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The Naturalism Stakes – currently known as the MRC Foundation Cup – is a Group 3 staying event held during September each year as part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. The Naturalism Stakes draws considerable attention from both punters and trainers due to it offering the winner a ballot exemption for the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) a month later.

Raced over 2000m, the Naturalism Stakes provides horses with a good opportunity mid-campaign to adjust their distance. The Naturalism Stakes has in the past been used by milers who are keen to step up in distance, while it is also regularly targeted by top class stayers kicking off their spring preps.

Run under open quality handicap conditions, the $200,000 Naturalism Stakes attracts plenty talent and is now part of the support card on Underwood Stakes Day. The two other Group status races on the program are the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) for Cox Plate types and the Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) for the Caulfield Guineas-bound three-year-olds.

The Naturalism Stakes acts as an effective lead-up race to many major events such as the mile and a half classic, the Caulfield Cup, and Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) run at weight-for-age at Moonee Valley the weekend after Caulfield Cup Day.

The last horse to complete the Naturalism Stakes – Caulfield Cup double was the classy mare Jameka (2016).

The 2021 Naturalism Stakes form was franked with the winner Nonconformist going on to run second in both the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes and Caulfield Cup results that spring.

In 2022 the Naturalism Stakes winner Smokin’ Romans franked the form winning the Turnbull Stakes next start, while the third placed Gold Trip went on to salute in that year’s Melbourne Cup race on the first Tuesday of November.

The 2023 Naturalism Stakes ran on Saturday September 23, 2023 as the MRC Foundation Cup and saw the Uncle Bryn ($26) post an impressive upset to earn a shot at the Caulfield Cup. 

Naturalism Stakes
Date:	Saturday September 23, 2023
Track:	Caulfield Racecourse
Distance:	2000m
Race Type:	Open Quality
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$200,000

2023 Naturalism Stakes (MRC Foundation Cup) Results

• 1st: #8 Uncle Bryn ($26)
• 2nd: #3 Floating Artist
• 3rd: #17e Alaskan God

The Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young-trained Uncle Bryn ($26) is into the $5 million Caulfield Cup field on October 21 after his upset win in the 2023 MRC Foundation Cup results having charged home to defeat the beaten favourite Floating Artist by over two lengths in an improved effort on his second in the same race last year.

Click here to read more on the upset win in the Naturalism Stakes 2023 by Uncle Bryn.

2023 MRC Foundation Cup Results & Finishing Order

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	8	UNCLE BRYN (GB)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	John Allen		4	56.5kg		$26
	2	3	FLOATING ARTIST (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Mark Zahra	2.25L	9	57.5kg		$2.80F
	3	17e	ALASKAN GOD	Daniel Morton	Ms Jamie Kah	2.75L	3	54kg		$9.50
	4	12	BERKELEY SQUARE	Dan O’Sullivan	Harry Coffey	3.05L	8	54kg		$4.20
	5	2	EMISSARY (GB)	Michael Moroney	Jye McNeil	3.25L	13	57.5kg		$51
	6	5	GOLDMAN (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Jordan Childs	3.45L	15	57kg		$8
	7	6	DAQIANSWEET JUNIOR (NZ)	Phillip Stokes	Daniel Stackhouse	3.55L	5	56.5kg		$61
	8	7	SHERAZ (FR)	Chris Waller	Damien Oliver	3.85L	12	56.5kg		$101
	9	9	VIRTUOUS CIRCLE (NZ)	Liam Howley	Billy Egan	4.35L	6	55.5kg		$61
	10	14	THE SUMMIT (FR)	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Michael Dee	4.45L	2	54kg		$21
	11	10	BEAR STORY (IRE)	Clinton McDonald	Blaike McDougall	4.85L	11	55kg		$26
	12	4	REGAL POWER	John Leek (Jnr)	Beau Mertens	4.95L	7	57.5kg		$41
	13	11	MILFORD (NZ)	Michael Moroney	Patrick Moloney	7.7L	14	55kg		$31
	14	13	HASTA LA WAR	Sue Murphy	Ms Linda Meech	12.45L	10	54kg		$61
	15	1	HEZASHOCKA (NZ)	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Blake Shinn	16.7L	16	58kg		$9
	16	18e	REO	Richard Laming	Craig Newitt	16.9L	1	54kg		$101
		20e	SHE’S FIT	Daniel Morton			0
		19e	BRAYDEN STAR (GB)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Daniel Moor		0
		16	FUTURE HISTORY (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ms Carleen Hefel (a)		0
		15	TIMOUR (FR)	Chris Waller	Craig Williams		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Naturalism Stakes (MRC Foundation Cup) Betting

The updated Naturalism Stakes 2023 odds and betting links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be provided below the week of the race.

Orderofthegarter ($2.90 in 2020) followed by Nonconformist ($4.40 in 2021) are the latest favourites in Naturalism Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

There was a notable upset in 2023 with the previous year’s runner-up Uncle Bryn winning at Naturalism Stakes odds of $26.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 MRC FOUNDATION CUP ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Naturalism Stakes (MRC Foundation Cup) Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 MRC FOUNDATION CUP FORM GUIDE

2023 Naturalism Stakes (MRC Foundation Cup) Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Naturalism Stakes 2023 tips on the Caulfield Cup lead-up this spring.

• To Win: #3 Floating Artist ($3.60 at time of publish) – BET NOW

The Caulfield Cup hopefuls do battle in the MRC Foundation Cup (Naturalism) and we’ve put Floating Artist on top from the Maher/Eustace stable. The import was fourth in the 2021 Melbourne Cup results before spending over a year on the sidelines. Was a masterful training effort to get him back and the now eight-year-old looks to be going as good as ever. A light and forgettable autumn before resuming with a 2040m Moonee Valley win last month. Runs spaced, drops two kilos from his first-up weight and can win again.

2023 Naturalism Stakes (MRC Foundation Cup) Field

The Naturalism Stakes field of final acceptances are released on the Wednesday leading up to Naturalism Stakes Day at Caulfield Racecourse and traditionally attracts a capacity 16-starter line-up of Caulfield Cup-bound horses.

Horse may come into the Naturalism Stakes field via a number of different spring lead-up races including the Group 2 Feehan Stakes (1600m) run over the mile at Moonee Valley a fortnight earlier.

The official 2023 MRC Foundation Cup Final Field & Barrier Draw will be published below as soon as released by Racing Victoria.

The MRC Foundation Cup (Naturalism) 2023 final field features a quality line-up of spring stayers led in betting by the comeback galloper Floating Artist prepared by Ciaron Maher & David Eustace.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	23x05420x8	HEZASHOCKA (NZ)	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Blake Shinn	20	58kg			105
2	5812x530x9	EMISSARY (GB)	Michael Moroney	Jye McNeil	15	57.5kg			104
3	1324x47x51	FLOATING ARTIST (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Mark Zahra	10	57.5kg			104
4	1x46x70x05	REGAL POWER	John Leek (Jnr)	Beau Mertens	8	57.5kg			104
5	7x31x111x9	GOLDMAN (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Jordan Childs	19	57kg			103
6	x0706x0x00	DAQIANSWEET JUNIOR (NZ)	Phillip Stokes	Daniel Stackhouse	5	56.5kg			102
7	6472x295x0	SHERAZ (FR)	Chris Waller	Damien Oliver	14	56.5kg			102
8	0151x86x80	UNCLE BRYN (GB)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	John Allen	4	56.5kg			102
9	132x8802x0	VIRTUOUS CIRCLE (NZ)	Liam Howley	Billy Egan	7	55.5kg			100
10	52x1x00x06	BEAR STORY (IRE)	Clinton McDonald	Blaike McDougall	12	55kg			99
11	015×832236	MILFORD (NZ)	Michael Moroney	Patrick Moloney	18	55kg			99
12	211416×437	BERKELEY SQUARE	Dan O’Sullivan	Harry Coffey	9	54kg			97
13	3x5x8313x0	HASTA LA WAR	Sue Murphy	Ms Linda Meech	11	54kg			96
14	22x008x814	THE SUMMIT (FR)	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Michael Dee	2	54kg			95
15	5x7043100x	TIMOUR (FR)	Chris Waller	Craig Williams	13	54kg			95
16	61154×7212	FUTURE HISTORY (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ms Carleen Hefel (a)	17	54kg			93
17e	x60847x725	ALASKAN GOD	Daniel Morton	Ms Jamie Kah	3	54kg			92
18e	611x192x8	REO	Richard Laming	Craig Newitt	1	54kg			88
19e	x13x212213	BRAYDEN STAR (GB)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Daniel Moor	16	54kg			88
20e	2311320×56	SHE’S FIT	Daniel Morton		6	54kg			86

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Naturalism Stakes Nominations

Nominations for the Naturalism Stakes in 2023 close the Monday leading-up to Underwood Stakes Day and will be published for punters below as soon as announced.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	291x2570x4	GOLD TRIP (FR)	H	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	1	60kg	60kg		117
2	1177x884x6	SMOKIN’ ROMANS (NZ)	G	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	2	58.5kg	58.5kg		108
3	51111121×2	RIGHT YOU ARE	G	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	3	57.5kg	57.5kg		106
4	23x05420x8	HEZASHOCKA (NZ)	G	6	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	4	57kg	57kg		105
5	5812x530x9	EMISSARY (GB)	G	7	Michael Moroney	5	56.5kg	56.5kg		104
6	1x46x70x05	REGAL POWER	G	8	John Leek (Jnr)	6	56.5kg	56.5kg		104
7	1324x47x51	FLOATING ARTIST (GB)	G	8	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	7	56.5kg	56.5kg		104
8	7x31x111x9	GOLDMAN (NZ)	G	5	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	8	56kg	56kg		103
9	x0706x0x00	DAQIANSWEET JUNIOR (NZ)	G	6	Phillip Stokes	9	55.5kg	55.5kg		102
10	0151x86x80	UNCLE BRYN (GB)	G	6	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	10	55.5kg	55.5kg		102
11	6472x295x0	SHERAZ (FR)	G	7	Chris Waller	11	55.5kg	55.5kg		102
12	132x8802x0	VIRTUOUS CIRCLE (NZ)	H	4	Liam Howley	12	54.5kg	54.5kg		100
13	18x27410x8	BANK MAUR	H	4	Richard Laming	13	54kg	54kg		99
14	015×832236	MILFORD (NZ)	G	6	Michael Moroney	14	54kg	54kg		99
15	52x1x00x06	BEAR STORY (IRE)	G	6	Clinton McDonald	15	54kg	54kg		99
16	402369×901	IRONCLAD (GB)	G	8	Will Clarken & Niki O’Shea	16	54kg	54kg		99
17	211416×437	BERKELEY SQUARE	G	4	Dan O’Sullivan	17	54kg	53kg		97
18	2415931×17	DENY KNOWLEDGE (IRE)	M	6	Michael Kent	18	54kg	51kg		97
19	15x4430x76	FORGOT YOU (NZ)	H	5	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	19	54kg	52.5kg		96
20	3x5x8313x0	HASTA LA WAR	G	8	Sue Murphy	20	54kg	52.5kg		96
21	5x7043100x	TIMOUR (FR)	G	6	Chris Waller	21	54kg	52kg		95
22	22x008x814	THE SUMMIT (FR)	G	7	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	22	54kg	52kg		95
23	61154×7212	FUTURE HISTORY (GB)	G	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	23	54kg	51kg		93
24	x60847x725	ALASKAN GOD	G	5	Daniel Morton	24	54kg	50.5kg		92
25	611x192x8	REO	M	4	Richard Laming	25	54kg	46.5kg		88
26	x13x212213	BRAYDEN STAR (GB)	H	5	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	26	54kg	48.5kg		88
27	2311320×56	SHE’S FIT	M	4	Daniel Morton	27	54kg	45.5kg		86
28	1894340×70	FULL OF SINCERITY (NZ)	G	4	Andrew Forsman	28	54kg	47kg		85
29	x7111011x2	FIRST IMMORTAL	G	4	Mark & Levi Kavanagh	29	54kg	46.5kg		84
30	32312x18x7	MR WATERVILLE (IRE)	G	5	Chris Waller	30	54kg	46.5kg		84

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Naturalism Stakes History

Inaugurated in 1983, the Naturalism Stakes has become a key early form race to follow for Caulfield Cup horses during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

At its inception, the Naturalism Stakes was a Listed event. In 2009 it received an upgrade to Group 3 status and has retained that ever since.

Notable Naturalism Stakes winners include Celestial Show (2000), Zipping (2006), Mr O’Ceirin (2013), and Jameka (2016) who went on to win that season’s Caulfield Cup.

Naturalism Stakes results since 2000 are listed below.

From 2014 – 2023 the event ran as the MRC Foundation Cup.

Naturalism Stakes Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2022 MRC Foundation Cup	1st	Uncle Bryn	2 minutes 00.74 seconds
	2nd	Floating Artist
	3rd	Alaskan God
2022 Naturalism Stakes (Run as the MRC Foundation Cup)	1st	Smokin’ Romans	2 minutes 08.53 seconds
	2nd	Uncle Bryn
	3rd	Gold Trip
2021 Naturalism Stakes (Run as the MRC Foundation Cup)	1st	Nonconformist	2 minutes 01.80 seconds
	2nd	Delphi
	3rd	Tralee Rose
2020 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Orderofthegarter	2 minutes 01.86 seconds
	2nd	Chapada
	3rd	Steel Prince
2019 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Brimham Rocks	2 minutes 2.39 seconds
	2nd	So You Win
	3rd	Sikandarabad
2018 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Night’s Watch	2 minutes 2.19 seconds
	2nd	Rising Red
	3rd	Odeon
2017 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Harlem	2 minutes 0.43 seconds
	2nd	Samovare
	3rd	Stampede
2016 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Jameka	2 minutes 3.9 seconds
	2nd	Gallante
	3rd	Berisha
2015 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Magnapal	2 minutes 2.7 seconds
	2nd	The United States
	3rd	Genuine Lad
2014 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Gris Caro	2 minutes 2.7 seconds
	2nd	Entirely Platinum
	3rd	Bonfire
2013 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Mr O’Ceirin	2 minutes 7.2 seconds
	2nd	Kesampour
	3rd	Bit Of Hell
2012 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Folding Gear	2 minutes 3.1 seconds
	2nd	Mr O’Ceirin
	3rd	Exceptionally
2011 Naturalism Stakes	1st	December Draw	2 minutes 2.2 seconds
	2nd	At First Sight
	3rd	Lucky Eighty Eight
2010 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Rainbow Styling	2 minutes 1.6 seconds
	2nd	Valdemoro
	3rd	Moudre
2009 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Red Lord	2 minutes 4.0 seconds
	2nd	Light Vision
	3rd	Majestical
2008 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Zagreb	2 minutes 3.7 seconds
	2nd	Light Vision
	3rd	Baughurst
2007 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Douro Valley	2 minutes 1.3 seconds
	2nd	Maldivian
	3rd	Dolphin Jo
2006 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Zipping	2 minutes 1.8 seconds
	2nd	Show Barry
	3rd	Growl
2005 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Sarrera	2 minutes 6.9 seconds
	2nd	Emerald Jack
	3rd	Swift Tango
2004 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Confectioner	2 minutes 5.1 seconds
	2nd	Evil Master
	3rd	Devastating
2003 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Rose Archway	2 minutes 3.5 seconds
	2nd	Another Warrior
	3rd	Vicksburg
2002 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Pentastic	2 minutes 3.0 seconds
	2nd	Spirit Of Westbury
	3rd	Thong Classic
2001 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Inaflury	2 minutes 2.0 seconds
	2nd	Celestial Show
	3rd	Natch
2000 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Celestial Show	2 minutes 2.1 seconds
	2nd	Ancient City
	3rd	Prince Iluka