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The Tramway Stakes is a Group 2 race held at Royal Randwick Racecourse in early September as a lead-up to the King Charles III Stakes and Epsom Handicap.
The Tramway Stakes is a 1400m Group 2 event held during late August or early September each year at Royal Randwick Racecourse. Open to horses aged three years old and over the Tramway was formerly a handicap race but is now run under set weights plus penalties.
The Tramway Stakes, previously called the Tramway Handicap, is held on Chelmsford Stakes Day and shares the race card with three other Group status races. These are the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m), the Group 2 Furious Stakes (1200m) and the Group 3 Concorde Stakes (1000m).
Chelmsford Stakes Day really kicks off the action of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival and results across the program serve as a good guide for upcoming Group 1 features of the festival.
Quite a few of horses in the Tramway Stakes field may have come via the Show County Quality two weeks earlier. Those horses that perform well in the Tramway Stakes might choose to target later races such as Randwick’s Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) a month later.
Happy Clapper (2017) was the last galloper to complete the Tramway Stakes – Epsom Handicap double.
It can also serve as a nice lead-up into the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) – now run on The Everest Day as the King Charles III Stakes – with the 2019 Tramway Stakes winner Dreamforce finishing second in that elite level feature next start. Dreamforce successfully defended his Tramway Stakes title in 2020 and ran third in that year’s George Main Stakes behind the Tramway runner-up Kolding who went one better in the Group 1 rematch.
Sincero (2011) was the last horse to win the Tramway Stakes – George Main double before the latter was renamed ahead of the 2023 edition.
The 2021 Tramway Stakes form was franked with the winner Zaaki winning Melbourne’s Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) next start. Zaaki also ran third in that spring’s Caulfield Stakes and won the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) after being scratched from the Cox Plate field as the favourite on race day morning. He returned in 2022 to further frank the form with a strong autumn campaign headlined by success in the $5 million The All-Star Mile (1600m).
Zaaki returned to successfully defend his Tramway Stakes title in 2022 before also going back-to-back in the Mackinnon Stakes (run as the VRC Champions Stakes).
The 2022 Tramway form was further franked with the second placed mare Icebath also running second in that year’s George Main Stakes before her Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes win at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
The Tramway Stakes 2023 ran on Saturday September 2, 2023 and saw the Godolphin-raced Pericles ($4.40) lead all-the-way to post his second win from as many starts this spring.
2023 Tramway Stakes | |
---|---|
Date: | Saturday September 2, 2023 |
Track: | Royal Randwick Racecourse |
Distance: | 1400m |
Race Type: | Set Weights + Penalties |
Status: | Group 2 |
Prize Money: | $300,000 |
The in-form James Cummings-trained Street Boss four-year-old Pericles ($4.40), second in the autumn’s Group 1 Rosehill Guineas, was excellent second-up leading from barrier to box and giving a lovely late kick to dominate the 2023 Tramway Stakes results.
Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | PERICLES | James Cummings | Zac Lloyd (a) | 6 | 57kg | $4.40 | |||
2 | 13 | SKYMAN (GB) | Chris Waller | Brett Prebble | 0.95L | 11 | 55kg | $101 | ||
3 | 12 | HOPE IN YOUR HEART | Kerry Parker | Tyler Schiller | 1.61L | 7 | 55kg | $6.50 | ||
4 | 9 | ZEYREK (FR) | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Andrew Adkins | 1.67L | 2 | 56kg | $18 | ||
5 | 16 | OLENTIA | Chris Waller | Kerrin McEvoy | 1.69L | 8 | 54kg | $2.60F | ||
6 | 2 | MY OBERON (IRE) | Annabel Neasham | Chad Schofield | 2.03L | 9 | 57kg | $13 | ||
7 | 17e | PALMETTO (NZ) | John Sargent | Ms Rachel King | 2.08L | 4 | 55kg | $21 | ||
8 | 6 | FIREBURN | Gary Portelli | Jason Collett | 2.32L | 1 | 57kg | $31 | ||
9 | 8 | GOING GLOBAL (IRE) | Chris Waller | Sam Clipperton | 2.67L | 5 | 56kg | $19 | ||
10 | 15 | DEMOCRACY MANIFEST | Chris Waller | Jay Ford | 3.29L | 10 | 55kg | $26 | ||
11 | 1 | COMMUNIST | Michael Freedman | Dylan Gibbons (a) | 3.53L | 12 | 58kg | $17 | ||
12 | 14 | SKY LAB | Paul Perry | Ms Kathy O’Hara | 4.78L | 13 | 55kg | $31 | ||
13 | 11 | NEW MANDATE (IRE) | Chris Waller | Joshua Parr | 4.95L | 3 | 56kg | $81 | ||
14 | 7 | DIAMIL (IRE) | John O’Shea | Tom Sherry | 5.1L | 14 | 56.5kg | $91 | ||
18e | WILLIAMSBURG | Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | Ryan Maloney | 0 | ||||||
19e | HOO YA MAL (GB) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Adam Hyeronimus | 0 | ||||||
3 | OSIPENKO (NZ) | Chris Waller | 0 | |||||||
5 | CEPHEUS (GB) | Matthew Dunn | Nash Rawiller | 0 | ||||||
10 | MADAME POMMERY | Chris Waller | 0 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
The latest Tramway Stakes 2023 odds and betting markets courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below the week of the race.
Dreamforce ($3.30 in 2019 and 2020) followed by Zaaki ($2.30 in 2021 and $1.90 in 2022) are the latest favourites in Tramway Stakes betting to win.
Stay tuned for our insider Tramway Stakes 2023 Tips on the important spring lead-up this Chelmsford Stakes Day.
The official Tramway Stakes 2023 Field & Barriers are released the Wednesday of race week and will be available in full below.
Nominations for the Tramway Stakes in 2023 are taken the Monday of race week and will be published in full below once released.
The inaugural edition of the Tramway Handicap – now the Tramway Stakes – was in 1886 with Burrilda becoming the first ever Tramway Handicap winner. The race location has varied between Royal Randwick and Warwick Farm over the years with Rosehill hosting for one year in 2000 and the other two tracks changing variously (the location has changed seven times since 1984).
Initially a Principal Race in 1978 the Tramway Stakes became a Listed race. It held this status until 1984 when it was upgraded to Group 3. Following the 2013 edition the Tramway received a further upgrade to Group 2.
For the first 85 years of its existence the Tramway Handicap was run over 7 furlongs. In 1972 this was rounded down slightly to 1400m to bring it in line with the Metric system. The race stayed at 1400m until the year 2000 when it was ran over 1350m. The next year it ran over 1300m. From 2002 onwards the Tramway Stakes has returned to its 1400m race distance.
Notable Tramway Stakes winners include Pompous (1906), Amounis (1928), Rogilla (dead heat with Chatham in 1932’s first edition of the race), Shaftesbury Avenue (1990), Rangirangdoo (2009), Sincero (2011), Happy Clapper (2017), and Zaaki (2021 & 2022).
In 2020 Dreamforce became the first back-to-back Tramway winner since Grenoble (1959-60) but at set weights plus penalties (not handicap).
Zaaki (2021-22) is the latest dual Tramway Stakes champion.
Tramway Stakes results since 2000 are listed below.
Year | Place | Horse | Time |
---|---|---|---|
2023 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Pericles | 1 minute 22.85 seconds |
2nd | Skyman | ||
3rd | Hope In Your Heart | ||
2022 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Zaaki | 1 minute 28.17 seconds |
2nd | Icebath | ||
3rd | Nimalee | ||
2021 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Zaaki | 1 minute 22.33 seconds |
2nd | Aramayo | ||
3rd | Star Of The Seas | ||
2020 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Dreamforce | 1 minute 21.84 seconds |
2nd | Kolding | ||
3rd | Reloaded | ||
2019 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Dreamforce | 1 minute 21.69 seconds |
2nd | Te Akau Shark | ||
3rd | Eckstein | ||
2018 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Comin’ Through | 1 minute 22.17 seconds |
2nd | Tom Melbourne | ||
3rd | Dixie Blossoms | ||
2017 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Happy Clapper | 1 minute 21.9 seconds |
2nd | Tom Melbourne | ||
3rd | Invincible Gem | ||
2016 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Hauraki | 1 minute 25.9 seconds |
2nd | Le Romain | ||
3rd | Dibayani | ||
2015 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Hooked | 1 minute 24.4 seconds |
2nd | Ecuador | ||
3rd | Rudy | ||
2014 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Lucia Valentina | 1 minute 26.6 seconds |
2nd | Tiger Tees | ||
3rd | Toydini | ||
2013 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Malavio | 1 minute 21.3 seconds |
2nd | Bello | ||
3rd | Royal Descent | ||
2012 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Tagus | 1 minute 22.5 seconds |
2nd | Kontiki Park | ||
3rd | Moment Of Time | ||
2011 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Sincero | 1 minute 22.2 seconds |
2nd | Secret Admirer | ||
3rd | Thankgodyou’rehere | ||
2010 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Neeson | 1 minute 26.1 seconds |
2nd | Cannonball | ||
3rd | Herculian Prince | ||
2009 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Rangirangdoo | 1 minute 21.9 seconds |
2nd | Strat’s Flyer | ||
3rd | Murray’s Sun | ||
2008 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Bank Robber | 1 minute 25.7 seconds |
2nd | Kick ‘N’ Chase | ||
3rd | Vecchia Roma | ||
2007 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Race Not Held | – |
2nd | – | ||
3rd | – | ||
2006 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Primus | 1 minute 25.6 seconds |
2nd | Stormhill | ||
3rd | Flaming | ||
2005 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Shania Dane | 1 minute 22.7 seconds |
2nd | Lotteria | ||
3rd | Utzon | ||
2004 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Nips | 1 minute 22.9 seconds |
2nd | West Country | ||
3rd | Desert War | ||
2003 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Sportsman | 1 minute 21.8 seconds |
2nd | Britt’s Best | ||
3rd | Boreale | ||
2002 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Gordo | 1 minute 24.0 seconds |
2nd | Shot Of Thunder | ||
3rd | Universal Prince | ||
2001 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Diamond Dane | 1 minute 18.3 seconds |
2nd | Maitland Gold | ||
3rd | Kootoomootoo | ||
2000 Tramway Handicap |
1st | Mr Innocent | 1 minute 20.6 seconds |
2nd | Eau D’Scay | ||
3rd | Freemason |