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The  ATC Sapphire Stakes – not to be confused with Melbourne’s Group 3 Blue Sapphire Stakes – is a quality Group 2 race held towards the tail end of the esteemed Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival on Day 2 of ‘The Championships’ at Royal Randwick Racecourse.

Run on the second Saturday of April the Sapphire Stakes is a 1200m sprint run under set weights plus penalties by a field of fillies and mares. Offering $300,000 in prize money the race is conducted on the same day as four Group 1 autumn features.

The autumn’s richest race – the Group 1 $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) – headlines the meeting and is joined by the Sydney Cup (3200m), ATC Oaks (2400m), the Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) plus a host of Group 2 and 3 status support races.

Female sprinters may come into the Sapphire Stakes field via an earlier autumn run in the Group 3 Birthday Card Stakes (1200m) held at Rosehill in March on Golden Slipper Stakes Day. Held on Day 1 of ‘The Championships’ just a week before the Sapphire Stakes, the Group 3 PJ Bell Stakes (1200m) is another good lead-up.

The Birthday Card Stakes – Sapphire Stakes double was most recently completed by Quilista (2018).

A nice next-up option for Sapphire Stakes graduates could be the Group 3 Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) later in the month, a race the 2016 Sapphire Stakes winner Two Blue finished runner-up in. Fillies and mares may also come back and contest a harder race like the Group 1 BTC Cup (1200m) over the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival or head to Adelaide for the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m). Secret Agenda (2017) was the last mare to do the Sapphire Stakes – Robert Sangster Stakes double.

The ATC Sapphire Stakes 2018 ran on Saturday April 14, 2018 and saw Quilista lead all-the-way.

2018 Sapphire Stakes
Date:	Saturday April 14, 2018
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse, Sydney
Distance:	1200m
Conditions:	Fillies & Mares, Set Weights + Penalties
Status:	Group 2
Prizemoney:	$300,000
Inaugurated:	1998

2018 Sapphire Stakes Results

• 1st: #10 Quilista
• 2nd: #5 Ravi
• 3rd: #8 White Moss

Check out the official Sapphire Stakes 2018 Results & Finishing Order below, Darren Weir’s last start Birthday Card Stakes winner franking the form with a dominant all-the-way win from an outside barrier.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Br.	Weight	SP
1	10	QUILISTA	Darren Weir	Damian Lane	–	13	55kg	$5.50
2	5	RAVI	Peter & Paul Snowden	Kerrin McEvoy	1.8L	2	55kg	$7.50
3	8	WHITE MOSS	Jason Coyle	Michael Dee	2L	4	55kg	$13
4	14	INVINCIBELLA	Chris Waller	Brenton Avdulla	2.3L	5	54kg	$12
5	7	LUBITON	Bjorn Baker	Blake Shinn	2.5L	1	55kg	$15
6	2	GHISONI	James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	2.7L	3	56kg	$14
7	13	NIETA	John P Thompson	Corey Brown	3L	15	54kg	$17
8	18e	SLOW BURN	Les Bridge	Michael Walker	3.1L	9	54kg (cd 54.5kg)	$26
9	17e	SHAZEE LEE	Scott Singleton	Christian Reith	3.9L	11	55kg	$61
10	15	HETTY HEIGHTS	Kim Waugh	Andrew Adkins	4L	10	54kg	$71
11	3	SPRIGHT	Garry Frazer	Jay Ford	4.4L	7	55.5kg	$13
12	9	FARAWAY TOWN	Matthew Smith	Tim Clark	4.6L	16	55kg	$26
13	11	SUGAR BELLA	Kris Lees	Jason Collett	5L	12	55kg	$4.40F
14	16	FRAGONARD	James Cummings	Craig Williams	6.2L	14	54kg	$41
15	6	DANISH TWIST	Kris Lees	Ben Melham	8.2L	8	55kg	$51
16	4	RAIMENT	James Cummings	Glyn Schofield	10.1L	6	55.5kg	$19
–	1	SECRET AGENDA	Mick Price	Damien Oliver	–	0	–	–
–	12	PECANS	Joseph Pride	Joao Moreira	–	0	–	–

2018 Sapphire Stakes Odds

The latest Sapphire Stakes 2018 betting odds on the Randwick Group 2 for fillies and mares this autumn will be available below as soon as released by Ladbrokes.com.au.

2018 Sapphire Stakes Field

The ATC Sapphire Stakes field attracts a class line-up of fillies and mares looking to see out their prep with a lucrative Group 2 win or wind-up for a Group 1 target in Brisbane over the winter.

The official Sapphire Stakes 2018 field and barriers will be published in full below on the Wednesday of race week so stay tuned.

The 2018 Sapphire Stakes Final Field attracted the full 18 starters plus two emergencies including last start Birthday Card Stakes winner Quilista and the defending Sapphire Stakes winner Secret Agenda with work to do from the outside barrier carrying 58kg top weight.

Read more on the Sapphire Stakes 2018 Field & Odds.

Sapphire Stakes 2018 Field Update: The field will now include the two emergency runners after Secret Agenda (18) and Pecans (12) were scratched from the field.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	67x5114x19	SECRET AGENDA	Mick Price	Damien Oliver	18	58kg	111
2	6515x02x6x	GHISONI	James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	3	56kg	100
3	38483x90x1	SPRIGHT	Garry Frazer	Jay Ford	7	55.5kg	99
4	x17159x320	RAIMENT	James Cummings	Glyn Schofield	6	55.5kg	98
5	x493x134x4	RAVI	Peter & Paul Snowden	Kerrin McEvoy	2	55kg	102
6	0x7490x390	DANISH TWIST	Kris Lees	Ben Melham	8	55kg	100
7	0x1184216x	LUBITON	Bjorn Baker	Blake Shinn	1	55kg	98
8	71112x110x	WHITE MOSS	Jason Coyle	Michael Dee	4	55kg	97
9	23x444x118	FARAWAY TOWN	Matthew Smith	Tim Clark	17	55kg	95
10	13347×2811	QUILISTA	Darren Weir	Damian Lane	14	55kg	95
11	117×11112	SUGAR BELLA	Kris Lees	Jason Collett	13	55kg	95
12	x22x21121x	PECANS	Joseph Pride	Joao Moreira	12	55kg	87
13	4x33934x64	NIETA	John P Thompson	Corey Brown	16	54kg	99
14	6x1132741x	INVINCIBELLA	Chris Waller	Brenton Avdulla	5	54kg	97
15	38355330×3	HETTY HEIGHTS	Kim Waugh	Andrew Adkins	10	54kg	85
16	65512x1x42	FRAGONARD	James Cummings	Craig Williams	15	54kg	84
17e	171x90765x	SHAZEE LEE	Scott Singleton	Christian Reith	11	55kg	82
18e	36x1312x77	SLOW BURN	Les Bridge	Michael Walker	9	54kg	82

Sapphire Stakes History

First run in 1998 the inaugural Sapphire Stakes was won by What Can I Say. It began as a Listed race run over 1200m. The event gained Group 3 status in 2002 and not long after reached Group 2 status in 2006. Up until 2016 it ran as a Group 2 race before being downgraded back to a Group 3 autumn event for 2017, and then returned to Group 2 status for 2018.

Plenty of quality mares have won the Sapphire Stakes including Court (2009), Atlantic Jewel (2012) and Cosmic Endeavour (2014).

Sapphire Stakes Records:
Race Record:	1:08.9 set by Atlantic Jewel in 2012
Most Successful Jockey:	R.S. Dye claimed three successive Sapphire Stakes with What Can I Say (1998), Little Pattie (1999) and Spinning Hill (2000).
Multiple Winners:	Spinning Hill (2000 & 2001).

Recent Sapphire Stakes Winners

See below for a full list of Sapphire Stakes winners and results going back to 2000.

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2019 Sapphire Stakes	1st	TBD	TBD
	2nd	TBD
	3rd	TBD
2018 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Quilista	1 minute 9.38 seconds
	2nd	Ravi
	3rd	White Moss
2017 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Secret Agenda	1 minute 13.2 seconds
	2nd	Missrock
	3rd	Artistry
2016 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Two Blue	1 minute 10.8 seconds
	2nd	Secret Agenda
	3rd	Brook Road
2015 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Avoid Lightning	1 minute 12.12 seconds
	2nd	Griante
	3rd	Fine Bubbles
2014 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Cosmic Endeavour	1 minute 10.72 seconds
	2nd	Avoid Lightning
	3rd	Belle De Coeur
2013 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Arinosa	1 minute 08.9 seconds
	2nd	Miss Stellabelle
	3rd	Forarainyday
2012 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Atlantic Jewel	1 minute 08.9 seconds
	2nd	Mid Summer Music
	3rd	Lady’s Angel
2011 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Hurtle Myrtle	1 minute 10.6 seconds
	2nd	Kimillsy
	3rd	Marquardt
2010 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Renaissance	1 minute 10.5 seconds
	2nd	Beaded
	3rd	Jersey Lily
2009 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Court	1 minute 10.84 seconds
	2nd	Belong To Many
	3rd	Cajou
2008 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Belong To Many	1 minute 11.15 seconds
	2nd	Tenant?s Tiara
	3rd	Fritz?s Princess
2007 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Fire Song	1 minute 12.98 seconds
	2nd	Whoever
	3rd	Splashing Out
2006 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Coolroom Candidate	1 minute 10.61 seconds
	2nd	Imana
	3rd	Shalimar Sky
2005 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Glamour Puss	1 minute 12.02 seconds
	2nd	With My
	3rd	Wild Queen
2004 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Recurring	1 minute 10.47 seconds
	2nd	Fair Embrace
	3rd	Cataclysm
2003 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Fatoon	1 minute 11.43 seconds
	2nd	Provokes
	3rd	Miss Helterskelter
2002 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Fair Embrace	1 minute 9.23 seconds
	2nd	Spinning Hill
	3rd	Hot Riff
2001 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Spinning Hill	1 minute 10.3 seconds
	2nd	Nanny Maroon
	3rd	Marlina
2000 Sapphire Stakes	1st	Spinning Hill	1 minute 9.79 seconds
	2nd	Snippets? Lass
	3rd	Heather