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The Show County Quality is a Group 3 sprint held over 1200m at at Sydney’s Royal Randwick Racecourse on Winx Stakes Day in August each year.

Run under quality handicap conditions, the Show County Quality is open only to horses three years and older. With prize money of $250,000 as of 2023, the Show County Quality is one of the more exciting races on a program filled with black-type sprinting events. The Show County Quality is held alongside the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m), Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m), Group 3 Toy Show Quality (1300m) and the Group 3 Premier’s Cup (2000m).

Those horses that contest the Show County Quality are often kicking-off their spring campaigns and often the Group 2 Tramway Handicap (1400m) is the next-up option. The best out of these races may go on to contest a spring Group 1 event such as the George Main Stakes (1600m), which the 2018 Show County winner Le Romain finished second to Winx in later that prep.

The 2021 Show County Quality form was franked with the winner Private Eye going on to win that spring’s Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) and place in a number of subsequent Group 1 events. The 2021 third placed mare Icebath further franked the form saluting in the inaugural $2 million The Invitation race that October.

The Show County Quality 2023 ran on Saturday August 19, 2023 and was won first-up by the Matthew Smith-trained Buenos Noches ($5.50) who is on the hunt for a slot in this year’s $20 million The Everest. 

Show County Quality
Date:	Saturday August 19, 2023
Track:	Royal Randwick
Distance:	1200m
Race Type:	Quality Handicap
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$250,000

2023 Show County Quality Results

• 1st: #1 Buenos Noches ($5.50)
• 2nd: #6 Argentia
• 3rd: #7 Dragonstone

The Matthew Smith-trained Buenos Noches ($5.50) was sensational first-up dominating the 2023 Show County Quality results to put his name forward for a slot in the $20 million The Everest in October.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	1	BUENOS NOCHES	Matthew Smith	Dylan Gibbons (a)		5	58.5kg		$5.50
	2	6	ARGENTIA	Joseph Pride	Chad Schofield	1.18L	9	54kg		$7
	3	7	DRAGONSTONE	Joseph Pride	Tom Sherry	2.17L	1	53.5kg		$7
	4	4	SKY LAB	Paul Perry	Regan Bayliss	2.83L	4	58kg		$71
	5	9	KALINO	Chris Waller	Ms Jamie Kah	2.87L	7	53kg		$3F
	6	10	EXTREMELY LUCKY	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	3.24L	6	53kg		$6.50
	7	8	FENDER	Brett Cavanough	Reece Jones (a)	3.71L	3	53kg		$18
	8	3	ROCKETING BY	David Pfieffer	Jason Collett	3.89L	2	58kg		$17
	9	2	UCALLEDIT (NZ)	Kris Lees	Hugh Bowman	4.58L	8	58.5kg		$10
		5	ZOUGOTCHA	Chris Waller	James McDonald		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Show County Quality Betting Odds

The latest Show County Quality 2023 betting odds and market links to the Group 3 event at Randwick courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

Deprive ($3.30 in 2019) followed by Showmanship ($3.30 in 2022) are the latest favourites in Show County Quality betting to win.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 SHOW COUNTY QUALITY ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Show County Quality Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 SHOW COUNTY QUALITY FORM GUIDE 

2023 Show County Quality Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Show County Quality 2023 Tips on the Winx Stakes Day support act this season.

• To Win: #7 Dragonstone ($8.50 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Small but open field full of live wire chances, but Dragonstone is so consistent at looks a nice value chance here at double-figures. Gets the rails run from barrier 1 carrying just 53.5kg, which the Joe Pride-trained five-year-old should relish. Last ran a fortnight back with 56kg in the Group 2 Missile Stakes over the six furlongs. Finished runner-up 1.7 lengths off the impressive winner I Am Me. A perennial place-getter, he hasn’t won a race since the June Stakes back in 2022 over a year ago. Still, recent form is right up there and think he can surprise a few at a price.

2023 Show County Quality Field

The official Show County Quality 2023 field of final acceptors and barrier draw will be announced on the Wednesday leading-up to Winx Stakes Day and published in full below.

The 2023 Show County Quality final field features a small but quality line-up of sprinters led in betting by the now Chris Waller-trained Adelaide expat and Group 1 performer Extremely Lucky in on just 53kg fresh. 

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	16123x57x	BUENOS NOCHES	Matthew Smith	Dylan Gibbons (a)	5	58.5kg			105
2	1113×00911	UCALLEDIT (NZ)	Kris Lees	Hugh Bowman	9	58.5kg			105
3	915x6760x6	ROCKETING BY	David Pfieffer	Jason Collett	2	58kg			104
4	450x67521x	SKY LAB	Paul Perry	Regan Bayliss	4	58kg			104
5	5x111x419x	ZOUGOTCHA	Chris Waller	James McDonald	7	56.5kg			105
6	2910x500x4	ARGENTIA	Joseph Pride	Chad Schofield	10	54kg			98
7	0332×52322	DRAGONSTONE	Joseph Pride	Tom Sherry	1	53.5kg			94
8	43538531×8	FENDER	Brett Cavanough	Reece Jones (a)	3	53kg			93
9	27x11364x1	KALINO	Chris Waller	Ms Jamie Kah	8	53kg			93
10	1x251x130x	EXTREMELY LUCKY	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	6	53kg			88

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Show County Quality Nominations

Nominations for the Show County Quality 2023 close on the Monday of race week and will be published in full below once released.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	x71223x31x	PRINCESS GRACE (USA)	M	7	Chris Waller	1	59kg	59kg		110
2	16123x57x	BUENOS NOCHES	H	4	Matthew Smith	2=	58.5kg	58.5kg		105
3	1113×00911	UCALLEDIT (NZ)	G	6	Kris Lees	2=	58.5kg	58.5kg		105
4	5x111x419x	ZOUGOTCHA	M	4	Chris Waller	2=	56.5kg	56.5kg		105
5	915x6760x6	ROCKETING BY	G	6	David Pfieffer	5=	58kg	58kg		104
6	450x67521x	SKY LAB	G	6	Paul Perry	5=	58kg	58kg		104
7	13011x	MILITARIZE (NZ)	C	3	Chris Waller	5=	55.5kg	55.5kg		104
8	x231023421	CEPHEUS (GB)	G	7	Matthew Dunn	8=	57.5kg	57.5kg		103
9	x73x51761x	OSIPENKO (NZ)	H	4	Chris Waller	8=	57.5kg	57.5kg		103
10	292x51210x	LINDERMANN	H	4	Chris Waller	10	57kg	57kg		102
11	x2x2414231	IT’SOURTIME	G	6	Danny O’Brien	11	55.5kg	55.5kg		99
12	2910x500x4	ARGENTIA	M	5	Joseph Pride	12	54kg	53kg		98
13	0332×52322	DRAGONSTONE	G	5	Joseph Pride	13	54kg	53kg		94
14	43538531×8	FENDER	G	7	Brett Cavanough	14=	54kg	53kg		93
15	27x11364x1	KALINO	G	5	Chris Waller	14=	54kg	53kg		93
16	23111878×6	INVER PARK (GB)	G	6	Kris Lees	16	54kg	53kg		90
17	1x251x130x	EXTREMELY LUCKY	G	5	Chris Waller	17	54kg	53kg		88
18	11x592256x	KOTE	G	4	Anthony Cummings	18	54kg	53kg		85
19	70627821×4	MUNITIONS (USA)	G	8	Richard Litt	19	54kg	53kg		83
20	4x11x11x15	PACIFIC RUBY	M	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	20	54kg	53kg		81

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Show County Quality History

Inaugurated in 1993, the Show County Quality has maintained a reputation for quality sprinting displays since its inception. The race is named after renowned sprinter Show County, who during 1988 and 1989 won events such as the Silver Slipper Stakes, Maribyrnong Plate, San Domenico Stakes and Stan Fox Stakes. Big Dreams won the first edition of the Show County Quality.

At its inauguration, the Show County Quality was a listed race. It held this status until the 2013 edition, when it first ran as a Group 3 event.

Like much of NSW horse racing, the Show County Quality was not held in 2007 due to the outbreak of equine influenza.

The Show County Quality has changed location numerous times and has been held at three prominent Sydney racecourses, including Royal Randwick, Warwick Farm and Canterbury Park. As of 2014, it will be again held at Royal Randwick.

Period	Location
1993-4	Royal Randwick
1995-99	Warwick Farm
2000	Canterbury Park
2001-04	Warwick Farm
2005-06	Randwick Racecourse
2008	Warwick Farm
2009	Royal Randwick
2010-13	Warwick Farm
2014 – onwards	Royal Randwick

Notable Show County Quality winners include: Identikit (1995), Might And Power (1997), Siddinghausen (1998), Athelnoth (2004), Rebel Dane (2013) and Le Romain (2018). Show County Quality results since 2000 are listed below.

Show County Quality Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Show County Quality	1st	Buenos Noches	1 minute 10.25 seconds
	2nd	Argentia
	3rd	Dragonstone
2022 Show County Quality	1st	Showmanship	1 minute 10.92 seconds
	2nd	Prime Candidate
	3rd	Rocketing By
2021 Show County Quality	1st	Private Eye	1 minute 10.20 seconds
	2nd	Embracer
	3rd	Icebath
2020 Show County Quality	1st	Roheryn	1 minute 11.23 seconds
	2nd	Probabeel
	3rd	Special Reward
2019 Show County Quality	1st	Deprive	1 minute 8.63 seconds
	2nd	Trope
	3rd	Bon Amis
2018 Show County Quality	1st	Le Romain	1 minute 8.62 seconds
	2nd	Siege Of Quebec
	3rd	Boss Lane
2017 Show County Quality	1st	Deploy	1 minute 8 seconds
	2nd	The Virginian
	3rd	Burning Passion
2016 Show County Quality	1st	Tycoon Tara	1 minute 9.9 seconds
	2nd	Le Romain
	3rd	Mount Nebo
2015 Show County Quality	1st	Decision Time	1 minute 09 seconds
	2nd	Boss Lane
	3rd	Vashka
2014 Show County Quality	1st	Terravista	1 minute 12.4 seconds
	2nd	In Cahoots
	3rd	Bull Point
2013 Show County Quality	1st	Rebel Dane	1 minute 09.5 seconds
	2nd	Title
	3rd	Norzita
2012 Show County Quality	1st	Moment Of Change	1 minute 09.4 seconds
	2nd	Title
	3rd	Somepin Anypin
2011 Show County Quality	1st	Skytrain	1 minute 12.6 seconds
	2nd	Winter King
	3rd	Neeson
2010 Show County Quality	1st	Kenny’s World	1 minute 10.7 seconds
	2nd	Pinwheel
	3rd	Sacred Choice
2009 Show County Quality	1st	Swift Alliance	1 minute 09.8 seconds
	2nd	Bryannbo’s Gift
	3rd	Albert The Fat
2008 Show County Quality	1st	Bank Robber	1 minute 11.96 seconds
	2nd	Hoystar
	3rd	Kick ‘N’ Chase
2007 Show County Quality	1st	Race Not Held	–
	2nd	–
	3rd	–
2006 Show County Quality	1st	Primus	1 minute 09.9 seconds
	2nd	Resistor
	3rd	New Edge
2005 Show County Quality	1st	Lotteria	1 minute 09.9 seconds
	2nd	One In A Million
	3rd	For Valour
2004 Show County Quality	1st	Athelnoth	1 minute 10.9 seconds
	2nd	Turaga
	3rd	Desert War
2003 Show County Quality	1st	Sportsman	1 minute 11.9 seconds
	2nd	Britt’s Best
	3rd	Grand Armee
2002 Show County Quality	1st	Presently	1 minute 09.8 seconds
	2nd	Oomph
	3rd	National Saint
2001 Show County Quality	1st	Kingsgate	1 minute 10.8 seconds
	2nd	Expertise
	3rd	Fashion News
2000 Show County Quality	1st	Stanzaic	1 minute 09.8 seconds
	2nd	Mulan Princess
	3rd	Allez Suez