideel
2020 Epona Stakes	1st	Missybeel	1 minute 57.64
	2nd	Gayatri
	3rd	Greysful Glamour
2019 Epona Stakes	1st	Semari	2 minutes 02.30 seconds
	2nd	I’m A Princess
	3rd	All Too Soon
2018 Epona Stakes	1st	The Pinnacle	1 minute 58.51 seconds
	2nd	Domed
	3rd	Nettoyer
2017 Epona Stakes	1st	Consommateur	2 minutes 06.45 seconds
	2nd	Ambience
	3rd	Top Of My List
2016 Epona Stakes	1st	Vergara	1 minute 56.8 seconds
	2nd	Heavens Above
	3rd	Sweet Fire
2015 Epona Stakes	1st	Scratchy Bottom	1 minute 57.3 seconds
	2nd	Rising Romance
	3rd	Telepathic
2014 Epona Stakes	1st	Intimate Moment	2 minutes 7.0 seconds
	2nd	Any Day Will Do
	3rd	Epingle
2013 Epona Stakes	1st	Aliyana Tilde	1 minute 55.8 seconds
	2nd	Epingle
	3rd	Dolly Dolly
2012 Epona Stakes	1st	Fibrillation	1 minute 57.6 seconds
	2nd	Crafty Irna
	3rd	Once Were Wild
2011 Epona Stakes	1st	Galizani	1 minute 57.0 seconds
	2nd	Vivid Vixen
	3rd	Vintedge
2010 Epona Stakes	1st	Messenger	1 minute 59.8 seconds
	2nd	Pagan Princess
	3rd	Jessicabeel
2009 Epona Stakes	1st	Divine Rebel	1 minute 58.5 seconds
	2nd	Prima Nova
	3rd	Risayla
2008 Epona Stakes	1st	Ready To Lift	1 minute 57.69 seconds
	2nd	My Lady’s Chamber
	3rd	Reggie
2007 Epona Stakes	1st	Safwa	1 minute 55.62 seconds
	2nd	Grey Stream
	3rd	Upper Echelon
2006 Epona Stakes	1st	Kosi Bay	1 minute 57.78 seconds
	2nd	Fantasia
	3rd	Sun Song
2005 Epona Stakes	1st	Natural Woman	1 minute 55.06 seconds
	2nd	Cincinnati Gal
	3rd	Clevedon
2004 Epona Stakes	1st	Great Anna	1 minute 56.55 seconds
	2nd	Vereza
	3rd	Thundarosa
2003 Epona Stakes	1st	Airlie Bird	1 minute 55.8 seconds
	2nd	Talista Belle
	3rd	Honor Babe
2002 Epona Stakes	1st	Ilze	1 minute 58.43 seconds
	2nd	Floridays
	3rd	Call Me Lily
2001 Epona Stakes	1st	Market Price	1 minute 57.85 seconds
	2nd	Poppett
	3rd	The Druidess
2000 Epona Stakes	1st	Our Erin	2 minutes 00.16 seconds
	2nd	Eye Spy
	3rd	Dalquareen