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The Shorts is a quality Group 2 race now held on its own feature race day in mid-September at Sydney’s Royal Randwick Racecourse. The lucrative sprint feature was previously held on the same card as the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) before that race was renamed the King Charles III Stakes and moved to The Everest Day in October.

The Group 2 The Shorts now headlines the card and offers $1 million in prize money as of 2023.

Replacing the George Main Stakes on the card as of 2023 is the $1 million 7 Stakes (1600m) which offers an Epsom Handicap ballot exemption.

The other key support acts on the race card are the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes (1400m), Group 3 Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m), and the Group 3 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m).

The Shorts is a short-distance sprint race over 1100m for horses aged three-year-olds and up at set weights plus penalties.

Many runners kick off their Sydney Spring Racing Carnival campaign in The Shorts so looking for the star fresh performers is a good tip, while the best out of The Shorts results may go all the way to Flemington during the Melbourne Cup Carnival for a shot at the Group 1 VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) – now known as the Champions Sprint – in November.

Private Eye (2023) was the last first-up The Shorts winner.

It is now also a key lead-up for sprinters contesting the $20 million The Everest (1200m), a restricted weight-for-age feature held back at Randwick in mid-October. In 2017 The Shorts winner Redzel went on to complete The Everest – VRC Classic double.

In 2020 the previous year’s The Shorts runner-up Classique Legend won the race and went on to become the latest horse to do The Shorts – The Everest double.

The 2021 The Shorts form was franked with the runner-up Nature Strip going on to win that year’s The Everest – VRC Sprint Classic double. Nature Strip also returned the following autumn for a record-equalling third win in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes before a trip to Royal Ascot that June where he won the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes in the UK by 4.5 lengths.

The 2021 The Shorts winner Eduardo further franked the form running third in The Everest trifecta behind Nature Strip before his win in the Group 1 Winners Stakes at Rosehill and strong 2022 autumn campaign that included a TJ Smith Stakes second placing.

Nature Strip returned in the 2022 The Shorts on the back of a dominant UK victory in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes to win first-up before a fourth in The Everest that spring.

The Shorts 2022 form was further franked with the runner-up Overpass travelling to Perth the following autumn to win the inaugural $4 million The Quokka race at Ascot in April of 2023.

The Shorts 2023 took place on Saturday September 16, 2023 as a key lead-up to the now $20 million The Everest race and was won by last year’s The Everest runner-up Private Eye ($12) for trainer Joe Pride. 

2023 The Shorts
Date:	Saturday September 16, 2023
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	1100m
Conditions:	3YO & Up – Set Weights + Penalties
Status:	Group 2
Prize Money:	$1,000,000
Inaugurated:	1945

The Shorts Records
Race Record:	1:01.3 set by Redzel in 2017

2023 The Shorts Results

• 1st: #1 Private Eye ($12)
• 2nd: #4 Overpass
• 3rd: #6 Buenos Noches

The Joe Pride-trained Private Eye ($12) was huge overcoming a wide run facing the breeze throughout to score a bullish late victory over the front-running Overpass in the 2023 The Shorts results thanks to a gun ride by Nash Rawiller with The Everest now calling for last year’s runner-up in the world’s richest turf race.

Click here to read more on the arrogant 2023 The Shorts win by The Everest hopeful Private Eye.

2023 The Shorts Results & Finishing Order

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	1	PRIVATE EYE	Joseph Pride	Nash Rawiller		9	58kg		$12
	2	4	OVERPASS	Bjorn Baker	Joshua Parr	0.19L	1	57kg		$5
	3	6	BUENOS NOCHES	Matthew Smith	Dylan Gibbons (a)	0.66L	3	56kg		$7.50
	4	5	IN SECRET	James Cummings	Zac Lloyd (a)	1.13L	4	56kg		$3.10F
	5	7	REMARQUE	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Tyler Schiller	1.28L	2	56kg		$8
	6	9	HAWAII FIVE OH	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Adam Hyeronimus	1.76L	5	56kg		$16
	7	8	RUTHLESS DAME (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jason Collett	3.45L	7	56kg		$26
	8	10	ROCKETING BY	David Pfieffer	Ms Rachel King	3.79L	6	56kg		$101
	9	2	MAZU	Peter & Paul Snowden	Regan Bayliss	3.88L	10	58kg		$26
	10	11	ATHELRIC	James Cummings	Jean Van Overmeire	4.02L	12	55kg		$26
	11	3	LOST AND RUNNING (NZ)	John O’Shea	Chad Schofield	4.8L	8	57kg		$8.50
	12	12	CASINO LORD	Cody Morgan	Tom Sherry	4.87L	11	55kg		$201

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 The Shorts Betting Odds

The top The Shorts 2023 betting odds and links to the markets at Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below the week of the race so stay tuned.

Pierata ($2.70 in 2019), Classique Legend ($4.40 in 2020) and Nature Strip ($2.40 in 2022) are the latest favourites in The Shorts betting to salute for the punters.

There was a notable upset in 2023 with Private Eye winning at The Shorts odds of $12.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 THE SHORTS ODDS (Final Field)

2023 The Shorts Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 THE SHORTS FORM GUIDE

2023 The Shorts Tips

Stay tuned for our insider The Shorts 2023 Tips on the key spring sprint lead-up this September.

• To Win: #5 In Secret ($3.40 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Typically exciting edition of The Shorts as The Everest hopefuls look to put their hands up for a slot in the world’s richest race on October 14. Race favourite is In Secret looking pretty hot second-up and ready to fire. Fresh the James Cummings-trained I Am Invincible mare was good finishing runner-up to Remarque in the Group 3 Concorde Stakes (1000m). She was only just beaten that day, has a strong second-up record she’s out to build on (3:2-0-1), and will relish the extra distance. Her 1100m strike-rate has her two-from-two, and the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap winner looks a genuine chance to salute for the punters here.

2023 The Shorts Field

The Shorts 2023 field of final acceptances and barrier draw are released on the Wednesday of race week attracting the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival’s top sprinters. Many runners in The Shorts field contest the event first-up.

The official The Shorts 2023 Final Field & Barrier Draw will be published in full below once announced by Racing NSW.

The 2023 The Shorts field features a quality line-up of potential The Everest horses led in betting by Newmarket Handicap winning mare In Secret and the resuming rails-drawn Overpass who was second in the race last year.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	x1217x405x	PRIVATE EYE	Joseph Pride	Nash Rawiller	9	58kg			114
2	5232x5363x	MAZU	Peter & Paul Snowden	Regan Bayliss	10	58kg			113
3	10x317x60x	LOST AND RUNNING (NZ)	John O’Shea	Chad Schofield	8	57kg			114
4	x26690x12x	OVERPASS	Bjorn Baker	Joshua Parr	1	57kg			111
5	121x1317x2	IN SECRET	James Cummings	Zac Lloyd (a)	4	56kg			115
6	16123x57x1	BUENOS NOCHES	Matthew Smith	Dylan Gibbons (a)	3	56kg			109
7	x118x147x1	REMARQUE	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Tyler Schiller	2	56kg			108
8	11x320150x	RUTHLESS DAME (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jason Collett	7	56kg			108
9	139x22113x	HAWAII FIVE OH	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Adam Hyeronimus	5	56kg			102
10	5x6760x685	ROCKETING BY	David Pfieffer	Ms Rachel King	6	56kg			102
11	051x26712x	ATHELRIC	James Cummings	Jean Van Overmeire	12	55kg			104
12	71221354×7	CASINO LORD	Cody Morgan	Tom Sherry	11	55kg			71

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 The Shorts Nominations

Nominations for The Shorts race in 2023 close the Monday leading-up to the now million-dollar feature.

The 2023 The Shorts nominations attracted a bumper 19 sprinters many with $20 million The Everest ambitions including the all-in favourite In Secret coming off a second fresh in the Group 3 Concorde Stakes.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	121x1317x2	IN SECRET	M	4	James Cummings	1	56kg			115
2	x1217x405x	PRIVATE EYE	G	6	Joseph Pride	2=	58kg			114
3	10x317x60x	LOST AND RUNNING (NZ)	G	7	John O’Shea	2=	57kg			114
4	5232x5363x	MAZU	G	5	Peter & Paul Snowden	4	58kg			113
5	19x30236x3	BELLA NIPOTINA	M	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	5	56kg			112
6	x26690x12x	OVERPASS	G	5	Bjorn Baker	6	57kg			111
7	16123x57x1	BUENOS NOCHES	H	4	Matthew Smith	7	56kg			109
8	46x114624x	KING OF SPARTA	G	5	Peter & Paul Snowden	8=	56kg			108
9	x118x147x1	REMARQUE	G	5	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	8=	56kg			108
10	11x320150x	RUTHLESS DAME (NZ)	M	4	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	8=	56kg			108
11	051x26712x	ATHELRIC	G	5	James Cummings	11	55kg			104
12	139x22113x	HAWAII FIVE OH	H	4	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	12=	56kg			102
13	5x6760x685	ROCKETING BY	G	6	David Pfieffer	12=	56kg			102
14	305x15840x	SHE’S ALL CLASS	M	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	14	53kg			99
15	2x898800x8	SHELBY SIXTYSIX	G	7	Danny Williams	15	58kg			89
16	11x592256x	KOTE	G	4	Anthony Cummings	16	55kg			85
17	00x327114x	EZEKEIL	G	5	Cody Morgan	17	55kg			72
18	71221354×7	CASINO LORD	G	6	Cody Morgan	18	55kg			71
19	133×904232	SALIRE	G	6	Cameron Crockett	19	55kg			65

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

The Shorts History

The Shorts is a time-honoured Sydney Spring Racing Carnival sprint race, first contested back in 1867. A number of standout short-distance gallopers have won The Shorts over history including Hot Danish (2010), Terravista (2014) and Takedown (2016).

For one year in 2011 the event was conducted at Rosehill over 1200m instead of the 1100m at Royal Randwick. It gained black-type (Listed) status in 1979 and was eventually upgraded to Group 3 and then Group 2 status, increasing the quality of contenders each season.

More recently the status of The Shorts race at Randwick was boosted by record-setting champ Redzel (2017) whose next run produced success in the inaugural running of The Everest. The Everest is the richest turf race in the world and Redzel went back-to-back in 2018.

The Shorts history on the 2018 winner Ball Of Muscle is also interesting with the sprint finishing runner-up in 2015, 2016 and 2017 before finally taking out the race at his fourth attempt.

In 2019 Pierata won The Shorts defeating Classique Legend and dual The Everest champion Redzel. He went on to run fifth in that year’s The Everest results, before taking out the Winners Stakes named that season in honour of the previous year’s The Everest champion Redzel (2018).

Classique Legend completed The Shorts – The Everest race double in 2020.

In 2021 the previous year’s runner-up Eduardo went one better winning The Shorts in an upset over that year’s subsequent The Everest champion Nature Strip.

Nature Strip won The Shorts in 2022 ahead of his unsuccessful The Everest title defence when fourth.

Prizemoney for The Shorts was boosted to $1 million ahead of the 2023 edition.

Recent The Shorts Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 The Shorts	1st	Private Eye	1 minute 02.66 seconds
	2nd	Overpass
	3rd	Buenos Noches
2022 The Shorts	1st	Nature Strip	1 minute 05.01 seconds
	2nd	Overpass
	3rd	Lost And Running
2021 The Shorts	1st	Eduardo	1 minute 03.54 seconds
	2nd	Nature Strip
	3rd	Gytrash
2020 The Shorts	1st	Classique Legend	1 minute 2.23 seconds
	2nd	Eduardo
	3rd	Bivouac
2019 The Shorts	1st	Pierata	1 minute 3.93 seconds
	2nd	Classique Legend
	3rd	Redzel
2018 The Shorts	1st	Ball Of Muscle	1 minute 2.87 seconds
	2nd	Invincible Star
	3rd	Brave Smash
2017 The Shorts	1st	Redzel	1 minute 1.83 seconds (R)
	2nd	Ball Of Muscle
	3rd	Nieta
2016 The Shorts	1st	Takedown	1 minute 3.2 seconds
	2nd	Ball Of Muscle
	3rd	Kaepernick
2015 The Shorts	1st	Rebel Dane	1 minute 4.67 seconds
	2nd	Ball Of Muscle
	3rd	Shiraz
2014 The Shorts	1st	Terravista	1 minute 2.48 seconds
	2nd	I’m All The Talk
	3rd	Famous Seamus
2013 The Shorts	1st	Sessions	1 minute 3.26 seconds
	2nd	Aeronautical
	3rd	Spirit Of Boom
2012 The Shorts	1st	Pampelonne	1 minute 9.64 seconds
	2nd	Satin Shoes
	3rd	Appearance
2011 The Shorts	1st	Love Conquers All	1 minute 8.71 seconds
	2nd	Albert The Fat
	3rd	Winter King
2010 The Shorts	1st	Hot Danish	1 minute 9.51 seconds
	2nd	Whitefriars
	3rd	Shellscrape
2009 The Shorts	1st	Gold Trail	1 minute 4.82 seconds
	2nd	Fritz’s Princess
	3rd	Sniper’s Bullet
2008 The Shorts	1st	Fritz’s Princess	1 minute 4.03 seconds
	2nd	Hot Danish
	3rd	Keen Commander
2007 The Shorts	Race Not Held
2006 The Shorts	1st	Bentley Biscuit	1 minute 3.36 seconds
	2nd	Magnus
	3rd	Spark Of Life
2005 The Shorts	1st	Black Ink	1 minute 3.4 seconds
	2nd	Mustard
	3rd	Fumble
2004 The Shorts	1st	Dance The Waves	1 minute 4.61 seconds
	2nd	Secret Land (NZ)
	3rd	Legally Bay
2003 The Shorts	1st	Lucky Night	1 minute 4.84 seconds
	2nd	Fair Embrace
	3rd	Poetic Papal
2002 The Shorts	1st	Empire	1 minute 4.11 seconds
	2nd	Shags
	3rd	Fouardee
2001 The Shorts	1st	Oamaru Force	1 minute 3.47 seconds
	2nd	Pembleton
	3rd	Fair Embrace
2000 The Shorts	1st	Bradshaw	1 minute 3.78 seconds
	2nd	Guineas
	3rd	Upright