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The 2017 Begonia Belle Stakes – known as the Skip Sprint in 2017 for sponsorship purposes – is a Group 3 race held on Vicotira Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

Raced over 1100m, the Begonia Belle Stakes is a mares-only event run under set weights plus penalties conditions. With $200,000 prize money on offer, the Begonia Belle Stakes is quite a lucrative race for the better class of mares.

The Begonia Belle Stakes was previously held on Crown Oaks Day on the Thursday following the Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday of November.  From 2016 it was moved to the opening day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, Victoria Derby Day.

It now runs as part of an all-Group race card at the meeting including four Group 1 races: the Group 1 $1.5 million Victoria Derby (2500m), Group 1 $1 million Kennedy Mile (1600m), Group 1 $1 million Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) and the Group 1 $500,000 Myer Classic (1600m).

Mares typically target the Begonia Belle Stakes following a range of other starts. Some mares step well down in distance to content the Begonia Belle Stakes. The Group 2 Premiere Stakes (1200m) at Randwick in Sydney has in recent years provided a moderate guide to the horses who do well in the Begonia Belle Stakes. Look also to the Group 3 Northwood Plume Stakes (1200m), the Group 3 Thoroughbred Club Stakes (1200m) or the Group 3 Ladies Day Vase (1600m) at Caulfield.

The 2017 Begonia Belle Stakes was held on Saturday November 4, 2017 and run as the Skip Sprint.

Begonia Belle Stakes 2017
Date:	Saturday November 4, 2017
Track:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	1100m
Race Type:	Mares – SW+P
Status:	Group 3
Prize money:	$200,000

2017 Begonia Belle Stakes Results

• 1st: #1 Lyuba
• 2nd: #2 Savanna Amour
• 3rd: #10 Concealer

See below for the full Begonia Belle Stakes 2017 Results & Finishing Order, the race run as the 2017 Skip Sprint and won Lyuba who was given a well-timed ride by jockey Damian Lane.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Br.	Weight	SP
1	6	LYUBA	Darren Weir	Damian Lane	–	8	55kg	$7
2	2	SAVANNA AMOUR	Chris Meagher	Ben Melham	0.1L	6	59kg	$12
3	10	CONCEALER	Tony McEvoy	Ms Jamie Kah	0.2L	5	55kg	$12
4	5	NIETA	John P Thompson	Hugh Bowman	0.5L	3	55kg	$6.50F
5	12	CRYSTAL FOUNTAIN (NZ)	Anthony Freedman	Mark Zahra	1.25L	11	55kg	$7
6	8	CONCHITA	Paul Perry	Beau Mertens (a)	1.35L	10	55kg	$26
7	4	DESERT LASHES	Shayne Cahill	Craig Williams	2.1L	4	55.5kg	$10
8	11	WRITTEN ERA	Aaron Purcell	Luke Nolen	2.2L	7	55kg	$19
9	1	SHEIDEL	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Blake Shinn	3.7L	1	59kg	$7
10	3	ZESTFUL	Kris Lees	Kerrin McEvoy	4.7L	2	56.5kg	$12
11	7	LAKE COMO (NZ)	Pat Hyland	Stephen Baster	8.2L	9	55kg	$8.50
–	9	MOTOWN LIL	Robert Smerdon	Dwayne Dunn	–	0	–	–

2017 Begonia Belle Stakes Tips

• 1st: #1 Sheidel
• 2nd: #3 Zestful
• 3rd: #12 Crystal Fountain

Read our full VRC Derby Day 2017 Betting Tips and complete 2017 Begonia Belle (Skip Sprint) Preview.

Begonia Belle Stakes Betting Odds

The latest Begonia Belle Stakes betting odds will be listed below on the hopeful sprinting mares below with links for you to back your Begonia Belle Stakes Tips at the right price this Victoria Derby Day.

2017 Begonia Belle Stakes Field

The Begonia Belle Stakes field attracts a quality line-up of short-distance mares coming out of lead-up runs in events like Caulfield’s Group 2 Schillaci Stakes (1100m) or the Group 2 Tristarc Stakes (1400m) held on Caulfield Cup Day.

The best mares out of the Begonia Belle Stakes field may return to the Flemington track a week later and line-up in the Group 1 Darley Classic (1200m), or return in the autumn for the sprints like the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) that the 2016 Begonia Belle Stakes winner Sheidel won the following year.

The official 2017 Begonia Belle Stakes Field & Barriers are released on the Wednesday leading-up to Derby Day and will be published in full below.

The Begonia Belle Stakes 2017 Field, known as the 2017 Skip Sprint Field, features a quality line-up of a dozen mares including Sheidel in barrier one carrying equal 59kg top weight with recent Cockram Stakes – How Now Stakes double winner Savanna Amour. Nieta is better weighted with 55kg, drawn in barrier four with Hugh Bowman to ride the Nicconi mare who has form around The Everest winner Redzel this campaign.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	2x1460x435	SHEIDEL	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Blake Shinn	1	59kg	110
2	731x1x7119	SAVANNA AMOUR	Chris Meagher	Ben Melham	7	59kg	102
3	101350×772	ZESTFUL	Kris Lees	Kerrin McEvoy	2	56.5kg	98
4	1111x11x25	DESERT LASHES	Shayne Cahill	Craig Williams	5	55.5kg	87
5	12x14x3393	NIETA	John P Thompson	Hugh Bowman	4	55kg	99
6	22225×2082	LYUBA	Darren Weir	Damian Lane	9	55kg	89
7	09x161010x	LAKE COMO (NZ)	Pat Hyland	Stephen Baster	10	55kg	92
8	x580205x24	CONCHITA	Paul Perry	Beau Mertens (a)	11	55kg	74
9	71162×1559	MOTOWN LIL	Robert Smerdon	Dwayne Dunn	3	55kg	77
10	x296x0x2x6	CONCEALER	Tony McEvoy	Ms Jamie Kah	6	55kg	73
11	350×173006	WRITTEN ERA	Aaron Purcell	Luke Nolen	8	55kg	86
12	111x1x3	CRYSTAL FOUNTAIN (NZ)	Anthony Freedman	Mark Zahra	12	55kg	78

2017 Begonia Belle Stakes Nominations

The 2017 Begonia Belle Stakes nominations are announced by Racing Victoria on the Monday of race week and the full list of entries will be published below once released.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	2x1460x435	SHEIDEL	M	6	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	1	59kg	110
2	410x21x781	FUHRYK	M	4	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	2	59kg	99
3	731x1x7119	SAVANNA AMOUR	M	4	Chris Meagher	3	59kg	102
4	10x4810x95	SWEET SHERRY	M	4	Brent Stanley	4	57.5kg	95
5	4x563530x9	SELENIA	M	4	Robbie Griffiths	5	57.5kg	76
6	101350×772	ZESTFUL	M	6	Kris Lees	6	56.5kg	98
7	0x10210x43	MISS GUNPOWDER	M	5	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	7	55.5kg	95
8	1111x11x25	DESERT LASHES	M	4	Shayne Cahill	8	55.5kg	87
9	x172035x25	HIGHLY GEARED	M	8	Garry Kirkup	9	55kg	87
10	12x14x3393	NIETA	M	5	John P Thompson	10	55kg	99
11	22225×2082	LYUBA	M	5	Darren Weir	11	55kg	89
12	09x161010x	LAKE COMO (NZ)	M	5	Pat Hyland	12	55kg	92
13	x580205x24	CONCHITA	M	4	Paul Perry	13	55kg	74
14	71162×1559	MOTOWN LIL	M	4	Robert Smerdon	14	55kg	77
15	x296x0x2x6	CONCEALER	M	4	Tony McEvoy	15	55kg	73
16	16232541×2	ESSENCE OF TERROR	M	5	Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra	16	55kg	76
17	350×173006	WRITTEN ERA	M	6	Aaron Purcell	17	55kg	86
18	4711120x7L	BALANCING ACT	M	4	Brent Stanley	18	55kg	73
19	111x1x3	CRYSTAL FOUNTAIN (NZ)	M	4	Anthony Freedman	19	55kg	78
20	16427182×2	MOONLOVER	M	4	Matt Laurie	20	55kg	73

Begonia Belle Stakes History

The Begonia Belle Stakes was previously known as the GH Mumm Stakes, but was renamed prior to the 2014 edition. For two years until 2011, it was known as the Crown Promenade Stakes. The Begonia Belle Stakes did not exist under any name prior to 2009.

Once a listed race, the Begonia Belle Stakes was upgraded to Group 3 status prior to running in 2013.

Although it hasn’t been running for a particularly long time, the Begonia Belle Stakes has rapidly amassed a decent following due to top quality racing. It has developed a reputation for producing winners, rather than being contested by them. However, the improved status and prize money will no doubt continue to draw in top flight horses.

Notable Begonia Belle Stakes winners include Ortensia (2011), Vain Queen (2014) and subsequent Group 1 winner Sheidel (2016). Begonia Belle Stakes results and winning times for the race now run as the Sensis Stakes going back to 2009 are listed below.

Begonia Belle Stakes Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2018 Begonia Belle Stakes	1st	TBD	TBD
	2nd	TBD
	3rd	TBD
2017 Begonia Belle Stakes	1st	Lyuba	1 minute 3.29 seconds
	2nd	Savanna Amour
	3rd	Concealer
2016 Begonia Belle Stakes	1st	Sheidel	1 minute 2.98
	2nd	Wild Rain
	3rd	Private Secretary
2015 Begonia Belle Stakes	1st	Pittsburgh Flyer	1 minute 4.4 seconds
	2nd	Dublin Lass
	3rd	Brook Road
2014 Begonia Belle Stakes	1st	Vain Queen	1 minute 2.7 seconds
	2nd	Bounding
	3rd	Lilliburlero
2013 Begonia Belle Stakes	1st	Dystopia	1 minute 3.7 seconds
	2nd	Shamal Wind
	3rd	She Can Skate
2012 Begonia Belle Stakes	1st	Honey Flower	1 minute 3.2 seconds
	2nd	Dystopia
	3rd	Anise
2011 Begonia Belle Stakes	1st	Ortensia	1 minute 3.2 seconds
	2nd	Balmont Miss
	3rd	Octopussy
2010 Begonia Belle Stakes	1st	Status Symbol	1 minute 4.9 seconds
	2nd	Jerezana
	3rd	Zingaling
2009 Begonia Belle Stakes	1st	Very Discreet	1 minute 3.6 seconds
	2nd	Seeking Attention
	3rd	Serenissima