---

---

The William Reid Stakes is one of the quality Group 1 races held at the esteemed Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne. Taking place under the lights at the Valley in March each year, this 1200m sprint is conducted under weight-for-age conditions and offers prize money of $1,000,000 as of 2022.

Today the race is held as the feature race of the William Reid Stakes Night along with the Group 2 Sunline Stakes (1600m) as the final Group 1 meeting of the Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival.

There are a number of excellent lead-up races held earlier in the Melbourne Autumn Carnival that serve as a good guide for you William Reid Stakes wagers. The Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) at Flemington is one such trial race punters should keep an eye on. That earlier race’s namesake, Black Caviar (2013), was the last sprinter to complete the Lightning – William Reid Stakes double.

The other key lead-up race is the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) run down the famous Flemington straight a fortnight before. The Newmarket Handicap – William Reid Stakes double was last achieved by Sunlight (2019).

In 2020 the same three horses filled the trifecta in both the Newmarket Handicap (Bivouac, Loving Gaby, Gytrash) and the William Reid Stakes (Loving Gaby, Gytrash, Bivouac).

The 2021 William Reid Stakes winner Masked Crusader went on to run second to Nature Strip in that spring’s $15 million The Everest race in Sydney.

The 2022 William Reid Stakes winner September Run came off a third in the Newmarket Handicap to post her first victory since the 2020 Coolmore Stud Stakes. She went on to frank the William Reid Stakes form running third next-up in Adelaide’s Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m). The William Reid Stakes runner-up Halvorsen further franked the form in Adelaide that season finishing second in the Group 1 The Goodwood (1200m).

In 2023 the William Reid Stakes winner Imperatriz came off a Sydney lead-up having run second in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) leading up to her Moonee Valley Group 1 victory.

The 2023 William Reid Stakes took place under the lights at The Valley on Friday March 24th, 2023 and was won by the New Zealand-trained favourite Imperatriz ($3.60F). 

William Reid Stakes 2023
Date:	Friday March 24th, 2023
Track:	Moonee Valley Racecourse
Distance:	1200m
Conditions:	Weight-for-age
Status:	Group 1
Prize Money:	$1,000,000
Inaugurated:	1925

2023 William Reid Stakes Results

• 1st: #11 Imperatriz ($3.60F)
• 2nd: #8 Bella Nipotina
• 3rd: #9 Roch ‘N’ Horse

Mark Walker’s star Kiwi mare Imperatriz ($3.60F) was huge at Moonee Valley on Friday night posting her fifth elite level victory and first Australian Group 1 success with an emphatic victory in the William Reid Stakes 2023 results.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	11	IMPERATRIZ	Mark Walker	Opie Bosson		7	56.5kg		$3.60F
	2	8	BELLA NIPOTINA	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Melham	1L	12	56.5kg		$8.50
	3	9	ROCH ’N’ HORSE (NZ)	Michael Moroney	Jamie Mott	2.25L	9	56.5kg		$26
	4	10	SEPTEMBER RUN	Chris Waller	Nash Rawiller	2.45L	6	56.5kg		$20
	5	4	A CASE OF YOU (IRE)	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Mark Zahra	2.55L	10	58.5kg		$31
	6	3	KING OF SPARTA	Peter & Paul Snowden	John Allen	2.65L	11	58.5kg		$15
	7	13	BABYLON BERLIN	Ben Foote	Blake Shinn	5.9L	2	56.5kg		$6.50
	8	6	FRONT PAGE	Geoff Duryea	Patrick Moloney	6.3L	8	58.5kg		$21
	9	12	CHAIN OF LIGHTNING	Peter G Moody	Luke Nolen	7.55L	3	56.5kg		$17
	10	7	JIGSAW	Cindy Alderson	Daniel Moor	7.65L	5	58.5kg		$8
	11	5	IN THE CONGO	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	8.65L	1	58.5kg		$7
	12	1	MASKED CRUSADER	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jye McNeil	10.65L	4	58.5kg		$21
		14	BENEDETTA	Jason Warren	Daniel Stackhouse		0
		2	PAULELE	James Cummings	Damien Oliver		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 William Reid Stakes Betting Odds

The latest William Reid Stakes 2023 betting odds for the last of the Melbourne Autumn Group 1 races will be available below as soon as open at Ladbrokes.com.au.

Sunline ($1.70 in 2019) and Imperatriz ($3.60 in 2023) are the last favourites in William Reid Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

There was a huge result in 2022 with September Run ($17) defeating two $61 roughies home in a race where the odds-on favourite Marabi ran fifth.

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

2023 William Reid Stakes Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 WILLIAM REID STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 William Reid Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our exclusive William Reid Stakes 2023 Tips on the Friday night autumn sprint at The Valley.

• To Win: #7 Jigsaw ($7.50 at time of publish) 

Open edition of the William Reid with some class horses returning, and some other runners shorter in the markets but better in Sydney. The form horse with the fitness edge looking very hard to knock at attractive odds is Cindy Alderson’s Manhattan Rain four-year-old Jigsaw. The gun galloper comes off four straight wins including a big 2.5 length victory here in the Group 2 Australia Stakes (1200m) last start. Proven at the track and distance he is rising through the grades beautifully. Needs to go to another level again here in Group 1 company under the lights on Friday night, but is ticking plenty of boxes and gets the run of the race from barrier five with Daniel Moor continuing associations.

2023 William Reid Stakes Field

Each autumn the William Reid Stakes field attracts a smart line-up of proven Group 1 sprinters out of earlier lead-up races including the Oakleigh Plate and Newmarket Handicap. Horses out of the field may continue onto Sydney’s Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) the following weekend at Royal Randwick. Black Caviar (2013) was the last winner of the William Reid Stakes – TJ Smith Stakes double.

The 2023 William Reid Stakes field will be announced below the Wednesday before the race and published in full below.

The William Reid Stakes 2023 final field features a talented line-up of sprint types with updated markets with the Mark Walker-trained Imperatriz from across the Tasman leading markets on the back of her good Canterbury Stakes second last time out. 

Click here to read more on the key runners in the 2023 William Reid Stakes field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	79x63900x0	MASKED CRUSADER	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jye McNeil	4	58.5kg		108
2	22x61801x8	PAULELE	James Cummings	Damien Oliver	14	58.5kg		111
3	9x6146x114	KING OF SPARTA	Peter & Paul Snowden	John Allen	12	58.5kg		106
4	x12130x00x	A CASE OF YOU (IRE)	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Mark Zahra	10	58.5kg		114
5	x329x6272x	IN THE CONGO	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	1	58.5kg		106
6	2x104x10x8	FRONT PAGE	Geoff Duryea	Patrick Moloney	8	58.5kg		98
7	11867×1111	JIGSAW	Cindy Alderson	Daniel Moor	5	58.5kg		105
8	55x1219x30	BELLA NIPOTINA	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Melham	13	56.5kg		111
9	10x4221x00	ROCH ’N’ HORSE (NZ)	Michael Moroney	Jamie Mott	9	56.5kg		113
10	3135x84x40	SEPTEMBER RUN	Chris Waller	Nash Rawiller	6	56.5kg		110
11	x1148x1112	IMPERATRIZ	Mark Walker	Opie Bosson	7	56.5kg		114
12	111310×389	CHAIN OF LIGHTNING	Peter G Moody		3	56.5kg		104
13	x09xL22221	BABYLON BERLIN	Ben Foote	Blake Shinn	2	56.5kg		105
14	31111	BENEDETTA	Jason Warren	Daniel Stackhouse	11	54kg		88

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

William Reid Stakes Nominations

The official 2023 William Reid Stakes nominations close the Monday before the race and will be available right here once announced.

The William Reid Stakes 2023 nominations attracted 16 autumn sprinters led in all-in betting by star Group 1 winning New Zealand-trained mare Imperatriz coming off a close second first-up down under in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) in Sydney.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp Rating
1	x12130x00x	A CASE OF YOU (IRE)	H	5	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	114
2	x09xL22221	BABYLON BERLIN	M	5	Ben Foote
3	55x1219x30	BELLA NIPOTINA	M	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	111
4	31111	BENEDETTA	F	3	Jason Warren	88
5	111310×389	CHAIN OF LIGHTNING	M	4	Peter G Moody	104
6	2x104x10x8	FRONT PAGE	G	6	Geoff Duryea	98
7	x1148x1112	IMPERATRIZ	M	4	Mark Walker	114
8	x329x6272x	IN THE CONGO	H	4	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	106
9	11867×1111	JIGSAW	G	4	Cindy Alderson	105
10	9x6146x114	KING OF SPARTA	G	4	Peter & Paul Snowden	106
11	11x11115x8	MARABI	M	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	111
12	79x63900x0	MASKED CRUSADER	G	6	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	108
13	1111x4x1	PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE	M	4	Grahame Begg	108
14	22x61801x8	PAULELE	H	4	James Cummings	111
15	10x4221x00	ROCH ’N’ HORSE (NZ)	M	6	Michael Moroney	113
16	3135x84x40	SEPTEMBER RUN	M	5	Chris Waller	110

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

William Reid Stakes History

The race is named after the renowned racehorse owner and banker William Reid. The race reached the peak of its prestige in 2005, and for two years was held as the second leg of the Global Sprint Challenge. It has now been replaced by The Age Classic.

First run in 1925, the William Reid Stakes was held over 6 furlongs until 1973 when Australia’s adoption of the metric system converted the distance to 1200m. Beginning as a Principal race, the William Reid Stakes reached group 2 status in 1980 and was finally elevated to its current Group 1 position in 1987. The race name was changed from the William Reid Stakes to the Australia Made Stakes in 1994 and then finally became known as the Australia Stakes from 1996 onwards. In 2010 the race name changed back to the William Reid Stakes.

A top quality field of sprinters compete in the William Reid Stakes each year and notable winners include Masked Crusader (2021), The Valley specialist Loving Gaby (2020), Sunlight (2019), Black Caviar (2001 & 13), Apache Cat (2008 & 2009), Hareeba (1995), Redelva (1991) and Zeditave (1989).

Recent William Reid Stakes Winners

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 William Reid Stakes	1st	Imperatriz	1 minute 10.55 seconds
	2nd	Bella Nipotina
	3rd	Roch ‘N’ Horse
2022 William Reid Stakes	1st	September Run	1 minute 9.92 seconds
	2nd	Halvorsen
	3rd	General Beau
2021 William Reid Stakes	1st	Masked Crusader	1 minute 9.29 seconds
	2nd	Portland Sky
	3rd	Libertini
2020 William Reid Stakes	1st	Loving Gaby	1 minute 9.44 seconds
	2nd	Gytrash
	3rd	Bivouac
2019 William Reid Stakes	1st	Sunlight	1 minute 9.77 seconds
	2nd	Spright
	3rd	Ellicazoom
2018 William Reid Stakes	1st	Hellbent	1 minute 9.36 seconds
	2nd	Thronum
	3rd	Catchy
2017 William Reid Stakes	1st	Silent Sedition	1 minute 10.11 seconds
	2nd	Hellbent
	3rd	Star Turn
2016 William Reid Stakes	1st	Flamberge	1 minute 09.85 seconds
	2nd	Holler
	3rd	Japonisme
2015 William Reid Stakes	1st	Lucky Hussler	1 minute 10.36 seconds
	2nd	Vain Queen
	3rd	Griante
2014 William Reid Stakes	1st	Spirit Of Boom	1 minute 11.17 seconds
	2nd	Fontelina
	3rd	Unpretentious
2013 William Reid Stakes	1st	Black Caviar	1 minute 11.08 seconds
	2nd	Karuta Queen
	3rd	Fawkner
2012 William Reid Stakes	1st	Foxwedge	1 minute 10.2 seconds
	2nd	Hay List
	3rd	Buffering
2011 William Reid Stakes	1st	Black Caviar	1 minute 10.0 seconds
	2nd	Crystal Lily
	3rd	Hinchinbrook
2010 William Reid Stakes	1st	Turffontein	1 minute 11.67 seconds
	2nd	Wanted
	3rd	Sniper’s Bullet
2009 Australia Stakes	1st	Apache Cat	1 minute 9.6 seconds
	2nd	Vormista
	3rd	Time Thief
2008 Australia Stakes	1st	Apache Cat	1 minute 9.6 seconds
	2nd	Stanzout
	3rd	Monet Rules
2007 Australia Stakes	1st	Miss Andrettie	1 minute 10.2 seconds
	2nd	Any Suggestion
	3rd	Rewaaya
2006 Australia Stakes	1st	Virage De Fortune	1 minute 10 seconds
	2nd	Rewaaya
	3rd	Undue
2005 Australia Stakes	1st	Cape Of Good Hop	1 minute 10.3 seconds
	2nd	Super Elegant
	3rd	Spark Of Life
2004 Australia Stakes	1st	Regimental Gal	1 minute 10.3 seconds
	2nd	Our Egyptian Raine
	3rd	Legally Bay
2003 Australia Stakes	1st	Yell	1 minute 10.5 seconds
	2nd	Dash For Cash
	3rd	Spinning Hill
2002 Australia Stakes	1st	Toledo	1 minute 11.8 seconds
	2nd	Show A Heart
	3rd	North Boy
2001 Australia Stakes	1st	Bomber Bill	1 minute 11.4 seconds
	2nd	Scenic Warrior
	3rd	Nina Haraka
2000 Australia Stakes	1st	Miss Pennymoney	1 minute 10.7 seconds
	2nd	Redoutes Choice
	3rd	St Chrisoph