2023 VRC Champions Stakes Tips

2023 VRC Champions Stakes Results

1st: #10 Atishu ($8.50)
2nd: #9 Duais
3rd: #3 Young Werther

The Chris Waller-trained Atishu ($8.50) improved on her lead-up second in the Empire Rose Stakes behind subsequent Champions Mile winner Pride Of Dubai, relishing the quick back-up and extra distance to power home late over a quality field to score an upset win in the 2023 Champions Stakes results.

Click here to read more on the big win by Atishu in the VRC Champions Stakes 2023 in the final Group 1 of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Stay tuned for the official 2023 Mackinnon Stakes results and finishing order, the $3 million showdown run as the VRC Champions Stakes.

2023 Champions Stakes Results & Finishing Order

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	10	ATISHU (NZ)	Chris Waller	James McDonald		5	57kg	$8.50
2	9	DUAIS	Edward Cummings	Damien Oliver	1.75L	3	57kg	$7
3	3	YOUNG WERTHER (NZ)	Danny O’Brien	Billy Egan	1.95L	6	59kg	$51
4	1	ZAAKI (GB)	Annabel Neasham	Ms Jamie Kah	2.05L	10	59kg	$4.40
5	7	BUCKAROO (GB)	Joseph O’Brien	Blake Shinn	2.15L	8	59kg	$26
6	11	PROWESS (NZ)	Roger James & Robert Wellwood	Mark Zahra	2.65L	4	56.5kg	$5.50
7	2	HUETOR (FR)	Peter & Paul Snowden	Kerrin McEvoy	2.85L	11	59kg	$61
8	8	MONTEFILIA	Chris Waller	Michael Dee	3.25L	1	57kg	$26
9	4	WEST WIND BLOWS (IRE)	Simon & Ed Crisford	Jamie Spencer	3.35L	2	59kg	$2.80F
10	5	ZEYREK (FR)	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Ben Melham	4.85L	7	59kg	$61
11	6	PINSTRIPED	Enver Jusufovic	Ben Allen	5.35L	9	59kg	$81

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

VRC Champions Stakes tips are available as soon as the 2023 Champions Stakes Field is released on the first Wednesday of November.

The Group 1 $3 million VRC Champions Stakes (2000m) – formerly known as the Mackinnon Stakes – is a weight-for-age event held on at Flemington Racecourse on the first Saturday of November, four days after the Melbourne Cup.

The best Champions Stakes tip is to check out the full 2023 Champion Stakes Form Guide – looking for any betting trends and indicators that line-up for the past Mackinnon Stakes / Champions Stakes winners in recent years.

Looking over the past Champions Stakes Results – for the old Mackinnon Stakes – can also help with your Champions Stakes betting for the current Melbourne Cup Carnival.

2023 VRC Champions Stakes Tips

The 2023 Champions Stakes tips will be published below as soon as the field is released during Melbourne Cup week 2023.

To Win: #4 West Wind Blows ($2.50 at time of publish) – BET NOW

A stellar edition of the VRC Champions Stakes and have the Simon & Ed Crisford-trained international West Wind Blows on top. A former stablemate to this year’s Caulfield Cup – Melbourne Cup champion Without A Fight, this UK-based Teofilo five-year-old is third-up down under for the spring and well acclimatised now. He has an excellent record over the distance (7:3-2-2) and comes off back-to-back Group 1 seconds behind some very good horses in Australia. Fresh was second to last year’s Melbourne Cup champ Gold Trip in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at this track and distance. Rose to 2400m and was narrowly beaten by Without A Fight in the Caulfield Cup. That form was franked on Tuesday with Without A Fight blasting his rivals away with a stellar Melbourne Cup win by over two lengths. Think West Wind Blows can do the same back to 2000m and fit now. Jamie Spencer stays on, barrier two, just needs to prove he is a genuine WFA horse with the 59kg.

Champions Stakes Lead Up Races

There are a number of important lead-up races to check the results of when looking for what horses to back and sack in the Champions Stakes Odds for 2023.

The key Champions Stakes lead-up race producing more winners of the weight-for-age Group 1 spring feature than any other race is the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) run over the same distance and conditions at Moonee Valley a fortnight earlier.

From 2005 – 2023 the Cox Plate produced 10 Emirates (Mackinnon) Stakes / Champions Stakes winners including So You Think (2010) who completed the double – a popular punt with customers at Ladbrokes.com.au.

The Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) held in mid-October over the mile and a half is another good Champions Stakes form race to follow.

Champions Stakes Favourites

The Champions Stakes results over the past decade or so haven’t been all that successful for the horses jumping favourite in the race.

From 2005 – 2023 just four Emirates Stakes (Mackinnon Stakes) / VRC Champions Stakes favourites saluted for the punters with Lad Of The Manor (2005), So You Think (2010), Arcadia Queen (2020) and Zaaki (2021).

That said, single-figure fancies in the Champions Stakes betting markets have dominated the results including five straight wins from 2010-2015 before a 2016 upset by Awesome Rock. The runners under $10 in Mackinnon Stakes betting were back in winning form in 2017 with the success of Tosen Stardom ($6.50). Another upset was on the cards in the 2018 Mackinnon Stakes results with the win by $26 outsider Trap For Fools. In 2019 the second favourite in betting Magic Wand ($4.80) beat home the top fancy Melody Belle ($3.80) in the Mackinnon Stakes quinella.

In 2022 Zaaki won the Champions Stakes at $8.

The 2022 Champions Stakes winner was Atishu at $8.50.

A top Champions Stakes betting tip then is to take the single-figure horses paying under $10 through Ladbrokes.com.au in the Champions Stakes betting markets, but to lay the favourite.