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The 2023 Missile Stakes is a Group 2 sprinting event raced over a distance of 1200m. The Missile Stakes is currently held at Rosehill Gardens every year around early August. The Missile Stakes is worth $300,000 as of 2023 and is open to horses aged three years and older.

Contested under weight-for-age conditions, the Missile Stakes field usually attracts a decent selection of sprinters looking to kick their spring racing campaign off with some black-type success. Many horses run first-up in the Missile Stakes and could move towards a tougher run south during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

In 2016 Rebel Dane ran second in the Missile Stakes and went on to win that October’s Group 1 Ladbrokes Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley. The 2016 Missile Stakes winner Tycoon Tara also went on to win a Group 1 the following year taking out Brisbane’s Tatt’s Tiara in 2017.

The Missile Stakes form was further franked in 2018 with the winner Pierata going on to win the 2019 All Aged Stakes after a number of other Group 1 placings.

The 2020 Missile Stakes champion Eduardo continued on to secure Group 1 wins in the 2021 The Galaxy and Doomben 10,000 the following year.

The event now serves as a possible early spring lead-up for horses chasing a slot in the coveted $20 million The Everest field at Randwick in October.

The Missile Stakes 2023 ran on Saturday August 5, 2023 at Rosehill Gardens as the opening Group race in Sydney for the season and was won in front-running fashion by the speedy favourite I Am Me ($2.40F) from the Maher/Eustace stable. 

Missile Stakes
Date:	Saturday August 5, 2023
Track:	Rosehill Gardens
Distance:	1200m
Race Type:	3YO+ Weight-for-age
Status:	Group 2
Prize Money:	$300,000

2023 Missile Stakes Results

• 1st: #11 I Am Me ($2.40F)
• 2nd: #6 Dragonstone
• 3rd: #9 Deepour

The Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Group 1 performed daughter of I Am Invincible, I Am Me ($2.40F), used her sustained speed to lead all-the-way and salute for the punters in the 2023 Missile Stakes results to make it three-from-three at the Rosehill track.

The event was marred by the tragic death of the Joe Pride-trained Big Parade who went amiss mid-way down the straight and was subsequently euthanised due to a suspected fractured shoulder.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	11	I AM ME	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Tim Clark		1	54kg		$2.40F
	2	6	DRAGONSTONE	Joseph Pride	Tom Sherry	1.71L	10	56kg		$26
	3	9	DEEPOUR	Adam Campton	Ryan Maloney	2.88L	7	56kg		$17
	4	10	ARGENTIA	Joseph Pride	Regan Bayliss	3.31L	3	54.5kg		$19
	5	8	WEWILLROCK (NZ)	John O’Shea	Tyler Schiller	3.42L	5	56kg		$17
	6	3	ROCKETING BY	David Pfieffer	Jason Collett	5.44L	6	56.5kg		$26
	7	2	INGRATIATING	James Cummings	Zac Lloyd (a)	5.71L	9	56.5kg		$10
	8	7	FENDER	Brett Cavanough	Adam Hyeronimus	7.18L	8	56kg		$81
	9	1	GOLDEN MILE	James Cummings	James McDonald	59.54L	2	59kg		$6
	FF	4	BIG PARADE	Joseph Pride	Joshua Parr		4	56kg		$4
		5	UCALLEDIT (NZ)	Kris Lees	Dylan Gibbons (a)		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Missile Stakes Betting Odds

The season’s latest Missile Stakes 2023 betting odds and market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below the week of the race.

Alizee ($1.30 in 2019), Eduardo ($2.30 in 2020), and I Am Me ($2.40 in 2023) are the latest favourites in Missile Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

There was a notable upset in the 2022 Missile Stakes with Hard Empire winning at 70/1!

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

2023 Missile Stakes Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 MISSILE STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 Missile Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Missile Stakes 2023 Tips on the popular early season sprint.

• To Win: #11 I Am Me ($3.90 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Resuming I Am Invincible mare from the ace Maher/Eustace stable looks a terrific first-up hope in this year’s Missile Stakes ahead of bigger, upcoming spring targets. She has a lovely record fresh and is two-from-two at the Rosehill track. A seven-time winner from 13 starts to date, the now five-year-old has looked strong in back-to-back winning trials ahead of the Missile. She was far from disgraced last time out back in February’s Group 1 Oakleigh Plate in Melbourne when seventh but only two lengths beaten. Is up to this in a winnable edition of the Group 2.

2023 Missile Stakes Field

The Missile Stakes field often attracts top class sprinters heading towards the Group 1 sprints of the spring. Following a run in the Missile Stakes field, gallopers may back-up in another Sydney feature including the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) a fortnight later back at the track.

In 2014 Sweet Idea won the Missile Stakes before finishing second next-up in the Memsie Stakes in Melbourne. She also placed fourth in that year’s Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m), won the Group 2 Tristarc Stakes (1400m) and ran second in the Group 1 Myer Classic (1600m) at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

The official Missile Stakes 2023 Final Field & Barriers will be released and published in full below on the Wednesday of race week.

The 2023 Missile Stakes field features a quality line-up of spring-bound hopefuls including dual acceptor Ingratiating coming off a Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes win in Melbourne and the Group 1 performed I Am Me first-up from gate one.

Click here to read more on the key horses in the Missile Stakes 2023 field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	1411x2400x	GOLDEN MILE	James Cummings	James McDonald	2	59kg			104
2	73x1200x51	INGRATIATING	James Cummings	Zac Lloyd (a)	9	56.5kg			104
3	8915x6760x	ROCKETING BY	David Pfieffer	Jason Collett	6	56.5kg			104
4	x13114x23x	BIG PARADE	Joseph Pride	Joshua Parr	4	56kg			108
5	1113×00911	UCALLEDIT (NZ)	Kris Lees	Dylan Gibbons (a)	10	56kg			105
6	60332×5232	DRAGONSTONE	Joseph Pride	Tom Sherry	11	56kg			93
7	343538531x	FENDER	Brett Cavanough	Adam Hyeronimus	8	56kg			93
8	x31x431231	WEWILLROCK (NZ)	John O’Shea	Tyler Schiller	5	56kg			90
9	31111×3143	DEEPOUR	Adam Campton	Ryan Maloney	7	56kg			88
10	x2910x500x	ARGENTIA	Joseph Pride	Regan Bayliss	3	54.5kg			98
11	146x11117x	I AM ME	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Tim Clark	1	54kg			10

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Missile Stakes Nominations

The early Missile Stakes 2023 Nominations are announced by Racing NSW on the Monday leading-up to the race and will be available below as soon as released.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	x13114x23x	BIG PARADE	G	7	Joseph Pride	1	56kg			108
2	1113×00911	UCALLEDIT (NZ)	G	6	Kris Lees	2	56kg			105
3	1411x2400x	GOLDEN MILE	H	4	James Cummings	3=	59kg			104
4	73x1200x51	INGRATIATING	H	5	James Cummings	3=	56.5kg			104
5	8915x6760x	ROCKETING BY	G	6	David Pfieffer	3=	56.5kg			104
6	146x11117x	I AM ME	M	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	6	54kg			103
7	x2910x500x	ARGENTIA	M	5	Joseph Pride	7	54.5kg			98
8	60332×5232	DRAGONSTONE	G	5	Joseph Pride	8=	56kg			93
9	343538531x	FENDER	G	7	Brett Cavanough	8=	56kg			93
10	6x06441x22	MUCH MUCH BETTER	G	6	Sara Ryan	10=	56kg			92
11	60455×8114	CHASSIS	M	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	10=	54kg			92
12	x961322x43	SWEET RIDE	H	4	Annabel Neasham	12	56.5kg			91
13	x31x431231	WEWILLROCK (NZ)	G	5	John O’Shea	13	56kg			90
14	31111×3143	DEEPOUR	G	6	Adam Campton	14	56kg			88
15	106x9998x5	RANTING (NZ)	G	6	Nick Ryan	15	56kg			81

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Missile Stakes History

The Missile Stakes was inaugurated in 1978 as a Principal Race, prior to being reclassified as a Group 3 event in 1980. For the 2014 edition, the race was upgraded to Group 2. The Missile Stakes has been held at a few different venues over time, with Rosehill playing host until 2011, then Warwick Farm stepping in for 2012, before Randwick from 2013 – 2018.

The 2019 edition of the Missile Stakes saw the event move back to Rosehill Gardens Racecourse, while in 2021 the event took place at Randwick due to COVID-19.

In 2023 the Missile Stakes race day has moved back to Rosehill Gardens Racecourse. 

The Missile Stakes was initially raced over 1100m. In 2010, the race began to be raced over 1200m and has remained at that distance since. The Missile Stakes forms a popular double with the Premiere Stakes at Rosehill, which German Chocolate (2007) and Spark of Life (2004) have both managed to achieve.

Notable Missile Stakes winners include Commands (1999), Lonhro (2002) and Pompeii (2003). Missile Stakes results since 2000 are listed below.

Missile Stakes Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Missile Stakes	1st	I Am Me	1 minute 09.67 seconds
	2nd	Dragonstone
	3rd	Deepour
2022 Missile Stakes	1st	Hard Empire	1 minute 10.70 seconds
	2nd	Wandabaa
	3rd	Gem Song
2021 Missile Stakes	1st	Phobetor	1 minute 08.54 seconds
	2nd	Chat
	3rd	Fasika
2020 Missile Stakes	1st	Eduardo	1 minute 12.01 seconds
	2nd	Flit
	3rd	Imaging
2019 Missile Stakes	1st	Alizee	1 minute 11.25 seconds
	2nd	Invincible Gem
	3rd	Le Romain
2018 Missile Stakes	1st	Pierata	1 minute 8.41 seconds
	2nd	Kementari
	3rd	The Monstar
2017 Missile Stakes	1st	Invincible Gem	1 minute 11.8 seconds
	2nd	Le Romain
	3rd	The Monstar
2016 Missile Stakes	1st	Tycoon Tara	1 minute 15.6 seconds
	2nd	Rebel Dane
	3rd	Mount Nebo
2015 Missile Stakes	1st	Burbero	1 minute 09.1 seconds
	2nd	Weary
	3rd	Temple Of Boom
2014 Missile Stakes	1st	Sweet Idea	1 minute 09.4 seconds
	2nd	Messene
	3rd	Rebel Dane
2013 Missile Stakes	1st	Rain Affair	1 minute 10.8 seconds
	2nd	Mic Mac
	3rd	Title
2012 Missile Stakes	1st	Pinwheel	1 minute 09.7 seconds
	2nd	Centennial Park
	3rd	Rolling Pin
2011 Missile Stakes	1st	Rain Affair	1 minute 10.7 seconds
	2nd	Winter King
	3rd	Pinwheel
2010 Missile Stakes	1st	Love Conquers All	1 minute 12.4 seconds
	2nd	Danleigh
	3rd	Sniper’s Bullet
2009 Missile Stakes	1st	Teasing	1 minute 104.4 seconds
	2nd	Gold Trail
	3rd	Typhoon Zed
2008 Missile Stakes	1st	Captain Bax	1 minute 05.4 seconds
	2nd	Typhoon Zed
	3rd	Interfere
2007 Missile Stakes	1st	German Chocolate	1 minute 04.6 seconds
	2nd	La Montagna
	3rd	Vionneto
2006 Missile Stakes	1st	Imprisoned	1 minute 06.3 seconds
	2nd	Crimson Reign
	3rd	Mac’s Tune
2005 Missile Stakes	1st	Dance Hero	1 minute 02.8 seconds
	2nd	Snippetson
	3rd	Spark Of Life
2004 Missile Stakes	1st	Spark Of Life	1 minute 02.8 seconds
	2nd	Into The Night
	3rd	Dane Shadow
2003 Missile Stakes	1st	Pompeii	1 minute 03.7 seconds
	2nd	Academe
	3rd	Our Egyptian Raine
2002 Missile Stakes	1st	Lonhro	1 minute 03.5 seconds
	2nd	Ancient Song
	3rd	Notoire
2001 Missile Stakes	1st	Sportsbrat	1 minute 06.7 seconds
	2nd	Air She Goes
	3rd	Lonhro
2000 Missile Stakes	1st	Padstow	1 minute 03.8 seconds
	2nd	Wynciti
	3rd	Celestial Choir