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The VRC Sprint Classic runs on Mackinnon Stakes Day, as part of the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington Racecourse each November.
2021 VRC Sprint Classic Results
- 1st: #1 Nature Strip
- 2nd: #7 Swats That
- 3rd: #6 Bella Nipotina
VRC Sprint Classic News
- Nature Strip Heads 2021 Darley Sprint Classic Field & Odds for Waller
- 2021 Manikato Stakes Results: Jonker Beats Bella Nipotina
- The Everest Results 2021: Nature Strip Wins, Defeats Masked Crusader & Eduardo
- 2020 Darley Sprint Classic Field & Odds: Bivouac v Nature Strip
- Nature Strip Heads 2020 Darley Sprint Classic Nominations & Betting
The VRC Sprint Classic, currently called the Darley Sprint Classic and formerly the Patinack Farm Classic due to sponsorship, is a 1200m sprint race run down the famous Flemington straight during the spring.
Held on the first Saturday of November on the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, the VRC Sprint Classic is the premier sprint race of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival and is currently worth $2,000,000 in prize money as of 2021.
The race, held on Mackinnon Stakes Day, is now the perfect target race for horses out of the world’s richest turf race – the $15 million The Everest (1200m) in Sydney the month before.
Redzel (2017) completed The Everest – Darley Classic double when the former took place for the first time. Santa Ana Lane (6th in 2018), Nature Strip (4th in 2019) and Bivouac (2nd in 2020) all also won the VRC Classic off a lead-up in The Everest race.
For a firth time in as many years The Everest produced the Darley Sprint Classic winner in 2021 with Nature Strip completing the double.
The 2021 VRC Sprint Classic ran on Saturday November 6, 2021 and saw Chris Waller’s $1.28 favourite Nature Strip back-up from his The Everest win to salute in the event for a second time.
| VRC Sprint Classic | |
|---|---|
| Date: | Saturday November 6, 2021 |
| Track: | Flemington Racecourse |
| Distance: | 1200m |
| Race Type: | Weight-For-Age |
| Status: | Group 1 |
| Prize Money: | $2,000,000 |
2021 VRC Classic Results
- 1st: #1 Nature Strip ($1.28F)
- 2nd: #7 Swats That
- 3rd: #6 Bella Nipotina
The Chris Waller-trained Nature Strip ($1.28F) easily saluted for the punters as the odds-on favourite in the Darley Sprint Classic 2021 results. The super sprinter won the race for a second time following his 2019 success and became history’s second winner of The Everest – Darley Classic double along with Redzel.
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | NATURE STRIP | Chris Waller | James McDonald | 2 | 58.5kg | $1.28F | |||
| 2 | 7 | SWATS THAT | Leon & Troy Corstens | Hugh Bowman | 3.25L | 9 | 56.5kg | $31 | ||
| 3 | 6 | BELLA NIPOTINA | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Jye McNeil | 4.5L | 6 | 56.5kg | $14 | ||
| 4 | 5 | SEPTEMBER RUN | Chris Waller | Craig Williams | 4.6L | 4 | 56.5kg | $18 | ||
| 5 | 9 | RANCH HAND | Chris Waller | Brett Prebble | 6.6L | 7 | 53.5kg | $17 | ||
| 6 | 8 | SHAQUERO | Chris Waller | Craig Newitt | 7.6L | 8 | 53.5kg | $21 | ||
| 7 | 3 | SPLINTEX | Mark Newnham | Kerrin McEvoy | 7.8L | 5 | 58.5kg | $21 | ||
| 8 | 2 | STREETS OF AVALON | Shane Nichols | Zac Spain | 8.3L | 1 | 58.5kg | $51 | ||
| 9 | 4 | SAMIZDAT | Chris & Michael Gangemi | Damian Lane | 9.05L | 3 | 58.5kg | $61 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
2021 VRC Sprint Classic Betting Odds
The latest VRC Sprint Classic 2021 betting odds will be listed below following the release of the final field for the Flemington sprint classic along with links to the markets at Ladbrokes.com.au for you to back your best VRC Sprint Classic tips.
Bivouac ($3.20 in 2020) and Nature Strip ($1.28 in 2021) are the last VRC Sprint Classic favourites to win.
2021 VRC Sprint Classic Field & Barriers
The 2021 VRC Sprint Classic field will be released by Racing Victoria on the Wednesday of Melbourne Cup week 2021 and will be published below along with the official VRC Sprint Classic Barrier Draw as soon as announced.
Horses may come into the VRC Sprint Classic field via a number of different early Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival sprint races, but the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) has proven the key lead-up race with Buffering (2013) the last horse to complete the double.
The richest turf race in the world – the $15 million The Everest (1200m) at Royal Randwick the month before, also now serves as a possible VRC Sprint Classic lead-up with Santa Ana Lane running sixth in the Sydney feature before his 2018 win at Flemington. In 2017 Redzel took out The Everest – Darley Classic double, while Nature Strip (2019) improved on a fourth in The Everest to again frank the form with a big Darley Classic win at Flemington and Bivouac (2020) also won the Darley Classic off a second in The Everest.
In 2021 Nature Strip won the race for a second time and joined Redzel in completing The Everest – Darley Sprint Classic double.
The 2021 Darley Sprint Classic final field features nine sprint stars dominated by The Everest winner Nature Strip for this year’s Melbourne Cup winning trainer Chris Waller.
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Penalty | Hcp Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72x121x121 | NATURE STRIP | Chris Waller | James McDonald | 2 | 58.5kg | 120 | |
| 2 | 1167×28754 | STREETS OF AVALON | Shane Nichols | Zac Spain | 1 | 58.5kg | 109 | |
| 3 | x40168x414 | SPLINTEX | Mark Newnham | Kerrin McEvoy | 5 | 58.5kg | 107 | |
| 4 | 4925×13095 | SAMIZDAT | Chris & Michael Gangemi | Damian Lane | 3 | 58.5kg | 97 | |
| 5 | x2048x3766 | SEPTEMBER RUN | Chris Waller | Craig Williams | 4 | 56.5kg | 107 | |
| 6 | 336×312132 | BELLA NIPOTINA | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Jye McNeil | 6 | 56.5kg | 106 | |
| 7 | 12x358x805 | SWATS THAT | Leon & Troy Corstens | Hugh Bowman | 9 | 56.5kg | 101 | |
| 8 | 721610×579 | SHAQUERO | Chris Waller | 8 | 53.5kg | 88 | ||
| 9 | 35x200x174 | RANCH HAND | Chris Waller | 7 | 53.5kg | 82 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
2021 VRC Sprint Classic Nominations
The VRC Sprint Classic nominations are taken the Monday of race week and feature a star-studded list of spring sprinters, including many that ran well in the previous season’s VRC Sprint Classic results. Races.com.au will publish the official 2021 VRC Sprint Classic Nominations as soon as early entries are announced by Racing Victoria.
Trainer Chris Waller dominates the 2021 Darley Classic nominations with five of the 15 early entries including last Saturday’s Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Home Affairs and $15 million The Everest champion out of Sydney Nature Strip who won the race in 2019.
| Last 10 | Horse | Sex | Age | Trainer | Hcp Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 336×312132 | BELLA NIPOTINA | M | 4 | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | 106 |
| 2 | 30×1132 | BRUCKNER | C | 3 | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | 99 |
| 3 | 5x60424x02 | FLAT HEAVEN (FR) | G | 7 | Bjorn Baker | 82 |
| 4 | 2138×191 | HOME AFFAIRS | C | 3 | Chris Waller | 110 |
| 5 | 818x2112x2 | MALKOVICH | H | 4 | Bjorn Baker | 97 |
| 6 | 72x121x121 | NATURE STRIP | G | 7 | Chris Waller | 120 |
| 7 | 5149x60x33 | PRIME CANDIDATE | G | 7 | Bjorn Baker | 99 |
| 8 | 35x200x174 | RANCH HAND | C | 3 | Chris Waller | 83 |
| 9 | 318x9838x4 | RANTING (NZ) | H | 4 | Leon & Troy Corstens | 88 |
| 10 | 4925×13095 | SAMIZDAT | G | 6 | Chris & Michael Gangemi | 97 |
| 11 | x2048x3766 | SEPTEMBER RUN | M | 4 | Chris Waller | 107 |
| 12 | 721610×579 | SHAQUERO | C | 3 | Chris Waller | 88 |
| 13 | x40168x414 | SPLINTEX | H | 5 | Mark Newnham | 107 |
| 14 | 1167×28754 | STREETS OF AVALON | G | 7 | Shane Nichols | 109 |
| 15 | 12x358x805 | SWATS THAT | M | 4 | Leon & Troy Corstens | 101 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
VRC Sprint Classic History
The VRC Sprint Classic’s inaugural winner was Gulnare in 1868. The race was upgraded to Group 1 status in 2007. The race distance has changed many times over the years, with the being a 1200m, 1400m and 1600m. The race name has also changed many times, with the race being known as the Flying Stakes, Linlithgow Stakes, Emirates Classic, Lexus Classic, The Age Classic, Patinack Farm Classic before changing to the VRC Sprint Classic in 2013. It has also been run as the Darley Classic in recent years.
Many great horses have won the VRC Sprint Classic including the legendary Phar Lap in 1930. Champion sire Fastnet Rock win the race in 2004.
A number of horses have won the race multiple times including the undefeated mare Black Caviar (2010-11) and Chris Waller’s ace sprinter Nature Strip (2019, 2021) who also won the 2021 The Everest in the lead-up that spring.
VRC Sprint Classic Results & Winners
The VRC Sprint Classic results including the winners and placegetters dating back to 2000 can be found on our Darley Classic Winners & Results page, and used to help you with VRC Sprint Classic betting this spring.
