2026 TJ Smith Stakes Results

Stay tuned for the official 2026 TJ Smith Stakes results and finishing order at Randwick on Saturday April 4, 2026.

• 1st: No. 6 Joliestar ($3.90F)
• 2nd: No. 3 Giga Kick
• 3rd: No. 9 Skybird

Winning Margin: 0.6 lengths

Winning Time: 1:09.58

Chris Waller’s classy Royal Ascot-bound Zoustar mare Joliestar ($3.90F) continued her outstanding autumn prep posting her third win on the trot and claiming her fifth Group 1 victory for the punters in the 2026 TJ Smith Stakes results in Sydney on Saturday. Given a peach of a ride by master hoop James McDonald, Joliestar hit the front at the top of the straight and fought all the way to the line eventually crossing 0.6 lengths in front of a brave Giga Kick with 40/1 pop Skybird in third.

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TJ Smith Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider TJ Smith Stakes 2026 betting tips and best bets to be published below the week of the race.

To Win: No. 6 Joliestar

Joliestar (5) shapes as the value runner in this year’s TJ Smith, and while Tentyris deserves his spot at the top of the market, Chris Waller’s mare brings the right blend of form, class and proven Sydney credentials to make things interesting. The Zoustar five-year-old is unbeaten this prep, stringing together the Expressway Stakes and Canterbury Stakes in authoritative fashion, and her Randwick record is outstanding with five wins and two placings from 11 starts. She’s equally effective at the 1200m, boasting another five wins at the trip, and Waller’s history in this race—thanks to Nature Strip’s famous treble—only strengthens her profile. Her Expressway win has aged beautifully after she beat home subsequent Newmarket upsetter Caballus, and she now arrives as a four-time Group 1 winner with gate five and James McDonald adding further confidence. This is a deep edition, but Joliestar keeps raising the bar and looks primed to give the favourite a genuine scare.

TJ Smith Stakes News

2026 TJ Smith Stakes Results: Joliestar Wins Her 5th Group 1

• Rails-Drawn Tentyris Leads TJ Smith Stakes 2026 Field & Odds
• Jigsaw Keeps Wins Coming in 2026 William Reid Stakes
• 2026 Canterbury Stakes Winner Joliestar Secures 4th Group 1 Victory
• Newmarket Handicap 2026 Results: Caballus Scores Upset Win
• Maher Tempted by TJ Smith For His Surround Stakes 2026 Winner

The TJ Smith Stakes is a Group 1 race held towards the end of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival on Day 1 of ‘The Championships’ at Royal Randwick. A 1200m sprint, the TJ Smith Stakes is a weight-for-age event worth a lucrative $3 million in prize money.

For the 2020 edition, the TJ Smith Stakes prizemoney was reduced to $1.25 million to help reduce the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but was back up to $2.5 million again in 2021 before being boosted to $3 million ahead of the 2023 edition.

This race should not be confused with former The TJ Smith, a Group 1 race run in June during the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival for two-year-olds, now called the JJ Atkins.

The TJ Smith Stakes takes place on Doncaster Mile Day alongside three other Group 1 races with the running of the $4 million Doncaster Mile (1600m), $2 million Australian Derby (2400m), and $1 million ATC Sires Produce Stakes (1400m).

The 2019/20 Australian Racehorse of the Year Nature Strip enjoyed back-to-back wins when successfully defending his title in the 2021 TJ Smith Stakes ahead of his The Everest win that spring in the world’s richest turf race.

In 2022 Nature Strip emulating Chautauqua (2015-17) becoming the second three-time TJ Smith Stakes winner with a runaway three and a half-length win.

The 2022 TJ Smith Stakes form was franked with Nature Strip heading overseas to win England’s Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes by over four lengths at Royal Ascot next start.

Nature Strip returned as favourite in the 2023 TJ Smith Stakes looking to make history but only managed to run fourth behind Peter Moody’s last-to-first champion I Wish I Win.

I Wish I Win franked the TJ Smith Stakes 2023 form going on to enjoy a strong spring headlined by his second in the $20 million The Everest.

The 2023 TJ Smith runner-up Giga Kick meanwhile won the Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) at his next start that autumn as well as the winter’s Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m) in Brisbane.

I Wish I Win returned to defend his title in the 2024 TJ Smith Stakes but only managed to run third behind his 20/1 stablemate Chain Of Lightning.

The 2024 TJ Smith Stakes form was franked with the runner-up Bella Nipotina going on to win a host of subsequent Group 1 races including most famously that year’s $20 million The Everest in the spring in Sydney.

Because of the position of the TJ Smith Stakes towards the end of the autumn carnival, punters have a range of lead-up races to gauge the fitness and form of the runners before placing their TJ Smith bets.

Good preparation races include the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) run in Melbourne the month before as well as the Group 1 The Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens a fortnight earlier.

The last horse to complete the Newmarket Handicap – TJ Smith Stakes interstate double was Lankan Rupee (2014).

The subsequent two TJ Smith Stakes winners following Lankan Rupee also came off a lead-up run in the Newmarket Handicap with back-to-back champion Chautauqua running 2nd in 2015 and 3rd in 2016. Chautauqua made TJ Smith Stakes history in 2017 when successfully defending his dual titles to become the first three-time winner of the sprint classic.

In 2023 I Wish I Win won the TJ Smith Stakes in Sydney off a lead-up third in the Newmarket Handicap results.

In 2025, Newmarket Handicap runner-up Headwall ran third in the TJ Smith Stakes trifecta at 30/1!

Horses may finish up their autumn campaign in Sydney by running in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) held two weeks after the TJ Smith Stakes is run and won.

Recent All Aged Stakes winners to come off a TJ Smith Stakes start include Giga Kick (2nd in 2023), English (3rd in 2016), Hay List (2nd in 2011), and Hot Danish (2nd in 2010).

The latest sprinters to complete the double are Bentley Biscuit (2007) and Shamekha (2005) both trained by Gai Waterhouse, and Trapeze Artist who won the TJ Smith Stakes – All Aged Stakes double in 2018.

In 2026, Joliestar won the TJ Smith Stakes handing trainer Chris Waller his fourth win in the event following the three-peat of former stable ace Nature Strip (2020-22) on the back of her lead-up win in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m).

2026 TJ Smith Stakes Betting

Early all-in 2026 TJ Smith Stakes betting odds will be open at Ladbrokes.com.au on the hopeful sprinters heading towards the Group 1 classic sprint and also listed here at Races.com.au.

Nature Strip ($4.20 in 2020, $3.10 in 2021 and $2.30 in 2022) in his three consecutive victories followed by the fellow Chris Waller-trained Joliestar ($3.90 in 2026) are the latest favourites in TJ Smith Stakes betting to salute

Nature Strip started the $4.80 favourite in the 2023 race but only managed to run fourth to I Wish I Win who scored an upset at TJ Smith Stakes odds of $9.

There was a notable upset in 2024 with Chain Of Lightning winning at TJ Smith Stakes odds of $21.

TJ Smith Stakes Field

2026 TJ Smith Stakes Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2026 TJ SMITH STAKES FORM GUIDE

2026 TJ Smith Stakes Nominations

The TJ Smith Stakes nominations are taken two months out from the race in early February and attract around 100 hopefuls heading towards the autumn classic run over 1200m at Randwick Racecourse.

The TJ Smith Stakes 2026 nominations close at midday on Tuesday the 10th of February 2026. 

The 2026 TJ Smith Stakes nominations attracted 75 sprinters led in all-in betting by the spring’s Group 1 CF Orr champ Jimmysstar, Ciaron Maher’s talented The Everest second placed filly Tempted and Coolmore Stud Stakes winning colt Tentyris.

2026 TJ Smith Stakes First Acceptances

The TJ Smith Stakes first acceptances close in mid-March just under a month out from the event further narrowing down the list of potential sprinters.

The TJ Smith Stakes 2026 first acceptances close at midday on Tuesday the 10th of March 2026. 

2026 TJ Smith Stakes Field

The TJ Smith Stakes field attracts the autumn’s best sprinters shooting for a share in the lucrative prize money on offer in the Group 1 feature on the opening day of April’s ‘The Championships’ and is released on the Tuesday before Doncaster Mile Day.

The official 2026 TJ Smith Stakes field and barriers are set to be released by Racing NSW on Tuesday March 31, 2026, and will be published in full below.

The TJ Smith Stakes 2026 final field features a small, but class line-up of nine sprinters led in betting by the rails-drawn Tentyris with the Coolmore Stud Stakes / Black Caviar Lightning double winning colt heading to Sydney off a lead-up fifth in the Newmarket Handicap down the Flemington straight.

Click here to read more on the key runners in the 2026 TJ Smith Stakes field and betting markets.

TJ Smith Stakes Barrier & Speedmap

1

Tentyris Backmarker

2

Jimmysstar Off Midfield

3

Magic Time Backmarker

4

Skybird Backmarker

5

Joliestar Midfield

6

Giga Kick Backmarker

7

Overpass Leader

8

Briasa Midfield

9

Mazu Leader

TJ Smith Stakes History

The TJ Smith Stakes is one of the youngest Sydney races, first run in 1997. Mahogany won the inaugural race, which was then called the Endeavour Stakes and only held listed status. The following year in 1998, the race was renamed in honour of the renowned trainer Tommy Smith and also received Group 3 status. The event worked its way up quickly, elevated to Group 2 status in 2003 and only two years later in 2005 gained Group 1 status.

A host of champion sprinters have won the TJ Smith Stakes over the years including Black Caviar (2011 and 2013), triple hero Chautauqua (2015-17), and the Chris Waller-trained star Nature Strip (2020, 2021, 2022) who emulated the ‘Grey Flash’ as the event’s second three-time winner.

A new TJ Smith Stakes record was set in 2018 by the three-year-old winner Trapeze Artist who flew home in 1 minute 8.29 seconds, surpassing the previous best time in the event from Black Caviar in 2011.

Black Caviar’s trainer Peter Moody would return over a decade later and win the 2023 edition of the TJ Smith Stakes with I Wish I Win.

Moody was back in 2024 winning the TJ Smith Stakes in an upset with Chain Of Lightning who he trained in partnership with Katherine Coleman while I Wish I Win ran third after his victory the year prior.

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

Joliestar (2026) was the last TJ Smith Stakes winning mare.

TJ Smith Stakes Previous Race Winners