2025 VRC Champions Stakes Results

Stay tuned for this spring’s official 2025 Champions Stakes results including which horse wins the Champions Stakes at Flemington on Saturday, November 8, 2025.

• 1st: Via Sistina
• 2nd: Zambardo
• 3rd: Tom Kitten

Winning Margin: 2.75L

Winning Time: 2:07.91

VRC Champions Stakes (Mackinnon Stakes) Tips

Stay tuned for our exclusive VRC Champions Stakes 2025 Tips on the $3 million feature race of Stakes Day at Flemington this spring!

VRC Champions Stakes (Mackinnon Stakes) News

Via Sistina Wins 2025 Cox Plate in Thrilling Waller Quinella

• Ceolwulf Goes Back-to-Back in 2025 King Charles III Stakes
• Via Sistina Wins Champions Stakes 2024 With Ease!
• Via Sistina Leads Star-Studded 2024 Champions Stakes Field & Odds
• 2023 Champions Stakes Results: Atishu and J Mac Beat Duais and Ollie
• 2023 VRC Champions Stakes Field & Betting: West Wind Blows Favourite

The 2025 VRC Champions Stakes is a weight-for-age classic run the Saturday after the Melbourne Cup each November.

In 2022 the race formerly known as the Mackinnon Stakes was renamed the VRC Champions Stakes and the prize money boosted to $3 million.

Held on the new-look VRC Champions Stakes Day or ‘Family Day’ card at Flemington, the VRC Champions Stakes is the feature race on the final day of the four-day Melbourne Cup Carnival and shares the card with the Group 1 Champions Sprint (1200m) – formerly the VRC Sprint Classic – for spring sprinters. In 2022 the Cantala Stakes was renamed the Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m) and moved from the Derby Day card the Saturday prior to add further prestige to the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

The Mackinnon Stakes / VRC Champions Stakes is usually targeted by horses who have previously contested the Ladbrokes Cox Plate a fortnight before at The Valley. The Cox Plate – Mackinnon Stakes (Champions Stakes) double is a popular punt with So You Think (2010) and Via Sistina (2024) the latest to do the double.

Held at Flemington Racecourse on the first Saturday of November, the VRC Champions Stakes is a 2000m weight for age race.

The 2021 Mackinnon Stakes form was franked with the winner Zaaki, scratched from that year’s Cox Plate as the favourite on race morning, going on to win the following year’s then $5 million The All-Star Mile in 2022.

Zaaki returned in 2022 off a lead-up fourth in the Cox Plate and became the latest back-to-back Mackinnon Stakes / Champions Stakes winner.

The 2023 Champions Stakes was won in an upset by the Chris Waller-trained mare Atishu on the quick back-up off a second on Derby Day in the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m).

Atishu returned to win the 2024 Empire Rose Stakes before a second in that year’s VRC Champions Stakes results behind her eight-length Cox Plate winning stablemate Via Sistina.

Via Sistina went on to frank the 2024 Champions Stakes form when returning in 2025 to win a host more Group 1 races including Sydney’s $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes in the autumn.

2025 VRC Champions Stakes Betting

The 2025 VRC Champions Stakes betting odds on the event formerly known as the Mackinnon Stakes will be available at Ladbrokes.com.au and published here at Races.com.au for you to lock in your 2025 VRC Champions Stakes betting tips in at the right price.

Check out our VRC Champions Stakes Betting page for more information on the bet types available and how to pick the VRC Champions Stakes results this Cup Carnival.

Arcadia Queen ($2.45 in 2020), Zaaki ($2.25 in 2021) – who also returned and won the 2022 Champions Stakes at $8 odds – and Via Sistina ($1.60 in 2024) are the last Champions Stakes favourites to salute for the punters.

VRC Champions Stakes (Mackinnon Stakes) Field

2025 Champions Stakes Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2025 VRC CHAMPIONS STAKES FORM GUIDE

2025 VRC Champions Stakes Nominations

Early nominations for the VRC Champions Stakes 2025 are taken on the Monday of race week – one day before the coveted Melbourne Cup Day card at Flemington.

2025 VRC Champions Stakes Final Field

The Mackinnon Stakes field is now known as the VRC Champions Stakes field as of 2022 and attracts the best weight-for-age spring gallopers coming off a lead-up run in the Group 1 Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) over the same distance and run under the same conditions two weeks earlier at Moonee Valley.

The Cox Plate produced 11 winners from 2008 – 2024 most recently Zaaki (4th in 2022) for his second Mackinnon Stakes victory and Chris Waller’s brilliant mare Via Sistina (2024) who did the double.

The official VRC Champions Stakes 2025 Final Field & Barriers are announced on the Wednesday of race week and will be available in full below once announced.

VRC Champions Stakes (Mackinnon Stakes) Barrier & Speedmap

VRC Champions Stakes (Mackinnon Stakes) History

First run in 1869, the first winner of the Mackinnon Stakes was the famous racehorse Glencoe. Named after former VRC chairman L.K.S. Mackinnon, the event has seen many winners go on to win the Melbourne Cup including At Talaq in 1986, Empire Rose in 1998, Let’s Elope in 1991 and Rogan Josh in 1999.

The triple win was claimed by Wakeful after winning the Mackinnon Stakes three years in a row in 1901 to 1903. However, plenty of horses have managed to dually win the race including Eurythmic in 1920-21; Phar Lap in 1930-31; Peter Pan in 1932, 1934; Beau Vite in 1940-41; Tranquil Star in 1944-45; Comic Court in 1949-50; Rising Fast in 1954-55; Belmura Lad in 1980-81; and Zaaki in 2021-22.

The Mackinnon Stakes was originally known as the Emirates Stakes prior to being renamed in 2016. In 2016 the former Mackinnon Stakes race was renamed the Emirates Stakes and moved from Derby Day to Mackinnon Stakes Day during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

In 2022 the Mackinnon Stakes was renamed the Champions Stakes.

In 2024 Via Sistina completed the Cox Plate – Champions Stakes double winning the former by eight lengths and the latter by 2.75!

VRC Champions Stakes (Mackinnon Stakes) Previous Race Winners

Look through the winners of the Champions Stakes since 2020.