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The Tramway Stakes is a 1400m Group 2 event held during late August or early September each year at Royal Randwick Racecourse. Open to horses aged three years old and over the Tramway was formerly a handicap race but is now run under set weights plus penalties.

The Tramway Stakes, previously called the Tramway Handicap, is held on Chelmsford Stakes Day and shares the race card with three other Group status races. These are the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m), the Group 2 Furious Stakes (1200m) and the Group 3 Concorde Stakes (1000m).

Chelmsford Stakes Day really kicks off the action of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival and results across the program serve as a good guide for upcoming Group 1 features of the festival.

Quite a few of horses in the Tramway Stakes field may have come via the Show County Quality two weeks earlier. Those horses that perform well in the Tramway Stakes might choose to target later races such as Randwick’s Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) a month later.

Happy Clapper (2017) was the last galloper to complete the Tramway Stakes – Epsom Handicap double.

It can also serve as a nice lead-up into the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) – now run on The Everest Day as the King Charles III Stakes – with the 2019 Tramway Stakes winner Dreamforce finishing second in that elite level feature next start. Dreamforce successfully defended his Tramway Stakes title in 2020 and ran third in that year’s George Main Stakes behind the Tramway runner-up Kolding who went one better in the Group 1 rematch.

Sincero (2011) was the last horse to win the Tramway Stakes – George Main double before the latter was renamed ahead of the 2023 edition.

The 2021 Tramway Stakes form was franked with the winner Zaaki winning Melbourne’s Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) next start. Zaaki also ran third in that spring’s Caulfield Stakes and won the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) after being scratched from the Cox Plate field as the favourite on race day morning. He returned in 2022 to further frank the form with a strong autumn campaign headlined by success in the $5 million The All-Star Mile (1600m).

Zaaki returned to successfully defend his Tramway Stakes title in 2022 before also going back-to-back in the Mackinnon Stakes (run as the VRC Champions Stakes).

The 2022 Tramway form was further franked with the second placed mare Icebath also running second in that year’s George Main Stakes before her Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes win at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

The Tramway Stakes 2023 ran on Saturday September 2, 2023 and saw the Godolphin-raced Pericles ($4.40) lead all-the-way to post his second win from as many starts this spring. 

2023 Tramway Stakes
Date:	Saturday September 2, 2023
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	1400m
Race Type:	Set Weights + Penalties
Status:	Group 2
Prize Money:	$300,000

2023 Tramway Stakes Results

• 1st: #4 Pericles ($4.40)
• 2nd: #13 Skyman
• 3rd: #12 Hope In Your Heart

The in-form James Cummings-trained Street Boss four-year-old Pericles ($4.40), second in the autumn’s Group 1 Rosehill Guineas, was excellent second-up leading from barrier to box and giving a lovely late kick to dominate the 2023 Tramway Stakes results.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	4	PERICLES	James Cummings	Zac Lloyd (a)		6	57kg		$4.40
	2	13	SKYMAN (GB)	Chris Waller	Brett Prebble	0.95L	11	55kg		$101
	3	12	HOPE IN YOUR HEART	Kerry Parker	Tyler Schiller	1.61L	7	55kg		$6.50
	4	9	ZEYREK (FR)	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Andrew Adkins	1.67L	2	56kg		$18
	5	16	OLENTIA	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	1.69L	8	54kg		$2.60F
	6	2	MY OBERON (IRE)	Annabel Neasham	Chad Schofield	2.03L	9	57kg		$13
	7	17e	PALMETTO (NZ)	John Sargent	Ms Rachel King	2.08L	4	55kg		$21
	8	6	FIREBURN	Gary Portelli	Jason Collett	2.32L	1	57kg		$31
	9	8	GOING GLOBAL (IRE)	Chris Waller	Sam Clipperton	2.67L	5	56kg		$19
	10	15	DEMOCRACY MANIFEST	Chris Waller	Jay Ford	3.29L	10	55kg		$26
	11	1	COMMUNIST	Michael Freedman	Dylan Gibbons (a)	3.53L	12	58kg		$17
	12	14	SKY LAB	Paul Perry	Ms Kathy O’Hara	4.78L	13	55kg		$31
	13	11	NEW MANDATE (IRE)	Chris Waller	Joshua Parr	4.95L	3	56kg		$81
	14	7	DIAMIL (IRE)	John O’Shea	Tom Sherry	5.1L	14	56.5kg		$91
		18e	WILLIAMSBURG	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	Ryan Maloney		0
		19e	HOO YA MAL (GB)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Adam Hyeronimus		0
		3	OSIPENKO (NZ)	Chris Waller			0
		5	CEPHEUS (GB)	Matthew Dunn	Nash Rawiller		0
		10	MADAME POMMERY	Chris Waller			0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Tramway Stakes Betting Odds

The latest Tramway Stakes 2023 odds and betting markets courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below the week of the race.

Dreamforce ($3.30 in 2019 and 2020) followed by Zaaki ($2.30 in 2021 and $1.90 in 2022) are the latest favourites in Tramway Stakes betting to win.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 TRAMWAY STAKES ODDS

2023 Tramway Stakes Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 TRAMWAY STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 Tramway Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Tramway Stakes 2023 Tips on the important spring lead-up this Chelmsford Stakes Day.

2023 Tramway Stakes Field

The official Tramway Stakes 2023 Field & Barriers are released the Wednesday of race week and will be available in full below.

2023 Tramway Stakes Nominations

Nominations for the Tramway Stakes in 2023 are taken the Monday of race week and will be published in full below once released.

Tramway Stakes History

The inaugural edition of the Tramway Handicap – now the Tramway Stakes – was in 1886 with Burrilda becoming the first ever Tramway Handicap winner. The race location has varied between Royal Randwick and Warwick Farm over the years with Rosehill hosting for one year in 2000 and the other two tracks changing variously (the location has changed seven times since 1984).

Initially a Principal Race in 1978 the Tramway Stakes became a Listed race. It held this status until 1984 when it was upgraded to Group 3. Following the 2013 edition the Tramway received a further upgrade to Group 2.

For the first 85 years of its existence the Tramway Handicap was run over 7 furlongs. In 1972 this was rounded down slightly to 1400m to bring it in line with the Metric system. The race stayed at 1400m until the year 2000 when it was ran over 1350m. The next year it ran over 1300m. From 2002 onwards the Tramway Stakes has returned to its 1400m race distance.

Notable Tramway Stakes winners include Pompous (1906), Amounis (1928), Rogilla (dead heat with Chatham in 1932’s first edition of the race), Shaftesbury Avenue (1990), Rangirangdoo (2009), Sincero (2011), Happy Clapper (2017), and Zaaki (2021 & 2022).

In 2020 Dreamforce became the first back-to-back Tramway winner since Grenoble (1959-60) but at set weights plus penalties (not handicap).

Zaaki (2021-22) is the latest dual Tramway Stakes champion.

Tramway Stakes results since 2000 are listed below.

Tramway Stakes Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Tramway Handicap	1st	Pericles	1 minute 22.85 seconds
	2nd	Skyman
	3rd	Hope In Your Heart
2022 Tramway Handicap	1st	Zaaki	1 minute 28.17 seconds
	2nd	Icebath
	3rd	Nimalee
2021 Tramway Handicap	1st	Zaaki	1 minute 22.33 seconds
	2nd	Aramayo
	3rd	Star Of The Seas
2020 Tramway Handicap	1st	Dreamforce	1 minute 21.84 seconds
	2nd	Kolding
	3rd	Reloaded
2019 Tramway Handicap	1st	Dreamforce	1 minute 21.69 seconds
	2nd	Te Akau Shark
	3rd	Eckstein
2018 Tramway Handicap	1st	Comin’ Through	1 minute 22.17 seconds
	2nd	Tom Melbourne
	3rd	Dixie Blossoms
2017 Tramway Handicap	1st	Happy Clapper	1 minute 21.9 seconds
	2nd	Tom Melbourne
	3rd	Invincible Gem
2016 Tramway Handicap	1st	Hauraki	1 minute 25.9 seconds
	2nd	Le Romain
	3rd	Dibayani
2015 Tramway Handicap	1st	Hooked	1 minute 24.4 seconds
	2nd	Ecuador
	3rd	Rudy
2014 Tramway Handicap	1st	Lucia Valentina	1 minute 26.6 seconds
	2nd	Tiger Tees
	3rd	Toydini
2013 Tramway Handicap	1st	Malavio	1 minute 21.3 seconds
	2nd	Bello
	3rd	Royal Descent
2012 Tramway Handicap	1st	Tagus	1 minute 22.5 seconds
	2nd	Kontiki Park
	3rd	Moment Of Time
2011 Tramway Handicap	1st	Sincero	1 minute 22.2 seconds
	2nd	Secret Admirer
	3rd	Thankgodyou’rehere
2010 Tramway Handicap	1st	Neeson	1 minute 26.1 seconds
	2nd	Cannonball
	3rd	Herculian Prince
2009 Tramway Handicap	1st	Rangirangdoo	1 minute 21.9 seconds
	2nd	Strat’s Flyer
	3rd	Murray’s Sun
2008 Tramway Handicap	1st	Bank Robber	1 minute 25.7 seconds
	2nd	Kick ‘N’ Chase
	3rd	Vecchia Roma
2007 Tramway Handicap	1st	Race Not Held	–
	2nd	–
	3rd	–
2006 Tramway Handicap	1st	Primus	1 minute 25.6 seconds
	2nd	Stormhill
	3rd	Flaming
2005 Tramway Handicap	1st	Shania Dane	1 minute 22.7 seconds
	2nd	Lotteria
	3rd	Utzon
2004 Tramway Handicap	1st	Nips	1 minute 22.9 seconds
	2nd	West Country
	3rd	Desert War
2003 Tramway Handicap	1st	Sportsman	1 minute 21.8 seconds
	2nd	Britt’s Best
	3rd	Boreale
2002 Tramway Handicap	1st	Gordo	1 minute 24.0 seconds
	2nd	Shot Of Thunder
	3rd	Universal Prince
2001 Tramway Handicap	1st	Diamond Dane	1 minute 18.3 seconds
	2nd	Maitland Gold
	3rd	Kootoomootoo
2000 Tramway Handicap	1st	Mr Innocent	1 minute 20.6 seconds
	2nd	Eau D’Scay
	3rd	Freemason