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The Underwood Stakes is a Group 1 race run during the renowned Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival in late September.

Recently held on the Sunday after Sydney’s Golden Rose Stakes, in 2023 the Underwood Stakes takes place on the Saturday at Caulfield Racecourse.

The feature event of Underwood Stakes Day, this 1800m race is run under weight-for-age conditions and is currently worth $750,000 in stakes.

The Underwood was moved in 2021 to Ladbrokes Park Hillside (Sandown) bringing Group 1 racing to the Sandown track for the first time in 25 years.

Underwood Stakes Day returned to Caulfield Racecourse for the 2023 edition.

Key lead-up races to this event that Underwood Stakes runners may come via include the John F. Feehan 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 (now the John F Feehan) – 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.

In 2020 the Underwood Stakes winner Russian Camelot went on to run third in that year’s Cox Plate trifecta.

The 2021 Underwood Stakes form was franked with the winner Zaaki atoning for his Cox Plate scratching with a Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes victory that spring and success in the 2022 $5 million The All-Star Mile the following autumn.

Zaaki returned for a title defence in 2022 but only managed to run third behind all-the-way winner Alligator Blood, but he did go on to salute in the Mackinnon Stakes (run as the VRC Champions Stakes) again that November.

Alligator Blood went on to frank the 2022 Underwood Stakes form with a win in Flemington’s Group 1 Champions Mile that Melbourne Cup Carnival as well as the 2023 Futurity Stakes the next autumn.

Alligator Blood returned to go back-to-back in the 2023 Underwood Stakes becoming the race’s 13th multiple winner and the first to do so on successive years since Northerly (2001-02).

The 2023 Underwood Stakes form was franked with Alligator Blood going on to win the Group 1 Might And Power (2000m) next start.

The form also held with the sixth place-getter in the Underwood Stakes results, the Anthony & Sam Freedman-trained Without A Fight, winning the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) next start.

This season the Underwood Stakes 2023 took place on Saturday September 23rd, 2023 at Caulfield Racecourse and saw the reigning champion Alligator Blood ($3.60F) salute for the punters with a late surging victory on the short seven-day turnaround. 

Underwood Stakes
Date:	Saturday September 23rd, 2023
Track:	Caulfield Racecourse
Distance:	1800m
Conditions:	Weight-for-age
Status:	Group 1
Prize Money:	$750,000
Inaugurated:	1924

2023 Underwood Stakes Results

• 1st: #2 Alligator Blood ($3.60F)
• 2nd: #5 Tuvalu
• 3rd: #15 Duais

The Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Alligator Blood ($3.60F) was huge on the short turnaround improving on a second to Mr Brightside in the Makybe Diva Stakes to come wide and late off a lovely Damien Oliver ride to salute for the punters and go back-to-back in the 2023 Underwood Stakes results.

Click here to read more on the impressive Underwood Stakes 2023 win by the Cox Plate-bound Alligator Blood.

2023 Underwood Stakes Results & Finishing Order

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	2	ALLIGATOR BLOOD	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Damien Oliver		8	59kg		$3.60F
	2	5	TUVALU	Lindsey Smith	Ms Jamie Kah	1L	12	59kg		$7
	3	15	DUAIS	Edward Cummings	Craig Williams	1.2L	7	57kg		$26
	4	10	SOULCOMBE (GB)	Chris Waller	Blake Shinn	1.4L	5	59kg		$7.50
	5	9	RIGHT YOU ARE	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Allen	2.15L	2	59kg		$12
	6	8	WITHOUT A FIGHT (IRE)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Mark Zahra	2.25L	10	59kg		$4.60
	7	4	NONCONFORMIST	Grahame Begg	Harry Coffey	2.45L	6	59kg		$41
	8	13	LINDERMANN	Chris Waller	Hugh Bowman	2.95L	3	58kg		$12
	9	12	BANK MAUR	Richard Laming	Jye McNeil	4.45L	1	58kg		$51
	10	1	VOW AND DECLARE	Danny O’Brien	Billy Egan	4.55L	4	59kg		$201
	11	7	ALENQUER (FR)	Michael Moroney	Declan Bates	4.65L	9	59kg		$151
	12	3	MO’UNGA (NZ)	Annabel Neasham	Jamie Mott	7.4L	15	59kg		$41
	13	14	ATTRITION	Mitchell Freedman	Ben Melham	7.7L	14	58kg		$9
	14	6	SMOKIN’ ROMANS (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	John Allen	8.45L	13	59kg		$71
	15	16	LUNAR FLARE	Grahame Begg	Michael Dee	10.2L	11	57kg		$151
		17e	ALASKAN GOD	Daniel Morton			0
		11	DUKE DE SESSA (IRE)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ethan Brown		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Underwood Stakes Betting

Horses that ran well in lead-up races like Moonee Valley’s Feehan 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 ones to salute for the punters since So You Think (2010) being Black Heart Bart (2016), Russian Camelot ($1.55 in 2020), Zaaki ($1.18 in 2021), and most recently Alligator Blood ($3.60) for his second in 2023.

Black Heart Bart meanwhile incredibly won the race again three years later as a $101 roughie in 2019.

The season’s top Underwood Stakes 2023 odds and betting market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be provided below as soon as released.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 UNDERWOOD STAKES ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Underwood Stakes Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 UNDERWOOD STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 Underwood Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Underwood Stakes 2023 Tips on the popular spring showdown this season.

• To Win: #5 Tuvalu ($7 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Taking on the Gator with Tuvalu at nice value here in the Underwood Stakes fit third-up and ready to fire. Lindsey Smith’s Kermadec gelding was runner-up to Alligator Blood in the Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m) a half-length beaten at headquarters last Melbourne Cup Carnival and can turn the tables here. Fresh he was two lengths fourth behind the form horse of the season so far, Mr Brightside, in the Group 2 P.B. Lawrence Stakes (1400m) before a third to Pinstriped in the Group 2 Feehan Stakes (1600m) at The Valley. He will relish the 1800m now with previous winning form at the distance and his runs spaced well. Wide draw but time to overcome and looks overs.

2023 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 (now known as the Feehan 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.

In 2023 the defending Underwood Stakes winner Alligator Blood won again on a quick back-up off a Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes second over the Flemington mile the weekend prior.

The official 2023 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 2023 final field features a capacity line-up of potential Cox Plate-bound gallopers led in betting by the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Alligator Blood coming off a second to Mr Brightside in the Group 1 Makybe Diva last weekend.

Click here to read more on the key runners in the 2023 Alligator Blood field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	601x22460x	VOW AND DECLARE	Danny O’Brien	Billy Egan	4	59kg			106
2	551x140x42	ALLIGATOR BLOOD	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Damien Oliver	8	59kg			116
3	52x5332x00	MO’UNGA (NZ)	Annabel Neasham	Jamie Mott	17	59kg			111
4	70x18402x0	NONCONFORMIST	Grahame Begg	Harry Coffey	6	59kg			106
5	x312x79x43	TUVALU	Lindsey Smith	Ms Jamie Kah	13	59kg			111
6	1177x884x6	SMOKIN’ ROMANS (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	John Allen	14	59kg			108
7	616x69x00x	ALENQUER (FR)	Michael Moroney	Declan Bates	10	59kg			113
8	311x20x11x	WITHOUT A FIGHT (IRE)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Mark Zahra	11	59kg			111
9	51111121×2	RIGHT YOU ARE	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Allen	2	59kg			106
10	41x1x682x1	SOULCOMBE (GB)	Chris Waller	Blake Shinn	5	59kg			106
11	52x131x8x0	DUKE DE SESSA (IRE)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ethan Brown	16	59kg			105
12	18x27410x8	BANK MAUR	Richard Laming	Jye McNeil	1	58kg			99
13	2x51210x04	LINDERMANN	Chris Waller	Hugh Bowman	3	58kg			106
14	33x1152x52	ATTRITION	Mitchell Freedman	Ben Melham	15	58kg			103
15	6880x43x79	DUAIS	Edward Cummings	Craig Williams	7	57kg			112
16	612x7931x8	LUNAR FLARE	Grahame Begg	Michael Dee	12	57kg			107
17e	x60847x725	ALASKAN GOD	Daniel Morton		9	59kg			92

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Underwood Stakes Nominations

The 2023 Underwood Stakes nominations are released by Racing Victoria on the Monday of race week and will be published in full below once announced.

The Underwood Stakes 2023 nominations have attracted a bumper 26 potential Cox Plate hopefuls including last year’s Melbourne Cup champion Gold Trip, the resuming Anthony & Sam Freedmam-trained The Q22 winner Without A Fight, and last weekend’s Makybe Diva Stakes runner-up Alligator Blood on the potential quick back-up.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	291x2570x4	GOLD TRIP (FR)	H	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	1	59kg			117
2	551x140x42	ALLIGATOR BLOOD	G	7	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	2	59kg			116
3	616x69x00x	ALENQUER (FR)	G	6	Michael Moroney	3	59kg			113
4	6880x43x79	DUAIS	M	6	Edward Cummings	4	57kg			112
5	52x5332x00	MO’UNGA (NZ)	H	6	Annabel Neasham	5	59kg			111
6	x312x79x43	TUVALU	G	6	Lindsey Smith	6	59kg			111
7	311x20x11x	WITHOUT A FIGHT (IRE)	G	7	Anthony & Sam Freedman	7	59kg			111
8	3x3x907x00	EL BODEGON (IRE)	G	5	Chris Waller	8	59kg			110
9	1177x884x6	SMOKIN’ ROMANS (NZ)	G	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	9	59kg			108
10	x534113x21	PINSTRIPED	G	5	Enver Jusufovic	10	59kg			107
11	612x7931x8	LUNAR FLARE	M	8	Grahame Begg	11	57kg			107
12	2x51210x04	LINDERMANN	H	4	Chris Waller	12	58kg			106
13	2111263×64	POUNDING	G	5	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	13	59kg			106
14	41x1x682x1	SOULCOMBE (GB)	G	5	Chris Waller	14	59kg			106
15	70x18402x0	NONCONFORMIST	G	7	Grahame Begg	15	59kg			106
16	51111121×2	RIGHT YOU ARE	G	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	16	59kg			106
17	601x22460x	VOW AND DECLARE	G	8	Danny O’Brien	17	59kg			106
18	52x131x8x0	DUKE DE SESSA (IRE)	H	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	18	59kg			105
19	33x1152x52	ATTRITION	H	4	Mitchell Freedman	19	58kg			103
20	7x31x111x9	GOLDMAN (NZ)	G	5	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	20	59kg			103
21	132x8802x0	VIRTUOUS CIRCLE (NZ)	H	4	Liam Howley	21	58kg			100
22	18x27410x8	BANK MAUR	H	4	Richard Laming	22	58kg			99
23	2415931×17	DENY KNOWLEDGE (IRE)	M	6	Michael Kent	23	57kg			97
24	15x4430x76	FORGOT YOU (NZ)	H	5	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	24	59kg			96
25	x60847x725	ALASKAN GOD	G	5	Daniel Morton	25	59kg			92
26	2311320×56	SHE’S FIT	M	4	Daniel Morton	26	56kg			86

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

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), Weekend Hussler (2008), So You Think (2010), Russian Camelot (2020), and one of the race’s shortest-ever favourites Zaaki (2021).

Underwood Stakes results play a major role in form understanding for punters who follow the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

In 2023 the Underwood Stakes returned to Caulfield Racecourse with prize money reduced from $1 million to $750,000.

Alligator Blood (2022, 2023) is the latest two-time Underwood Stakes winner saluting for the first time at Sandown and then defending his title at Caulfield the following year.

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

Underwood Stakes Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Underwood Stakes	1st	Alligator Blood	1 minute 48.53 seconds
	2nd	Tuvalu
	3rd	Duais
2022 Underwood Stakes	1st	Alligator Blood	1 minute 48.98 seconds
	2nd	Mo’unga
	3rd	Zaaki
2021 Underwood Stakes	1st	Zaaki	1 minute 49.20 seconds
	2nd	Probabeel
	3rd	Superstorm
2020 Underwood Stakes	1st	Russian Camelot	1 minute 50.85 seconds
	2nd	Humidor
	3rd	Arcadia Queen
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