Canterbury Stakes News

2025 Canterbury Stakes Results: Royal Patronage Scores Upset at $20

• 2025 Canterbury Stakes Field & Odds: Magic Time Favourite
• 2024 Canterbury Stakes Results: Lady Laguna Upsets Think About It, Espiona Third
• Think About It Odds-On Fresh in Canterbury Stakes 2024 Field & Betting
• 2023 Canterbury Stakes Results: Artorius Nabs Imperatriz On The Line
• Canterbury Stakes 2023 Field & Betting Update: Artorius Returns

The Canterbury Stakes is a 1300m middle distance sprinting event held at Randwick Racecourse over the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival. Raced in early-mid March under weight-for-age conditions, the Canterbury Stakes offers $750,000 in prize money.

2025 Canterbury Stakes Results

• 1st: #6 Royal Patronage ($20)
• 2nd: #2 Here To Shock
• 3rd: #10 Magic Time

Royal Patronage ($20) was enormous first-up off an on-speed ride by Tim Clark to run down Here To Shock late and post a narrow upset in the 2025 Canterbury Stakes results ahead of potential runs in the George Ryder and Doncaster Mile this autumn at elite level for trainers Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott.

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The Canterbury Stakes is one of two Group 1 races held at Royal Randwick on Randwick Guineas Day along with the Group 1 $1 million Randwick Guineas (1600m) for three-year-olds. There are a number of other Group status support races on the cards including the Group 2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) for the sprinters.

The Canterbury Stakes is an ideal lead-up race to the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) held a fortnight later at Rosehill Gardens, with the winner of the Canterbury Stakes exempt from the ballot for the George Ryder Stakes. The latest gallopers to complete the Canterbury Stakes – George Ryder Stakes double are Pierro (2013) and Forbidden Love (2022).

The 2021 Canterbury Stakes winner The Bostonian meanwhile went on to run second in that year’s George Ryder Stakes results, a feat repeated in 2024 by the Canterbury winning mare Lady Laguna.

The Canterbury Stakes winner is also exempt from that year’s Doncaster Mile and in 2022 after completing the Canterbury – George Ryder double, Forbidden Love ran fourth in that year’s Doncaster Mile results.

The 2022 Doncaster Mile form was further franked with the runner-up Lighthouse winning the Group 1 Coolmore Classic next start.

Horses may come into the Canterbury Stakes field via an earlier autumn run in a host of lead-up sprints including the Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick in February or the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes (1400m) for the three-year-olds. Appearance (2014) was the last horse to do the Apollo Stakes – Canterbury Stakes double.

The Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200m) in late January is another good lead-up into the Canterbury Stakes and Savatiano (2021) was the last to do the double improving on her Canterbury second the year before.

The 2021 Canterbury Stakes form was further franked with the third place-getter Masked Crusader winning Melbourne’s Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) at The Valley next start and a second the run after in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick. He would also go on to run second to Nature Strip in that spring’s The Everest race.

The 2023 Canterbury Stakes form was franked with the runner-up, Imperatriz, going on to win her next five starts on the trot including Group 1 victories in the William Reid, Moir, Manikato, and Flemington’s Champions Stakes.

The Canterbury Stakes 2025 ran on Saturday March 8, 2025 offering the upset Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott trained winner Royal Patronage ($20) a ballot exemption for both the George Ryder Stakes and Doncaster Mile in 2025. 

2025 Canterbury Stakes Finishing Order

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2025 Canterbury Stakes Betting

The latest Canterbury Stakes 2025 betting odds on the Group 1 Randwick feature will be open at Ladbrokes.com.au this autumn and also provided here at Races.com.au as soon as available.

Forbidden Love ($2.20 in 2022) was the last favourite in Canterbury Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

There was a notable upset in 2024 with Lady Laguna saluting at Canterbury Stakes odds of $11 when beaten the $2.35 favourite Think About It, and again in 2025 with Royal Patronage at $20.

2025 Canterbury Stakes Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2025 CANTERBURY STAKES FORM GUIDE

2025 Canterbury Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Canterbury Stakes 2025 Tips on the Randwick Guineas Day showdown this autumn.

• To Win: #1 Ceolwulf ($8 at time of publish) – BET NOW
  

Loving the Canterbury Stakes field this year which shapes up as the race of the weekend for mine! Plenty of winning chances bringing in various form lines but happy to go for a touch of value with Ceolwulf in his rescheduled second-up run. Withdrawn from the Verry Elleeegant last weekend where no doubt he would have been competitive. Fresh he was fourth in the Group 2 Apollo only 1.45 lengths beaten and that form was well and truly franked last Saturday with the same three Waller gallopers running the Group 1 trifecta in the race this Tavistock horse scratched from. Never ideal to miss a run but Pride is confident the horse is back to his peak and this is an easier assignment than what he would have faced behind Via Sistina a week prior. Two-time Group 1 winner over the mile here in the spring, gets the rails run, can salute.

2025 Canterbury Stakes Field

The Canterbury Stakes field attracts a line-up of the season’s best middle-distance sprinters and is announced on the Wednesday before Randwick Guineas Day each autumn.

The official 2025 Canterbury Stakes field and barriers will be published below the Wednesday of race week.

The Canterbury Stakes 2025 final field features a crack line-up of autumn hopefuls with the latest markets led by smart mare Magic Time in gate six.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2025 Canterbury Stakes Nominations

The Canterbury Stakes nominations are the first indicator of the horses that will line-up in the Group 1 weight-for-age field on Randwick Guineas Day.

The 2025 Canterbury Stakes nominations attracted 17 class autumn hopefuls led in all-in betting by Expressway Stakes winning mare Magic Time.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Canterbury Stakes History

First won in 1929 by Amounis under jockey J. Munro, the Canterbury Stakes was originally a six-furlong (approx. 1200m) race until 1973 when it officially became a 1200m race. Thirty-one years later in 2004, the Canterbury Stakes became a 1300m event. However, it was temporarily increased to 1550m in 2008.

Since 1979, the Canterbury Stakes held Group 2 status and has been won in three consecutive years by a single horse. Between 1930 and 1932, Holdfast managed to reach the finish line first each year. The race’s double winners include San Domenico (1950-51), Sky High (1961-62), At Sea (1988-89), and More Joyous (2011-12). The most recent winner of the Canterbury Stakes / George Ryder Stakes double was Forbidden Love (2022).

For the 2013 edition of the race the Canterbury Stakes was upgraded to Group 1 level. The prize money for the race was also upgraded from $175,000 to $350,000, with the race currently offering $750,000 in prize money as of 2024.

The most successful jockey in the Canterbury Stakes is Darren Beadman with seven wins in 1988, 1989, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

The 2018 Canterbury Stakes Results saw Happy Clapper set a new race record saluting in 1 minute 14.25 seconds. Just 12 months later, Trapeze Artist won the 2019 Canterbury Stakes in a new record time of 1 minute 14.19 seconds.

See below for the full Canterbury Stakes results dating back to 2000.

Recent Canterbury Stakes Winners