2021 Missile Stakes Day: Randwick Scratchings & Track Report
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The The Shorts (1100m) is a Group 2 race held at Royal Randwick in September for spring sprinters targeting later Group 1 features or The Everest.
2021 The Shorts Results
- 1st: #2 Eduardo
- 2nd: #1 Nature Strip
- 3rd: #3 Gytrash
The Shorts News
- 2021 George Main Stakes Day: Randwick Scratchings & Track Report
- The Everest Horses Face Off in 2021 The Shorts Field & Betting Markets
- Shorts Winner Classique Legend Firms Significantly in 2020 The Everest Betting
- 2020 George Main Stakes Day: Randwick Scratchings & Track Report
- 2020 The Shorts Field & Odds Update: Bivouac Best Fancied Everest Chance
The Shorts is a quality Group 2 race held on George Main Stakes Day at Sydney’s Royal Randwick Racecourse. Taking place in mid-September each year, the sprint is featured on the same card as four other Group races including the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m).
The other key support acts on the race card are the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes (1400m) and Group 3 Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m).
The Shorts is a short-distance sprint race over 1100m for horses aged three-year-olds and up at set weights plus penalties and is now worth a lucrative $500,000 in prizemoney.
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) in November.
It is now also a key lead-up for sprinters contesting the $15 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 Shorts 2021 took place on Saturday September 18, 2021 and was won by the previous season’s runner-up Eduardo.
| 2021 The Shorts | |
|---|---|
| Date: | Saturday September 18, 2021 |
| Track: | Royal Randwick Racecourse |
| Distance: | 1100m |
| Conditions: | 3YO & Up – Set Weights + Penalties |
| Status: | Group 2 |
| Prize Money: | $500,000 |
| Inaugurated: | 1945 |
| The Shorts Records | |
|---|---|
| Race Record: | 1:01.3 set by Redzel in 2017 |
2021 The Shorts Results
- 1st: #2 Eduardo
- 2nd: #1 Nature Strip
- 3rd: #3 Gytrash
Last year’s runner-up Eduardo ($5.50) improved fresh to take out The Shorts 2021 results in an upset over The Everest favourite Nature Strip ($2.10) and luckless third placegetter Gytrash ($10).
Click here to read more on the gripping narrow win by Eduardo in The Shorts 2021.
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | EDUARDO | Joseph Pride | Nash Rawiller | 8 | 58kg | $5.50 | |||
| 2 | 1 | NATURE STRIP | Chris Waller | James McDonald | 0.44L | 4 | 58kg | $2.10F | ||
| 3 | 3 | GYTRASH | Gordon Richards & Damien Moyle | Jason Collett | 1.49L | 1 | 58kg | $10 | ||
| 4 | 5 | ROTHFIRE | Robert Heathcote | Tim Clark | 3.4L | 5 | 58kg | $14 | ||
| 5 | 4 | MASKED CRUSADER | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Joshua Parr | 5.26L | 2 | 58kg | $5.50 | ||
| 6 | 9 | ADELONG | Brad Widdup | Robbie Dolan | 6.39L | 6 | 53kg | $71 | ||
| 7 | 8 | HANDLE THE TRUTH | Keith Dryden | Ms Rachel King | 6.67L | 3 | 55kg | $101 | ||
| 8 | 7 | LOST AND RUNNING (NZ) | John O’Shea | Hugh Bowman | 8.88L | 7 | 55kg (cd 56kg) | $9 | ||
| 6 | WILD RULER | Peter & Paul Snowden | Kerrin McEvoy | 0 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
2021 The Shorts Odds
The top The Shorts 2021 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) followed by Classique Legend ($4.40 in 2020) are the latest favourites in The Shorts betting to salute for the punters.
2021 The Shorts Field
The Shorts 2021 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 2021 Final Field & Barrier Draw will be published in full below once announced by Racing NSW.
A line-up of confirmed The Everest horses do battle in the 2021 The Shorts field including Chris Waller’s star sprinter Nature Strip and the returning Joe Pride-trained Eduardo.
- Scratched: #6 Wild Ruler
Click here to read more on the key runners in The Shorts 2021 field and betting markets.
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Probable Weight | Penalty | Hcp Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2472x121x1 | NATURE STRIP | Chris Waller | James McDonald | 4 | 58kg | 121 | ||
| 2 | 1204x1131x | EDUARDO | Joseph Pride | Nash Rawiller | 9 | 58kg | 116 | ||
| 3 | 12x131x30x | GYTRASH | Gordon Richards & Damien Moyle | Jason Collett | 1 | 58kg | 115 | ||
| 4 | 38x13125x1 | MASKED CRUSADER | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Joshua Parr | 2 | 58kg | 114 | ||
| 5 | 112x11x14x | ROTHFIRE | Robert Heathcote | Tim Clark | 5 | 58kg | 104 | ||
| 6 | 113x1619x2 | WILD RULER | Peter & Paul Snowden | Kerrin McEvoy | 8 | 57kg | 106 | ||
| 7 | 11x11211x | LOST AND RUNNING (NZ) | John O’Shea | Hugh Bowman | 7 | 55kg | 56kg | 100 | |
| 8 | 43x31002x4 | HANDLE THE TRUTH | Keith Dryden | Ms Rachel King | 3 | 55kg | 95 | ||
| 9 | 07x93311x5 | ADELONG | Brad Widdup | Jay Ford | 6 | 53kg | 101 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
2021 The Shorts Nominations
Nominations for The Shorts race close the Monday leading-up to George Main Stakes Day.
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 most recently 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 Nature Strip.
Recent The Shorts Results
| Year | Place | Horse | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
