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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 same Saturday as Sydney’s Golden Rose Stakes is run.

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. It was previously held on the Sunday but moved to the Saturday in 2020.

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 2020 took place on Saturday September 26, 2020 and was dominated by the odds-on favourite Russian Camelot.

Underwood Stakes
Date:	Saturday September 26, 2020
Track:	Caulfield Racecourse
Distance:	1800m
Conditions:	Weight-for-age
Status:	Group 1
Prize Money:	$750,000
Inaugurated:	1924

2020 Underwood Stakes Results

• 1st: #10 Russian Camelot
• 2nd: #2 Humidor
• 3rd: #9 Arcadia Queen

Cox Plate favourite Russian Camelot ($1.55F) dominated the 2020 Underwood Stakes results saluting as the odds-on favourite with a one and three-quarter length romp home over Feehan Stakes winner Humidor ($17).

Click here to read more on the big Underwood Stakes win by Russian Camelot.

Colour	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	10	RUSSIAN CAMELOT (IRE)	Danny O’Brien	Damien Oliver		8	56.5kg		$1.55F
	2	2	HUMIDOR (NZ)	Chris Waller	Craig Williams	1.75L	3	59kg		$17
	3	9	ARCADIA QUEEN	Grant & Alana Williams	William Pike	2.25L	1	57kg		$5.50
	4	1	GAILO CHOP (FR)	Matthew Williams	Dean Yendall	2.45L	4	59kg		$61
	5	3	TRAP FOR FOOLS	Lindsey Smith	Declan Bates	3.7L	5	59kg		$101
	6	8	HARBOUR VIEWS (FR)	Matthew Williams	John Allen	4.2L	6	59kg		$18
	7	6	MR QUICKIE	Phillip Stokes	Damian Lane	4.95L	9	59kg		$15
	8	7	THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ)	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Michael Dee	6.2L	2	59kg		$21
	9	5	SO SI BON	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Daniel Stackhouse	6.95L	7	59kg		$18
		4	LEVENDI	Peter Gelagotis	Jason Maskiell		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2020 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) and Russian Camelot ($1.55 in 2020). Black Heart Bart incredibly won the race again three years later as a $101 roughie in 2019.

The season’s top Underwood Stakes 2020 odds and betting market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be provided below as soon as released.

2020 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 2020 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.

Danny O’Brien’s odds-on favourite Russian Camelot will jump from barrier nine in a 10-horse 2020 Underwood Stakes field taking on the likes of gun WA mare Arcadia Queen and Feehan Stakes winner Humidor.

Click here to read more on the key horses in the Underwood Stakes 2020 field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	37902x00x0	GAILO CHOP (FR)	Matthew Williams	Dean Yendall	5	59kg		105
2	5496x085x1	HUMIDOR (NZ)	Chris Waller	Craig Williams	3	59kg		109
3	33x9070x3x	TRAP FOR FOOLS	Lindsey Smith	Declan Bates	6	59kg		106
4	211x8x58x0	LEVENDI	Peter Gelagotis	Jason Maskiell	4	59kg		104
5	644116×453	SO SI BON	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Daniel Stackhouse	8	59kg		106
6	3002x902x2	MR QUICKIE	Phillip Stokes	Damian Lane	10	59kg		107
7	50x38572x1	THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ)	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Michael Dee	2	59kg		107
8	112x3314x3	HARBOUR VIEWS (FR)	Matthew Williams	John Allen	7	59kg		99
9	111x105x52	ARCADIA QUEEN	Grant & Alana Williams	William Pike	1	57kg		110
10	12x411x2	RUSSIAN CAMELOT (IRE)	Danny O’Brien	Damien Oliver	9	56.5kg		108

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2020 Underwood Stakes Nominations

The 2020 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 2020 nominations attracted 18 potential Spring Cup horses including the trifecta out of the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes: Fierce Impact, Russian Camelot and So Si Bon.

Click here to read more on the key 2020 Underwood Stakes nominations.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp Rating
1	111x105x52	ARCADIA QUEEN	M	5	Grant & Alana Williams	110
2	555112×235	DALASAN	H	4	Leon Macdonald & Andrew Gluyas	103
3	11x2348x31	FIERCE IMPACT (JPN)	H	7	Matthew Smith	114
4	34x51257x3	FINCHE (GB)	G	7	Chris Waller	110
5	37902x00x0	GAILO CHOP (FR)	G	10	Matthew Williams	105
6	112x3314x3	HARBOUR VIEWS (FR)	G	6	Matthew Williams	99
7	5496x085x1	HUMIDOR (NZ)	G	8	Chris Waller	109
8	6x32050x30	KINGS WILL DREAM (IRE)	G	7	Chris Waller	109
9	211x8x58x0	LEVENDI	H	6	Peter Gelagotis	104
10	30x03643x7	MIRAGE DANCER (GB)	H	7	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	108
11	465x0x9558	MONGOLIAN MARSHAL (NZ)	G	6	Stuart Gower	88
12	3002x902x2	MR QUICKIE	G	5	Phillip Stokes	107
13	331121×3	NONCONFORMIST	G	4	Grahame Begg	95
14	6x423115x0	QUICK THINKER	H	4	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	106
15	12x411x2	RUSSIAN CAMELOT (IRE)	H	4	Danny O’Brien	108
16	644116×453	SO SI BON	G	7	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	106
17	50x38572x1	THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ)	H	5	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	107
18	33x9070x3x	TRAP FOR FOOLS	G	7	Lindsey Smith	106

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) 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
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