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The Hill Stakes is a Group 2 weight-for-age race held at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse in late September or early October as part of the bumper Epsom Handicap Day line-up. Epsom Handicap Day takes place on the same Saturday as Melbourne’s AFL Grand Final and is headlined by three Group 1 races: the Epsom Handicap (1600m), The Metropolitan (2400m) and the Flight Stakes (1600m) for three-year-old fillies.

Contested over 1800m, the $500,000 Hill Stakes is a nice race for spring staying types starting to warm-up towards a possible Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival bid and a target race like the Group 1 $3 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley at the end of October.

Horses may come into the Hill Stakes field via a lead-up run in the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) at Randwick three weeks earlier, a double recently completed by Trusting (2011) and Hartnell (2016). Hartnell went on to run second to superstar mare Winx in the Cox Plate results of 2016 and third in that year’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m).

This year the Hill Stakes 2017 ran on September 30th, 2017, 2017.

2017 Hill Stakes
Date:	September 30th, 2017, 2017
Track:	Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	1800m
Race Type:	Weight-for-age
Status:	Group 2
Prize Money:	$500,000

2017 Hill Stakes Results

• 1st: #7 Classic Uniform
• 2nd: #8 Embley
• 3rd: #4 Mackintosh

Check out the official Hill Stakes 2017 Results & Finishing Order below, clicking on the link to ready more about the gutsy all-the-way win by Classic Uniform who was too tough for his rivals holding out Embley and the beaten race favourite Mackintosh for the win.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Br.	Wgt.	SP
1	7	CLASSIC UNIFORM	Gary Moore	Michael Walker	–	5	59kg	$7.50
2	8	EMBLEY	Bjorn Baker	Jason Collett	0.2L	3	59kg	$10
3	4	MACKINTOSH (NZ)	Chris Waller	Joao Moreira	2.7L	6	59kg	$2.80F
4	5	MAURUS (GB)	John P Thompson	Blake Spriggs	3L	9	59kg	$19
5	6	SPECTROSCOPE (USA)	James Cummings	Kerrin McEvoy	3.1L	2	59kg	$6
6	9	SHALMANESER	Richard Litt	Tye Angland	3.2L	7	59kg	$101
7	10	PERFECT RHYME	Ron Leemon	Tim Clark	4.1L	8	56kg	$6
8	1	SENSE OF OCCASION	Kris Lees	Corey Brown	5.5L	4	59kg	$7.50
9	3	HAVANA COOLER (IRE)	James Cummings	Glyn Schofield	10.1L	1	59kg	$31
–	2	RED EXCITEMENT	Gerald Ryan	Brenton Avdulla	–	0	–	–

2017 Hill Stakes Tips

• 1st: #4 Mackintosh
• 2nd: #8 Embley
• 3rd: #10 Perfect Rhyme

Mackintosh is the clear favourite ($2.90) and is definitely the one to beat. Chris Waller’s Pins five-year-old is down in class after the fifth to superstar stablemate Winx in the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) and will find this easier. Has winning form up to 2200m so will also enjoy the extra distance going up to 1800m. At this meeting last spring he ran third in the Epsom Handicap just a quarter-length off the winner and he looks tough to get past here with Joao Moreira in the saddle. Embley misses the Epsom Handicap in favour of this and the Bjorn Baker-trained six-year-old comes off back-to-back mile wins at Randwick. Has won over this distance (and further), is proven at weight-for-age but does need to make a notable class rise. Prefect Rhyme ($7.50) is also at single-figures after her eye-catching second to Zanbagh in the Group 3 Tibbie Stakes (1400m) at Newcastle on September 15 and has claims.

2017 Hill Stakes Betting

Hill Stakes betting is traditionally led by gallopers coming off an earlier Sydney run in a race like the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes or Group 1 George Main Stakes, both run over the Randwick mile.

The latest Hill Stakes 2017 odds and betting links to the markets at Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below as soon as released.

2017 Hill Stakes Field

The Hill Stakes field attracts a quality line-up of gallopers each spring, many of which head south later during the carnival to contest the Melbourne majors like the Cox Plate.

The official 2017 Hill Stakes field of final acceptances and barrier draw will be released on the Wednesday leading-up to Epsom Handicap Day and will be published in full below.

The Hill Stakes 2017 Final Field features just 9 hopefuls after Red Excitement, who has form around Winx, scratched out in favour of a run over the mile in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap field at the same meeting. The Bjorn Baker-trained Embley was also a dual acceptor for the Hill Stakes and Epsom Handicap, the in-form six-year-old coming off back-to-back wins over the Randwick mile and has scratched out of the Group 1 in favour of the easier Hill Stakes assignment.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	x12x3361x8	SENSE OF OCCASION	Kris Lees	Corey Brown	4	59kg	112
2	311255×427	RED EXCITEMENT	Gerald Ryan	Brenton Avdulla	6	59kg	106
3	3x1333x0x7	HAVANA COOLER (IRE)	James Cummings	Glyn Schofield	1	59kg	103
4	13540x0x65	MACKINTOSH (NZ)	Chris Waller	Joao Moreira	7	59kg	103
5	028x337x76	MAURUS (GB)	John P Thompson	Blake Spriggs	10	59kg	100
6	33x1106x73	SPECTROSCOPE (USA)	James Cummings	Kerrin McEvoy	2	59kg	100
7	144×802225	CLASSIC UNIFORM	Gary Moore	TBA	5	59kg	98
8	2210×67911	EMBLEY	Bjorn Baker	Jason Collett	3	59kg	91
9	53324658×8	SHALMANESER	Richard Litt	TBA	8	59kg	78
10	x931422x62	PERFECT RHYME	Ron Leemon	Tim Clark	9	56kg	86

2017 Hill Stakes Nominations

The 2017 Hill Stakes nominations are taken by Racing NSW on the Monday of race week and the full list of early Hill Stakes entries will be available here once announced.

In 2017 the Hill Stakes attracted 17 nominations led by the Chris Waller-trained mare Foxplay, the Group 1 winning daughter of Foxwedge coming off a third to her star stablemate Winx in the George Main Stakes a fortnight ago. Foxplay also holds an entry for the day’s Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) where she will get in on 54kg compared to 56kg in the Hill Stakes.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	x12x3361x8	SENSE OF OCCASION	G	7	Kris Lees	1=	59kg	112
2	4x24141x23	FOXPLAY	M	4	Chris Waller	1=	56kg	112
3	55x3642x94	WHO SHOT THEBARMAN (NZ)	G	9	Chris Waller	3	59kg	108
4	480×350112	SOUND PROPOSITION (NZ)	G	6	Kris Lees	4=	59kg	107
5	670x910x56	HEAVENS ABOVE	M	6	Tim Martin	4=	57kg	107
6	10x8747x46	HE’S OUR ROKKII (NZ)	G	5	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	6=	59kg	106
7	311255×427	RED EXCITEMENT	G	8	Gerald Ryan	6=	59kg	106
8	x156495x84	MCCREERY (GB)	G	6	Chris Waller	8	59kg	105
9	0x0D71x000	AMRALAH (IRE)	H	8	Robert Hickmott	9	59kg	104
10	3x1333x0x7	HAVANA COOLER (IRE)	G	8	James Cummings	10=	59kg	103
11	13540x0x65	MACKINTOSH (NZ)	G	5	Chris Waller	10=	59kg	103
12	028x337x76	MAURUS (GB)	G	7	John P Thompson	12=	59kg	100
13	33x1106x73	SPECTROSCOPE (USA)	H	5	James Cummings	12=	59kg	100
14	144×802225	CLASSIC UNIFORM	G	5	Gary Moore	14	59kg	98
15	2210×67911	EMBLEY	G	6	Bjorn Baker	15	59kg	91
16	x931422x62	PERFECT RHYME	M	4	Ron Leemon	16	56kg	86
17	53324658×8	SHALMANESER	G	7	Richard Litt	17	59kg	78

Hill Stakes History

First held in 1921 and won by Beauford, the Hill Stakes was originally a 10 furlong race which was then changed to 1750m up until 1990 and again in 2001. In 2011, the race began to be run over 2000m. The race was not held in 2007 however there have been plenty of double winners in this event including Phar Lap.

Hill Stakes double winners: Desert War (2005-06), Toi Port (1963-64), Redcraze (1956-57), Hydrogen (1952-53), Yaralla (1942-43), Gold Rod (1938-39), Chatham (1933-34), Peter Pan III (1932, 35), Phar Lap (1930-31), Limerick (1927-28) and The Hawk (1923,25).

Recent Hill Stakes Winners

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2018 Hill Stakes	1st	TBD	TBD
	2nd	TBD
	3rd	TBD
2017 Hill Stakes	1st	Classic Uniform	1 minute 49.98 seconds
	2nd	Embley
	3rd	Mackintosh
2016 Hill Stakes	1st	Hartnell	2 minutes 4.11 seconds
	2nd	Who Shot Thebarman
	3rd	Storm The Stars
2015 Hill Stakes	1st	Preferment	2 minutes 6.81 seconds
	2nd	Magic Hurricane
	3rd	Complacent
2014 Hill Stakes	1st	Junoob	2 minutes 6.12 seconds
	2nd	Criterion
	3rd	Bagman
2013 Hill Stakes	1st	Moriarty	2 minutes 3.62 seconds
	2nd	Glencadam Gold
	3rd	Masked Marvel
2012 Hill Stakes	1st	Lamasery	2 minutes 6.25 seconds
	2nd	Mourayan
	3rd	Lights Of Heaven
2011 Hill Stakes	1st	Trusting	2 minutes 2.93 seconds
	2nd	Hawk Island
	3rd	Tullamore
2010 Hill Stakes	1st	Descarado	1 minute 56.48 seconds
	2nd	Triple Honour
	3rd	Purple
2009 Hill Stakes	1st	Miss Marielle	1 minute 56.13 seconds
	2nd	Pacino
	3rd	Roman Emperor
2008 Hill Stakes	1st	Fiumicino	1 minute 57.38 seconds
	2nd	Dealer Principal
	3rd	Hurrah
2007 Hill Stakes	Race Not Held
2006 Hill Stakes	1st	Desert War	1 minute 56.28 seconds
	2nd	Eremein
	3rd	Grand Zulu
2005 Hill Stakes	1st	Desert War	1 minute 56.67 seconds
	2nd	Portland Singa
	3rd	Dizelle
2004 Hill Stakes	1st	Natural Blitz	1 minute 56.62 seconds
	2nd	Vouvray
	3rd	Just Polite
2003 Hill Stakes	1st	Excellerator	1 minute 56.84 seconds
	2nd	Platinum Scissors
	3rd	Carnegie Express
2002 Hill Stakes	1st	Dress Circle	1 minute 56.63 seconds
	2nd	Bedouin
	3rd	Republic Lass
2001 Hill Stakes	1st	Mulan Princess	1 minute 47.02 seconds
	2nd	Altiero
	3rd	Dottoressa
2000 Hill Stakes	1st	Pasta Express	1 minute 57.83 seconds
	2nd	Pravda
	3rd	Padfoot Charlie