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PB Lawrence Stakes News

Memsie Stakes 2025 Target for P.B. Lawrence Stakes Winner Private Eye

• Private Eye Heads 2025 P.B. Lawrence Stakes Field & Odds

The PB Lawrence Stakes is the first Group 2 race during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Held at Caulfield Racecourse in mid-August, the 1400m event is held on the same day as the Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m) for colts and geldings and the Group 3 Quezette Stakes (1100m) for the fillies. Worth $300,000 in prize money as of 2021, the weight-for-age race is open to all horses aged three years and over.

2025 PB Lawrence Stakes Results

• 1st: #1 Private Eye ($3.10F)
• 2nd: #5 Desert Lightning
• 3rd: #2 Here To Shock

A return to the track and trip for the Group 1 Memsie Stakes on August 30 could be on the cards for Joe Pride’s veteran sprinter-miler Private Eye ($3.10F) after his impressive two-length first-up win for the punters in the 2025 P.B. Lawrence Stakes results.

Click here for the full story.

Formerly known as the JJ Liston Stakes, the race name was changed to the P.B. Lawrence Stakes in 2010.

The PB Lawrence Stakes is a nice lead up race to the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) held a fortnight later at Caulfield, which marks the start of elite level racing for the new season in Melbourne. The only horses to manage the P.B. Lawrence Stakes/Memsie Stakes double in the past 30 years are Regal Roller (2004) and Mr Brightside (2023) nearly a decade apart.

The PB Lawrence Stakes generally attracts an above average group of gallopers many eyeing a tougher run in something like October’s Group 1 W.S. Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley later in the season.

The PB Lawrence Stakes form from 2021 was franked with the winner, Sierra Sue, going on to win that spring’s Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) and the following autumn’s 2022 Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m).

The 2022 PB Lawrence Stakes winner Mr Brightside franked the form returning in the autumn of 2023 to complete the All-Star Mile – Doncaster Mile double.

Mr Brightside returned in 2023 to become the first horse in 52 years to go back-to-back in the P.B. Lawrence Stakes results when saluting as the $2.35 favourite first-up.

He then franked the Lawrence Stakes form again taking out the Group 1 Memsie Stakes – Makybe Diva Stakes double in Melbourne at his next two starts. He then finished second in his three subsequent spring assignments at elite level in the King Charles III Stakes, Cox Plate, and Champions Mile. His autumn campaign in 2024 was equally as impressive and included wins in the CF Orr and Futurity Stakes.

The 2024 PB Lawrence Stakes form was franked with the winner, Gentleman Roy, running a next-up third in that year’s Memsie Stakes trifecta behind Pinstriped who won the Group 1 in on the back of a second in the PB Lawrence.

The 2025 PB Lawrence Stakes ran on Saturday, August 16, 2025 as a key early lead-up to the spring majors and was won in dominant two-length fashion by Joe Pride’s resuming favourite Private Eye ($3.10F).  

2025 PB Lawrence Stakes Finishing Order

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2025 PB Lawrence Stakes Betting

Betting market links to Ladbrokes.com.au offering the top PB Lawrence Stakes 2025 betting odds this Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival will be provided for punters at Races.com.au the week of the race.

Savatiano ($5 in 2020), Mr Brightside ($4 in 2022 and $2.35 in 2023) and Private Eye ($3.10 in 2025) are the last favourites in the PB Lawrence Stakes odds to salute for the punters.

2025 PB Lawrence Stakes Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2025 PB LAWRENCE STAKES FORM GUIDE

2025 PB Lawrence Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider PB Lawrence Stakes 2025 Tips on the important spring lead-up this season.

• To Win: #1 Private Eye ($3.60 at time of publish) – BET NOW

What an absolutely outstanding edition of the PB Lawrence, the depth of which has been further boosted by the cancellation of Sydney’s Missile Stakes last weekend. PRIVATE EYE (8) was my pick fresh in that abandoned event over less distance but I still like him for this “Plan B” campaign kick-off. Joe Pride’s dual The Everest placegetter is the classiest horse in the race and favourite to win even over the 200m extra. He’s got a great first-up record (11:4-1-2) and the $12.2 million earner has plenty of 1400m form too (6:1-2-2). Pride will have made the necessary adjustments to his work through the week to have him ready to go, and even though this is the eight-year-old’s first run at Caulfield, I think Rawiller will get him round the track okay. Last seen running third in Brisbane’s Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap and with a winning Warwick Farm trial at the start of the month he should be fit enough to salute for the punters.

2025 PB Lawrence Stakes Field

The official PB Lawrence Stakes 2025 field and barriers featuring a host of Group 1 bound gallopers will be announced by Racing Victoria the Wednesday leading up to the race and detailed below.

The 2025 PB Lawrence Stakes final field features 11 quality gallopers eyeing Group 1 runs over the spring including the resuming Joe Pride trained dual The Everest placed Private Eye, BCD Group Sprint winner in New Zealand Here To Shock, and his returning stablemate Evaporate who ran second in the inaugural The Kiwi slot race across the Tasman.

Click here to read more on the key runners in the PB Lawrence Stakes 2025 field and betting markets.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2025 PB Lawrence Stakes Nominations

PB Lawrence Stakes 2025 nominations close the Monday of race week with the full list of early entries to be published here once announced.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

PB Lawrence Stakes History

First won by One Up in 1949, the JJ Liston Stakes was a 10 furlong race until 1968 when it became a 7 furlong race until 1972. After it became a 1400m race, it was quickly elevated to Group Two status.

Since its inauguration My Peak (1960, 1962) and Tauto (1971, 1972) were the only horses to successfully win the race twice before the back-to-back wins by Mr Brightside (2022 and 2023) a half-century later.

The 2007 winner Apache Cat ran a successful campaign after his PB Lawrence Stakes win as he ran second in the Makybe Diva Stakes and then won several Group 1 races. Apache Cat also holds the race’s fastest winning time record with 1 minute 22.1 seconds.

Plenty of classy horses have won the PB Lawrence Stakes in recent years including five-time Group 1 winner Shoot Out who went on to win dual editions of Sydney’s Chipping Norton Stakes and Cox Plate / Melbourne Cup place-getter Hartnell.

In 2019 the PB Lawrence Stakes was won by classy filly Mystic Journey who won the inaugural $5 million The All-Star Mile at Flemington off the back of her Group 1 Australian Guineas success when becoming the first elite level winner trained in Tasmania for over 100 years that autumn.

Mr Brightside (2022-23) is the latest dual PB Lawrence Stakes champion.

Lindsay Park Racing made it three straight wins in the event in 2024 with Gentleman Roy saluting for the stable.

Recent PB Lawrence Stakes Winners

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