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The Underwood Stakes is a Group 1 race run during the renowned Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival in late September or early October on the Sunday following the AFL Grand Final held on the Saturday in a major weekend of sport. The feature event of Underwood Stakes Day at Caulfield Racecourse, this 1800m race is run under weight-for-age conditions and is worth $750,000 in prize money.

Key lead-up races to this event that Underwood Stakes runners may come via include the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley, the  Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington a fortnight before and the Memsie Stakes (1400m) in August. So You Think (2010) was the last horse to complete the Memsie Stakes – Underwood Stakes double without a run in between. In 2017 the Kiwi-trained mare Bonneval completed the Dato’ Tan Chin Nam Stakes – Underwood Stakes double. All of these quality weight-for-age Group races may be used as preparation for the Underwood and then the more lucrative and prestigious races held later in the carnival.

The Underwood Stakes is the first weight-for-age race run over a distance greater than 1400m and provides horses with an excellent opportunity to step up their race distance in preparation for the 2000m and 2400m events to follow. This race is definitely worth keeping an eye on as it has been a solid guide to the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate in recent years.

This season the Underwood Stakes 2019 took place on Sunday September 29, 2019 and was won by 100/1 shot Black Heart Bart for the second time. 

Underwood Stakes
Date:	Sunday September 29, 2019
Track:	Caulfield Racecourse
Distance:	1800m
Conditions:	Weight-for-age
Status:	Group 1
Prize Money:	$750,000
Inaugurated:	1924

2019 Underwood Stakes Results

• 1st: #3 Black Heart Bart
• 2nd: #8 Homesman
• 3rd: #2 Gailo Chop

It was a massive upset in the Underwood Stakes 2019 Results with the race’s 2016 champion returning to break a lengthy drought as Black Heart Bart scored a narrow win at $101 over the defending champ, beaten favourite Homesman ($2.50). Black Heart Bart is now eligible for the $1 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate Boost Bonus, but is not currently among the second acceptances for the $5 million classic at The Valley.

Read more on the shock 2019 Underwood Stakes win by Black Heart Bart.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Br.	Wgt.	SP
1	3	BLACK HEART BART	Lindsey Smith	Brad Rawiller	–	6	59kg	$101
2	8	HOMESMAN (USA)	Liam Howley	Ben Melham	0.2L	12	59kg	$2.50F
3	2	GAILO CHOP (FR)	Matthew Williams	Damien Oliver	1.7L	11	59kg	$26
4	1	HARTNELL (GB)	James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	1.8L	1	59kg	$4.20
5	7	GATTING	Darren Mcauliffe	Jamie Kah	2.3L	7	59kg	$5.50
6	5	HARLEM (GB)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Dwayne Dunn	3.05L	10	59kg	$71
7	6	TRAP FOR FOOLS	Jarrod McLean	Peter Hall	3.15L	2	59kg	$61
8	10	YULONG PRINCE (SAF)	Chris Waller	Mark Zahra	3.55L	5	59kg	$41
9	12	THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ)	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Damian Lane	3.95L	3	58kg	$9.50
10	4	HUMIDOR (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Kerrin McEvoy	4.35L	9	59kg	$26
11	11	SUPER TITUS (GB)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Jye McNeil	7.1L	8	59kg	$41
12	13	KENEDNA	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	John Allen	7.85L	4	57kg	$19
–	9	YUCATAN (IRE)	Liam Howley	Michael Walker	–	0	–	–

2019 Underwood Stakes Betting

Horses that ran well in lead-up races like Moonee Valley’s Dato’ Tan Chin Nan Stakes and the Memsie Stakes dominate the Underwood Stakes betting markets each spring. Favourites at the top of the Underwood Stakes odds on race day however have a poor recent record with the only one to salute for the punters since So You Think (2010) being Black Heart Bart (2016). Black Heart Bart incredibly won the race again three years later as a $101 roughie in 2019.

The season’s top Underwood Stakes 2019 odds and betting market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be provided below as soon as released.

2019 Underwood Stakes Field

Each season the Underwood Stakes field attracts a gun line-up of potential Cox Plate and Caulfield Cup horses coming off lead-up runs in races including the Dato’ Tan Chin Nam Stakes or Flemington’s Makybe Diva Stakes. In 2016 Black Heart Bart improved on a lead-up second in the Makybe Diva Stakes over the mile to win the Underwood Stakes, while Bonneval (2017) completed the Dato’ Tan Chin Nam – Underwood Stakes double.

The official 2019 Underwood Stakes field of final acceptances will be released on the Wednesday leading up to Underwood Stakes Day and listed in full below along with the Underwood Stakes barrier draw.

The Underwood Stakes 2019 Final Field features 13 gallopers including the Godolphin-raced Hartnell drawn the rails and set to peak fourth-up on the back of a close effort in the Makybe Diva Stakes. Drawn the opposite end of the field out in barrier 13 is the hot favourite Homesman who was impressive winning the Group 2 Feehan Stakes at The Valley by 2.5 lengths last start.

Read more on the 2019 Underwood Stakes Field & Odds led by Homesman. 

Update: The Liam Howley-trained Yucatan (11) has been withdrawn from the Underwood Stakes 2019 field leaving a dozen runners including stablemate and defending champion Homesman.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Br.	Wgt.	Hcp. Rating
1	x53233x344	HARTNELL (GB)	James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	1	59kg	116
2	0x112142x0	GAILO CHOP (FR)	Matthew Williams	Damien Oliver	12	59kg	114
3	x496870x80	BLACK HEART BART	Lindsey Smith	Brad Rawiller	6	59kg	106
4	x817333x00	HUMIDOR (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Kerrin McEvoy	9	59kg	115
5	69x4719x00	HARLEM (GB)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Dwayne Dunn	10	59kg	109
6	16x5233x90	TRAP FOR FOOLS	Jarrod McLean	Peter Hall	2	59kg	110
7	425×512251	GATTING	Darren Mcauliffe	Jamie Kah	7	59kg	113
8	x16x2172x1	HOMESMAN (USA)	Liam Howley	Ben Melham	13	59kg	112
9	36013x10x0	YUCATAN (IRE)	Liam Howley	Michael Walker	11	59kg	108
10	2221x00x79	YULONG PRINCE (SAF)	Chris Waller	Mark Zahra	5	59kg	105
11	8414x0x318	SUPER TITUS (GB)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Jye McNeil	8	59kg	98
12	22470141×5	THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ)	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Damian Lane	3	58kg	98
13	x931911x78	KENEDNA	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	John Allen	4	57kg	109

2019 Underwood Stakes Nominations

The 2019 Underwood Stakes nominations are released by Racing Victoria on the Monday of race week and will be published in full below once announced.

The official Underwood Stakes 2019 Nominations attracted 20 weight-for-age hopefuls including the defending champion Homesman fresh off a lead-up win in the Feehan Stakes.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	x53233x344	HARTNELL (GB)	G	9	James Cummings	1	59kg	116
2	0x112142x0	GAILO CHOP (FR)	G	9	Matthew Williams	2	59kg	114
3	x496870x80	BLACK HEART BART	G	9	Lindsey Smith	3	59kg	106
4	x817333x00	HUMIDOR (NZ)	G	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	4	59kg	115
5	69x4719x00	HARLEM (GB)	G	8	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	5	59kg	109
6	x931911x78	KENEDNA	M	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	6	57kg	109
7	16x5233x90	TRAP FOR FOOLS	G	6	Jarrod McLean	7	59kg	110
8	425×512251	GATTING	G	6	Darren Mcauliffe	8	59kg	113
9	x16x2172x1	HOMESMAN (USA)	G	6	Liam Howley	9	59kg	112
10	92251557×7	ROSTROPOVICH (IRE)	G	5	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	10	59kg	110
11	x43236Px58	KINGS WILL DREAM (IRE)	G	6	Chris Waller	11	59kg	105
12	5x14941x20	QAFILA	M	4	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	12	56kg	102
13	36013x10x0	YUCATAN (IRE)	H	6	Liam Howley	13	59kg	108
14	027x90x744	VASSILATOR (NZ)	G	4	Colin Little	14	58kg	95
15	0x34000x59	NIGHT’S WATCH (NZ)	G	6	Chris Waller	15	59kg	103
16	2221x00x79	YULONG PRINCE (SAF)	H	5	Chris Waller	16	59kg	105
17	22470141×5	THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ)	H	4	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	17	58kg	98
18	x42170x463	SIKANDARABAD (IRE)	G	7	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	18	59kg	103
19	8414x0x318	SUPER TITUS (GB)	G	6	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	19	59kg	98
20	0532x147x2	MISS SISKA	M	6	Grahame Begg	20	57kg	96

Underwood Stakes History

Whittier was the inaugural Underwood Stakes winner in 1924 and followed up this success claiming victory the next year as well. The event began as a principal race run over eight furlongs. For one year in 1943 the distance was decreased to seven furlongs, but went back to the original length the next year. That year, in 1944, there was two runnings of the race, with both Amana and Tea Cake seeing victory. In 1949 the length was increased to nine furlongs and then a few years later in 1954 another distance jump saw the event raced over 10 furlongs. With Australia’s adoption of the metric system, the race was converted to 2000m in 1972 and not long after in 1979 the event was elevated to Group 1 status. In 1994, the distance was cut to 1800m and has remained the same through until today.

The Underwood Stakes has had a number of elite horses claim victory including Phar Lap (1931), Rain Lover (1969), Bonecrusher (1986), Octagonal (1996), Tie The Knot (1998), Northerly (2001 & 2002) and Weekend Hussler (2008). Underwood Stakes results play a major role in form understanding for punters who follow the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

Underwood Stakes results and winning times since 2000 are provided below.

Underwood Stakes Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2019 Underwood Stakes	1st	Black Heart Bart	1 minute 49.27 seconds
	2nd	Homesman
	3rd	Gailo Chop
2018 Underwood Stakes	1st	Homesman	1 minute 48.70 seconds
	2nd	Tosen Basil
	3rd	Humidor
2017 Underwood Stakes	1st	Bonneval	1 minute 48.41 seconds
	2nd	Hartnell
	3rd	Gailo Chop
2016 Underwood Stakes	1st	Black Heart Bart	1 minute 50.64 seconds
	2nd	He Or She
	3rd	Lucia Valentina
2015 Underwood Stakes	1st	Mourinho	1 minute 48.83 seconds
	2nd	Fawkner
	3rd	The Cleaner
2014 Underwood Stakes	1st	Foreteller	1 minute 50.25 seconds
	2nd	Happy Trails
	3rd	Crackerjack King
2013 Underwood Stakes	1st	It’s A Dundeel	1 minute 54.70 seconds
	2nd	Atlantic Jewel
	3rd	Dear Demi
2012 Underwood Stakes	1st	Ocean Park	1 minute 51.40 seconds
	2nd	Voila Ici
	3rd	December Draw
2011 Underwood Stakes	1st	Lion Tamer	1 minute 50.03 seconds
	2nd	Southern Speed
	3rd	Midas Touch
2010 Underwood Stakes	1st	So You Think	1 minute 49.54 seconds
	2nd	Dariana
	3rd	Metal Bender
2009 Underwood Stakes	1st	Heart Of Dreams	1 minute 49.5 seconds
	2nd	Whobegotyou
	3rd	Predatory Pricer
2008 Underwood Stakes	1st	Weekend Hussler	1 minute 49.8 seconds
	2nd	Pompeii Ruler
	3rd	Littorio
2007 Underwood Stakes	1st	Rubiscent	1 minute 49 seconds
	2nd	Miss Finland
	3rd	Marasco
2006 Underwood Stakes	1st	El Segundo	1 minute 49.5 seconds
	2nd	Polar Bear
	3rd	Molotov
2005 Underwood Stakes	1st	Perlin	1 minute 52.7 seconds
	2nd	Our Smoking Joe
	3rd	She’s Justa Tad
2004 Underwood Stakes	1st	Elvstroem	1 minute 50 seconds
	2nd	She’s Archie
	3rd	Delzao
2003 Underwood Stakes	1st	Mummify	1 minute 49.5 seconds
	2nd	Grey Song
	3rd	Aint Seen Nothing
2002 Underwood Stakes	1st	Northerly	1 minute 48.9 seconds
	2nd	Magical Miss
	3rd	Don Eduardo
2001 Underwood Stakes	1st	Northerly	1 minute 50.2 seconds
	2nd	Universal Prince
	3rd	Kaapstad Way
2000 Underwood Stakes	1st	Oliver Twist	1 minute 47.6 seconds
	2nd	Shoozi Please
	3rd	Kaapstad Way