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Champions Stakes Tips News
Bet on Your 2025 Champions Stakes Tips
VRC Champions Stakes tips are available as soon as the 2025 Champions Stakes Field is released on the first Wednesday of November.
The Group 1 $3 million VRC Champions Stakes (2000m) – formerly known as the Mackinnon Stakes – is a weight-for-age event held on at Flemington Racecourse on the first Saturday of November, four days after the Melbourne Cup.
The best Champions Stakes tip is to check out the full 2025 Champion Stakes Form Guide – looking for any betting trends and indicators that line-up for the past Mackinnon Stakes / Champions Stakes winners in recent years.
Looking over the past Champions Stakes Results – for the old Mackinnon Stakes – can also help with your Champions Stakes betting for the current Melbourne Cup Carnival.
2025 VRC Champions Stakes Tips
The 2025 Champions Stakes tips will be published below as soon as the field is released during Melbourne Cup week 2025.
- To Win: TBD
Champions Stakes Lead Up Races
There are a number of important lead-up races to check the results of when looking for what horses to back and sack in the Champions Stakes Odds for 2025.
The key Champions Stakes lead-up race producing more winners of the weight-for-age Group 1 spring feature than any other race is the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) run over the same distance and conditions at Moonee Valley a fortnight earlier.
From 2005 – 2024 the Cox Plate produced 11 Emirates (Mackinnon) Stakes / Champions Stakes winners including So You Think (2010) and Via Sistina (2024) who completed the double – a popular punt with customers at Ladbrokes.com.au.
The Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) held in mid-October over the mile and a half is another good Champions Stakes form race to follow.
Champions Stakes Favourites
The Champions Stakes results over the past decade or so haven’t been all that successful for the horses jumping favourite in the race.
From 2005 – 2024 just five Emirates Stakes (Mackinnon Stakes) / VRC Champions Stakes favourites saluted for the punters with Lad Of The Manor (2005), So You Think (2010), Arcadia Queen (2020), Zaaki (2021), and Chris Waller’s odds-on mare Via Sistina ($1.60 in 2024).
That said, single-figure fancies in the Champions Stakes betting markets have dominated the results including five straight wins from 2010-2015 before a 2016 upset by Awesome Rock. The runners under $10 in Mackinnon Stakes betting were back in winning form in 2017 with the success of Tosen Stardom ($6.50). Another upset was on the cards in the 2018 Mackinnon Stakes results with the win by $26 outsider Trap For Fools. In 2019 the second favourite in betting Magic Wand ($4.80) beat home the top fancy Melody Belle ($3.80) in the Mackinnon Stakes quinella.
In 2022 Zaaki won the Champions Stakes at $8.
The 2023 Champions Stakes winner was Atishu at $8.50.
Atishu would return in 2024 and run second to her stablemate Via Sistina ($1.60F).
A top Champions Stakes betting tip then is to take the single-figure horses paying under $10 through Ladbrokes.com.au in the Champions Stakes betting markets, but to lay the favourite.
Place Exotic Champions Stakes Bets
If you’re looking to win big on the 2025 Champions Stakes results, look at placing an exotic bet on the race through Ladbrokes.com.au.
Exotic bet types like the Champions Stakes Trifecta are trickier to predict than just a straight Win bet but they pay out far more if successful.
Check out our detailed Champions Stakes Betting page for more about exotic betting on the 2025 Champions Stakes.
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