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The Ingham Stakes – formerly known as the Villiers Stakes and referred to simply as The Ingham – is a Group 2 event that takes place at the Royal Randwick Racecourse during the end-of-year Sydney Summer Racing Carnival.

Conducted in mid to late December, it is an open handicap event run over the middle distance of 1600m, The Ingham is now worth a lucrative $2 million in prize money following a huge stakes increase ahead of the revamped and renamed edition in 2022.

Held just before Christmas each year, The Ingham Stakes is a strong race and a quality black type event on the New South Wales racing calendar. It attracts a good field of fine gallopers and suits horses with experience and proven ability in the mile events.

Although not held in as high regard as the famous Randwick milers, the Epsom Handicap and Doncaster Mile, which occur earlier in the year, it is still a great race for punters to get in on some late betting action in the year at Ladbrokes.com.au.

The Ingham Stakes winner also earns a ballot exemption into the following autumn’s Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) at the track and distance making for a highly-competitive summer miler showdown.

The above average types contesting the newly renamed Villiers Stakes may have previously contested the Group 3 Festival Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens a fortnight earlier and often back-up in the Group 3 Summer Cup (2000m) on Boxing Day back at Randwick Racecourse.

Upset 2022 The Ingham winner Kirman’s Lane was the last Festival Stakes graduate to win the event improving on a lead-up third.

The Festival Stakes winner also earns a ballot exemption into The Ingham Stakes field each summer.

The newly created $1 million The Gong held at Kembla Grange in late November also now serves as a nice lead-up with Quackerjack (2019) improving on a second in the million dollar feature to win the Randwick Group 2 next start.

Rosehill’s Listed ATC Cup (2000m) held a fortnight prior is another good lead-up and Greysful Glamour (2020) was the last to do the double.

The 2022 The Ingham form was franked with the third placed mare Atishu returning the next year to win the autumn’s Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) in 2023. She further franked the form in the spring of 2023 running second in the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Derby Day before claiming the Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m) on the quick back-up over the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

In 2023 The Ingham winner Loch Eagle just made the field as the third emergency and won in an upset at $18 on the back of a second in The Gong.

The 2023 Villiers Stakes ran on Saturday December 9, 2023 as The Ingham Stakes offering $2 million in prize money and was won in a close thriller by the Kris Lees-trained Loch Eagle ($18). 

The Ingham Stakes (Villiers Stakes) 2023
Date:	Saturday December 9, 2023
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	1600m
Conditions:	3YO & Upwards – Quality
Status:	Group 2
Prize Money:	$2 million
Inauguration:	1892

2023 The Ingham Stakes Results

• 1st: #23e Loch Eagle ($18)
• 2nd: #10 Attractable
• 3rd: #19 Lion’s Roar

Apprentice Dylan Gibbons gave the widely-drawn Kris Lees-trained third emergency Loch Eagle ($18), last seen running second in The Gong, a perfect run three-wide with cover from an outside barrier (18) to post a narrow victory in The Ingham 2023 results at Randwick.

Click here to read more on the narrow win by Loch Eagle in The Ingham 2023.

2023 The Ingham Results & Finishing Order

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	23e	LOCH EAGLE	Kris Lees	Dylan Gibbons (a)		18	53kg		$18
	2	10	ATTRACTABLE	Sara Ryan	Regan Bayliss	0.23L	3	56kg		$8.50
	3	19	LION’S ROAR (NZ)	John O’Shea	Tom Sherry	0.49L	4	53.5kg		$6
	4	11	KIRWAN’S LANE (NZ)	John O’Shea	Joshua Parr	1.31L	2	56kg		$31
	5	18	WATERFORD (IRE)	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	2.5L	11	54kg		$16
	6	13	HINGED	Chris Waller	Zac Lloyd (a)	2.57L	6	55kg		$13
	7	2	DETONATOR JACK (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jason Collett	2.58L	12	58kg		$5.50F
	8	8	RUSTIC STEEL	Kris Lees	Sam Clipperton	2.93L	1	56.5kg		$10
	9	7	NO COMPROMISE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Lee Magorrian	3.72L	17	57kg		$61
	10	14	CHARTERHOUSE (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Tyler Schiller	4.14L	13	55kg		$19
	11	17	PHEARSON	Brad Widdup	Reece Jones	4.64L	10	54kg		$31
	12	6	OSIPENKO (NZ)	Chris Waller	Tim Clark	5.24L	20	57.5kg		$14
	13	3	KING MAGNUS	Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock	Thomas Stockdale	5.26L	16	58kg		$51
	14	20	AGE OF KINGS (IRE)	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	5.46L	7	53kg		$61
	15	12	DARK DESTROYER (NZ)	John O’Shea	Darragh Keenan	6.61L	9	55.5kg		$151
	16	1	CEPHEUS (GB)	Matthew Dunn	Nash Rawiller	6.92L	15	60kg		$14
	17	16	COMMUNIST	Michael Freedman	Ms Rachel King	6.97L	8	54.5kg		$26
	18	5	NEW MANDATE (IRE)	Chris Waller	Chad Schofield	7.5L	14	57.5kg		$151
	19	9	SURF DANCER (IRE)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Andrew Adkins	9L	19	56.5kg		$51
	20	4	VILANA	James Cummings	Adam Hyeronimus	9.12L	5	58kg		$21
		24e	FOXY CLEOPATRA	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young			0
		22e	MILITARY EXPERT	Annabel Neasham	Reece Jones		0
		15	EXCELLENT PROPOSAL	Michael Freedman			0
		21e	WILLIAMSBURG	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou			0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 The Ingham Stakes Betting Odds

Below the latest Villiers Stakes / The Ingham Stakes 2023 odds by Ladbrokes.com.au will be provided, once released complete with links for you to back your The Ingham Stakes Tips at the right price this summer.

Quackerjack ($3.80 in 2019) was the last favourite in Villiers Stakes betting (now Ingham Stakes) to salute for the punters.

In 2020 the Villiers Stakes favourite Criaderas ($3.90) finished third having made up plenty of ground from the back. Criaderas returned to run third in the 2021 Villiers Stakes trifecta as a 10/1 shot before the race was renamed The Ingham in 2022.

There was a notable upset in 2022 with Kirwan’s Lane saluting at The Ingham odds of $21 and his stablemate Lion’s Roar running second as a $51 outsider in The Ingham betting.

There was another upset The Ingham result in 2023 with Loch Eagle saluting at $18.

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

2023 The Ingham Stakes Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 THE INGHAM STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 The Ingham Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our inside The Ingham 2023 Tips on the recently upgraded $2 million mile showdown this summer.

• To Win: #10 Attractable ($13 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Great edition of The Ingham and going for a bit of value with the in-form Sara Ryan-trained Attractable who is in great form. Drawn to get a dream run from barrier three with Regan Bayliss continuing associations. The I Am Invincible five-year-old has a great mile record (7:3-1-0) and was last seen winning the $3 million The Big Dance at this track and trip on Melbourne Cup Day. Won that at double-figures, has been kept fit with a subsequent Sydney trial, and ticks plenty of boxes against a crack field.

2023 The Ingham Stakes Field

The Villiers Stakes / The Ingham Stakes field usually attracts a a high quality line-up of milers.

Because it’s raced over 1600m, quite a few specialist over the distance target the Villiers Stakes (now The Ingham) field. As a Group 2 event held in December, there are a variety of different horses in the field, including Group 1 types and a few that are probably pushing it by stepping up to Group 2 level.

The 2023 The Ingham field will be provided here once released by Racing NSW the week of the race.

The Ingham 2023 final field features a capacity line-up of gallopers including Big Dance champion Attractable, runner-up in the same lead-up Cepheus carrying the 60kg top-weight on Saturday, and The Gong winner Detonator Jack from the Maher/Eustace stable. 

Click here to read more on the key runners in the 2023 The Ingham race field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	0234215112	CEPHEUS (GB)	Matthew Dunn	Nash Rawiller	19	60kg			111
2	123×437231	DETONATOR JACK (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jason Collett	15	58kg			107
3	6x51183x81	KING MAGNUS	Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock	Thomas Stockdale	20	58kg			107
4	x1760x5683	VILANA	James Cummings	Adam Hyeronimus	6	58kg			107
5	9187×07714	NEW MANDATE (IRE)	Chris Waller	Chad Schofield	17	57.5kg			106
6	1761×57303	OSIPENKO (NZ)	Chris Waller	Tim Clark	24	57.5kg			106
7	20480×4555	NO COMPROMISE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Lee Magorrian	21	57kg			105
8	x88610x753	RUSTIC STEEL	Kris Lees	Sam Clipperton	1	56.5kg			104
9	460x010x80	SURF DANCER (IRE)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Andrew Adkins	23	56.5kg			104
10	2761141×41	ATTRACTABLE	Sara Ryan	Regan Bayliss	3	56kg			103
11	69x04x7604	KIRWAN’S LANE (NZ)	John O’Shea	Joshua Parr	2	56kg			103
12	14x1x060x9	DARK DESTROYER (NZ)	John O’Shea		10	55.5kg			102
13	26844×4078	HINGED	Chris Waller	Zac Lloyd (a)	7	55kg			105
14	316x32x601	CHARTERHOUSE (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Tyler Schiller	16	55kg			101
15	5958709×60	EXCELLENT PROPOSAL	Michael Freedman		12	55kg			101
16	7160×00089	COMMUNIST	Michael Freedman	Ms Rachel King	9	54.5kg			100
17	10212×0231	PHEARSON	Brad Widdup		11	54kg			99
18	520×339355	WATERFORD (IRE)	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	13	54kg			97
19	80020×5062	LION’S ROAR (NZ)	John O’Shea	Tom Sherry	5	53.5kg			98
20	21743x01x0	AGE OF KINGS (IRE)	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	8	53kg			96
21e	303×429602	WILLIAMSBURG	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou		4	53kg			96
22e	370x036x68	MILITARY EXPERT	Annabel Neasham	Reece Jones	14	53kg			94
23e	1250×99312	LOCH EAGLE	Kris Lees	Dylan Gibbons (a)	22	53kg			94
24e	3127×22	FOXY CLEOPATRA	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young		18	54kg			93

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 The Ingham Stakes Nominations

The early Ingham Stakes nominations are released on the Monday before the race. Because it’s a fairly major feature event for Sydney during the Summer, the nominations draw some pretty decent horses, including some that may have previously contested some big events in Western Australia over the Perth Summer Racing Carnival.

The 2023 The Ingham nominations will be published below the week of the race.

The Ingham 2023 nominations attracted 34 summer hopefuls led in all-in betting by the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained The Gong champion Detonator Jack, Chris Waller’s Pierro four-year-old Osipenko coming off a third in that same key million-dollar lead-up, and Big Dance winner from Melbourne Cup Day Attractable.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	10212×0231	PHEARSON	G	6	Brad Widdup	1	54kg	54kg		99
2	0234215112	CEPHEUS (GB)	G	7	Matthew Dunn	2	60kg	60kg		111
3	123×437231	DETONATOR JACK (NZ)	G	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	3=	58kg	58kg		107
4	6x51183x81	KING MAGNUS	G	8	Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock	3=	58kg	58kg		107
5	x1760x5683	VILANA	H	5	James Cummings	3=	58kg	58kg		107
6	9187×07714	NEW MANDATE (IRE)	G	6	Chris Waller	6=	57.5kg	57.5kg		106
7	1761×57303	OSIPENKO (NZ)	H	4	Chris Waller	6=	57.5kg	57.5kg		106
8	20480×4555	NO COMPROMISE (NZ)	G	7	Chris Waller	8=	57kg	57kg		105
9	26844×4078	HINGED	M	5	Chris Waller	8=	55kg	55kg		105
10	44496×2431	JUST FOLK	G	7	Gavin Bedggood	10=	56.5kg	56.5kg		104
11	x88610x753	RUSTIC STEEL	G	6	Kris Lees	10=	56.5kg	56.5kg		104
12	460x010x80	SURF DANCER (IRE)	G	7	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	10=	56.5kg	56.5kg		104
13	2761141×41	ATTRACTABLE	G	5	Sara Ryan	13=	56kg	56kg		103
14	69x04x7604	KIRWAN’S LANE (NZ)	G	7	John O’Shea	13=	56kg	56kg		103
15	14x1x060x9	DARK DESTROYER (NZ)	G	5	John O’Shea	15	55.5kg	55.5kg		102
16	316x32x601	CHARTERHOUSE (GB)	G	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	16=	55kg	55kg		101
17	5958709×60	EXCELLENT PROPOSAL	G	7	Michael Freedman	16=	55kg	55kg		101
18	7160×00089	COMMUNIST	G	4	Michael Freedman	18	54.5kg	54.5kg		100
19	80020×5062	LION’S ROAR (NZ)	G	6	John O’Shea	19	54kg	53.5kg		98
20	520×339355	WATERFORD (IRE)	G	5	Chris Waller	20	54kg	53kg		97
21	21743x01x0	AGE OF KINGS (IRE)	H	4	Chris Waller	21=	54kg	53kg		96
22	13106×0134	ASCENSION (GB)	G	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	21=	54kg	53kg		96
23	x0x10x7x07	DAJRAAN (GB)	H	6	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	21=	54kg	53kg		96
24	303×429602	WILLIAMSBURG	H	4	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	21=	54kg	53kg		96
25	1250×99312	LOCH EAGLE	G	5	Kris Lees	25=	54kg	53kg		94
26	370x036x68	MILITARY EXPERT	G	5	Annabel Neasham	25=	54kg	53kg		94
27	3127×22	FOXY CLEOPATRA	M	4	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	27	54kg	53kg		93
28	8910×51731	SUPER HELPFUL	G	5	Barbara Joseph, Paul & Matt Jones	28	54kg	53kg		92
29	7322×81441	KING OF THE CASTLE (NZ)	G	7	Joseph Pride	29	54kg	53kg		91
30	4191280746	OUTLANDOS	G	7	John Sargent	30	54kg	53kg		88
31	630x1126x5	TAZARAL (IRE)	G	6	Peter & Paul Snowden	31	54kg	53kg		87
32	713164×515	I’VE BEAN TRYIN’	G	5	Matthew Kelley	32	54kg	53kg		83
33	43501458×6	ITA	M	6	Bjorn Baker	33	54kg	53kg		81
34	7317x7x132	JAMBEROO	G	4	Diane Poidevin Laine	34	54kg	53kg		69

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Villiers Stakes / The Ingham Stakes History

First run in 1892 when Two Up claimed victory, the event was originally a principal race run over six furlongs. The race length was increased in 1902 to eight furlongs and remained the same until 1972 when the distance was converted to 1600 metres. Not long after in 1979 the event was elevated to Group 3 status before finally becoming a Group 2 race in 1986. In the rich and extensive history of the Villiers Stakes, there has only been one year when the race was not held, 2007 due to the equine flu.

Notable recent Villiers Stakes / The Ingham Stakes winners include Monton (2011), Rudy (2014) and Happy Clapper (2015).

In 2020 Greyesful Glamour set a new Villiers Stakes race record time of 1 minute 33.47 seconds.

There was a notable upgrade to the event in 2022 with the Villiers Stakes renamed The Ingham and prize money increased from $750,000 in 2021 to $2 million with the John O’Shea-trained roughies Kirwan’s Lane ($21) and Lion’s Roar ($51) running the quinella.

Villiers Stakes / The Ingham Stakes Records (since 1930)
Race Record (at current length):	1:33.47 set by Gresyful Glamour in 2020
Lightest Weight Carried to Victory (since 1970):	48kg carried by Torumba (1972) & Hot Diggity (1977)
Heaviest Weight Carried to Victory (since 1970):	57.5kg carried by Utzon (2006)
Most Successful Jockey:	Two jockeys have won four Villiers Stakes. D. Beadman with Card Shark (1987), Touch Of Force (1996), Boreale (2002) and Ike’s Dream. E. Bartle with Pavilion (1930), Closing Time (1933), King’s Head (1936) and Rimveil (1940).

Recent Villiers Stakes / The Ingham Stakes Winners

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 The Ingham Stakes	1st	Loch Eagle	1 minute 34.80 seconds
	2nd	Attractable
	3rd	Lion’s Roar
2022 The Ingham Stakes	1st	Kirwan’s Lane	1 minute 33.50 seconds
	2nd	Lion’s Roar
	3rd	Atishu
2021 Villiers Stakes	1st	Brutality	1 minute 37.26 seconds
	2nd	Ellsberg
	3rd	Criaderas
2020 Villiers Stakes	1st	Gresyful Glamour	1 minute 33.47 seconds
	2nd	Best Of Days
	3rd	Criaderas
2019 Villiers Stakes	1st	Quackerjack	1 minute 34.20 seconds
	2nd	Invincible Gem
	3rd	Sambro
2018 Villiers Stakes	1st	Sky Boy	1 minute 36.39 seconds
	2nd	Aloisia
	3rd	My Nordic Hero
2017 Villiers Stakes	1st	Crack Me Up	1 minute 34.98 seconds
	2nd	Cabeza De Vaca
	3rd	Interlocuter
2016 Villiers Stakes	1st	Sense Of Occasion	1 minute 37.40 seconds
	2nd	Dibayani
	3rd	Sarrasin
2015 Villiers Stakes	1st	Happy Clapper	1 minute 33.98 seconds
	2nd	Tinto
	3rd	It’s Somewhat
2014 Villiers Stakes	1st	Rudy	1 minute 36.27 seconds
	2nd	I’m Imposing
	3rd	Strawberry Boy
2013 Villiers Stakes	1st	Ninth Legion	1 minute 31.41 seconds
	2nd	Limes
	3rd	Alma’s Fury
2012 Villiers Stakes	1st	All Legal	1 minute 35.81 seconds
	2nd	Alma’s Fury
	3rd	Darci Be Good
2011 Villiers Stakes	1st	Monton	1 minute 36.33 seconds
	2nd	Kontiki Park
	3rd	King Lionheart
2010 Villiers Stakes	1st	Dances On Waves	1 minute 35.03 seconds
	2nd	Mentality
	3rd	Snow Alert
2009 Villiers Stakes	1st	Palacio De Cristal	1 minute 34.72 seconds
	2nd	Parfumier
	3rd	Spinney
2008 Villiers Stakes	1st	Honor In War	1 minute 21.54 seconds
	2nd	Takeover Target
	3rd	Alverta
Run in January 08 over 1400m
2008 Villiers Stakes	1st	Something Anything	1 minute 36.39 seconds
	2nd	Hey Elvis
	3rd	Rags To Riches
2007 Villiers Stakes	Race Not Held
2006 Villiers Stakes	1st	Utzon	1 minute 35.26 seconds
	2nd	Anwaar
	3rd	Spirit Of Tara
2005 Villiers Stakes	1st	Aqua D’Amore	1 minute 35.47 seconds
	2nd	Malcolm
	3rd	Fiery Venture
2004 Villiers Stakes	1st	Ike’s Dream	1 minute 33.13 seconds
	2nd	Dante’s Paradiso
	3rd	Sir Dex
2003 Villiers Stakes	1st	On A High	1 minute 35.86 seconds
	2nd	Mufti
	3rd	Jeremiad
2002 Villiers Stakes	1st	Boreale	1 minute 34.89 seconds
	2nd	This Manshood
	3rd	Silver Birch
2001 Villiers Stakes	1st	Carael Boy	1 minute 36.54 seconds
	2nd	Space Age
	3rd	Osca Warrior
2000 Villiers Stakes	1st	Grey And Gold	1 minute 36.19 seconds
	2nd	Taberann
	3rd	Forbill