---

---

The Bill Ritchie Handicap is a Group 3 middle-distance sprint held at Royal Randwick Racecourse during the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival.

Raced over 1400m, the Bill Ritchie Handicap is an exciting sprinting middle distance showdown that is open to contention for both sprinters and milers held in mid-September.

The Bill Ritchie Handicap is run under quality handicap conditions and is open to horses aged three years and older. With prize money of $250,000, the Bill Ritchie Handicap is a lucrative Group 3 event that is regularly targeted by decent handicappers.

Held on The Shorts Day, the Bill Ritchie Handicap shares the race program with a host of other black-type events including the Group 2 $1 million The Shorts (1100m) for the spring’s top sprinters heading towards the $20 million The Everest race in October.

Replacing the George Main Stakes – which now runs as the Group 1 $5 million King Charles III Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on The Everest Day in mid-October – on the card as of 2023 is the $1 million 7 Stakes (1600m) which also offers an Epsom Handicap ballot exemption.

The winner of the Bill Ritchie Handicap gains ballot exemption for the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m). As a result, trainers tend to target it as part of their spring campaign. This also means that the Bill Ritchie Handicap gets considerable attention from punters attempting to get an early line on form.

Classy New Zealand-trained mare Probabeel (2020) followed by Top Ranked (2022) are the latest runners to complete the Bill Ritchie Handicap – Epsom Handicap double.

Earlier, Kolding (2019) also completed the Bill Ritchie – Epsom Handicap double before going on to win the inaugural edition of the $10 million The Golden Eagle for four-year-olds that November.

Some of the better lead up races to the Bill Ritchie Handicap include the Group 3 Cameron Handicap, the Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes or the Group 2 Tramway Stakes.

The 2021 Bill Ritchie Handicap form was franked with the third place-getter Aramayo continuing on to run second in that year’s Epsom Handicap results.

The Bill Ritchie Handicap 2023 ran on Saturday September 16, 2023 with the Chris Waller-trained Rediener ($8.50) enjoying a first-up win for the stable to secure the Epsom Handicap ballot exemption. 

2023 Bill Ritchie Handicap
Date:	Saturday September 16, 2023
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	1400m
Race Type:	3YO&UP Quality Hcp
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$250,000

2023 Bill Ritchie Handicap Results

• 1st: #16 Rediener ($8.50)
• 2nd: #14 Cuban Royale
• 3rd: #13 Wild Planet

Despite being squeezed for room at the top of the home straight Chris Waller’s Group 3 Gunsynd Classic winner in Brisbane over the winter, Rediener ($8.50), was good late shoving his way off the fence to hit the front 150m and enjoy a first-up win in the 2023 Bill Richie Handicap results ahead of a possible Group 1 Epsom Handicap run in a fortnight.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	16	REDIENER	Chris Waller	Ms Kathy O’Hara		2	53kg		$8.50
	2	14	CUBAN ROYALE	Robert & Luke Price	Brock Ryan	1.2L	1	53kg		$19
	3	13	WILD PLANET	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Andrew Adkins	1.7L	7	53kg		$26
	4	1	CONVERGE	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Adam Hyeronimus	1.96L	6	59kg		$4.20F
	5	8	TAMERLANE	James Cummings	Zac Lloyd (a)	2.11L	9	54kg		$4.40
	6	9	ARAMAYO	Sam Kavanagh	Jean Van Overmeire	3.22L	5	53kg		$101
	7	10	BARBIE’S FOX	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Tyler Schiller	3.25L	8	53kg		$9
	8	11	OLENTIA	Chris Waller	Jay Ford	3.27L	10	53kg		$4.40
	9	17e	POLITICAL DEBATE	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	4.45L	3	53kg		$15
	10	5	IRISH SONGS	Louise White	Jake Bayliss	5.36L	4	55kg		$21
	11	15	THE FORTUNE TELLER	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Dylan Gibbons (a)	6.03L	11	53kg		$31
	12	6	MY WHISPER	Peter & Paul Snowden	Sam Clipperton	7.86L	12	54kg		$41
		7	TIMES SQUARE (FR)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jason Collett		0
		2	SKYMAN (GB)	Chris Waller	Brett Prebble		0
		12	DEMOCRACY MANIFEST	Chris Waller			0
		4	KUKERACHA (NZ)	Chris Waller	Joshua Parr		0
		3	NO COMPROMISE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Nash Rawiller		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Bill Ritchie Handicap Betting Odds

The season’s best Bill Ritchie Handicap 2023 betting odds and market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be provided below the week of the race.

Smart mares Probabeel ($2.45 in 2020) followed by Atishu ($3.50 in 2021) are the latest favourites in Bill Ritchie Handicap betting to salute for the punters.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 BILL RITCHIE HANDICAP ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Bill Ritchie Handicap Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL BILL RITCHIE HANDICAP FORM GUIDE

2023 Bill Ritchie Handicap Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Bill Ritchie Handicap 2023 Tips on the Epsom lead-up this spring.

• To Win: #10 Barbie’s Fox ($9.50 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Open affair going for value with consistent mare Barbie’s Fox. She was at double figures to make it back-to-back wins first-up here for the spring but money is coming for her on race day. Last time out won Rosehill’s Listed Winter Challenge (1500m) back in July. Not her preferred distance, but she has previously won fresh and gets in well weight-wise with the 53kg. A past Group 2 place-getter with class at her best, this looks tough but think she can answer the doubters.

2023 Bill Ritchie Handicap Field

The 2023 Bill Ritchie Handicap Final Field & Barrier Draw will be provided in full below once acceptances are taken on the Wednesday leading-up to The Shorts Day.

The Bill Ritchie Handicap 2023 field features a smart line-up of potential Group 1-bound spring hopefuls led in betting by the Chris Waller-trained Group 3 winning Zoustar mare Olentia fit third-up here and coming off a good Group 2 Tramway Stakes fifth only 1.6 lengths beaten by the winner Pericles.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	900x73027x	CONVERGE	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Adam Hyeronimus	8	59kg			107
2	01x61043x2	SKYMAN (GB)	Chris Waller	Brett Prebble	14	59kg			107
3	107x20480x	NO COMPROMISE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Nash Rawiller	7	58kg			105
4	627x05314x	KUKERACHA (NZ)	Chris Waller	Joshua Parr	4	56.5kg			102
5	1261966161	IRISH SONGS	Louise White	Jake Bayliss	5	55kg			99
6	x90101x97x	MY WHISPER	Peter & Paul Snowden	Sam Clipperton	15	54kg			98
7	7307x1x87x	TIMES SQUARE (FR)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jason Collett	16	54kg			98
8	911x21140x	TAMERLANE	James Cummings	Zac Lloyd (a)	11	54kg			97
9	x5428x009x	ARAMAYO	Sam Kavanagh	Jean Van Overmeire	6	53kg			91
10	50×3102341	BARBIE’S FOX	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Tyler Schiller	10	53kg			99
11	114x11x15	OLENTIA	Chris Waller	Jay Ford	12	53kg			96
12	213x1761x0	DEMOCRACY MANIFEST	Chris Waller		17	53kg			94
13	97447x593x	WILD PLANET	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Andrew Adkins	9	53kg			93
14	1413377×56	CUBAN ROYALE	Robert & Luke Price	Brock Ryan	1	53kg			92
15	2732x3010x	THE FORTUNE TELLER	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Dylan Gibbons (a)	13	53kg			91
16	88x641211x	REDIENER	Chris Waller	Ms Kathy O’Hara (late alt)	2	53kg			90
17e	2312x80x52	POLITICAL DEBATE	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	3	53kg			88

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Bill Ritchie Handicap Nominations

Nominations for the Bill Ritchie Handicap in 2023 close the Monday of race week and will be provided for punters below as soon as released.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	8x41292x11	PERICLES	G	4	James Cummings	1	60kg	60kg		109
2	900x73027x	CONVERGE	G	5	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	2=	59kg	59kg		107
3	01x61043x2	SKYMAN (GB)	G	8	Chris Waller	2=	59kg	59kg		107
4	107x20480x	NO COMPROMISE (NZ)	G	7	Chris Waller	4	58kg	58kg		105
5	627x05314x	KUKERACHA (NZ)	G	6	Chris Waller	5	56.5kg	56.5kg		102
6	1261966161	IRISH SONGS	G	8	Louise White	6=	55kg	55kg		99
7	50×3102341	BARBIE’S FOX	M	7	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	6=	54kg	53kg		99
8	x90101x97x	MY WHISPER	M	5	Peter & Paul Snowden	8=	54kg	53kg		98
9	7307x1x87x	TIMES SQUARE (FR)	M	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	8=	54kg	53kg		98
10	911x21140x	TAMERLANE	G	6	James Cummings	10	54kg	54kg		97
11	114x11x15	OLENTIA	M	4	Chris Waller	11	54kg	53kg		96
12	213x1761x0	DEMOCRACY MANIFEST	G	5	Chris Waller	12	54kg	53kg		94
13	13x12123x4	DETONATOR JACK (NZ)	G	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	13=	54kg	53kg		93
14	97447x593x	WILD PLANET	G	8	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	13=	54kg	53kg		93
15	1413377×56	CUBAN ROYALE	G	9	Robert & Luke Price	15	54kg	53kg		92
16	x5428x009x	ARAMAYO	G	8	Sam Kavanagh	16=	54kg	53kg		91
17	2732x3010x	THE FORTUNE TELLER	G	4	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	16=	54kg	53kg		91
18	x711286x71	VRENELI	G	6	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	16=	54kg	53kg		91
19	3111878×67	INVER PARK (GB)	G	6	Kris Lees	19=	54kg	53kg		90
20	88x641211x	REDIENER	G	4	Chris Waller	19=	54kg	53kg		90
21	2312x80x52	POLITICAL DEBATE	H	4	Chris Waller	21	54kg	53kg		88
22	13285210×5	SPANGLER (IRE)	G	6	Kris Lees	22	54kg	53kg		87
23	x7960160x3	MYSTERY SHOT	G	7	Matthew Dale	23	54kg	53kg		85
24	94x61250x9	LOCH EAGLE	G	5	Kris Lees	24	54kg	53kg		84
25	626x42237x	ATMOSPHERE	G	4	James Cummings	25	54kg	53kg		79
26	21557×1811	STRAIT ACER	G	4	Edward Cummings	26	54kg	53kg		78
27	x234532136	ANAGAIN	M	5	Joseph Pride	27	54kg	53kg		72

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Bill Ritchie Handicap History

The Bill Ritchie Handicap was inaugurated in 1978, with Go Mod taking out the first edition of the race. Since then, the Bill Ritchie Handicap has attracted quality fields annually, particularly with the ballot exemption on offer for the Epsom Handicap.

The Bill Ritchie Handicap is named after New South Wales thoroughbred breeder and shoe magnate Bill Ritchie. Bill’s daughter and film producer Julia Ritchie remains heavily involved in thoroughbred owning, training, breeding and racing. Jill was also the first woman to be inducted into the Australian Jockey Club committee and in 2011 was elected to director of NSWROA (NSW Racehorse Owners Association).

The Bill Ritchie Handicap has almost always been held at Royal Randwick, although in 2011 it was held at Rosehill. The Bill Ritchie Handicap was upgraded to Group 3 in 1998, a status it has held since.

Notable Bill Ritchie Handicap winners include Brave Prince (1999), Coalesce (2006), Boban (2013), Comin’ Through (2017), Kolding (2019), and Probabeel (2020).

Bill Ritchie Handicap results since 2000 are listed below.

Bill Ritchie Handicap Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Rediener	1 minute 21.54 seconds
	2nd	Cuban Royale
	3rd	Wild Planet
2022 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Top Ranked	1 minute 25.09 seconds
	2nd	Purple Sector
	3rd	Cross Talk
2021 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Atishu	1 minute 23.74 seconds
	2nd	Looks Like Elvis
	3rd	Aramayo
2020 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Probabeel	1 minute 22.64 seconds
	2nd	Cuba
	3rd	Brandenburg
2019 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Kolding	1 minute 22.99 seconds
	2nd	Fierce Impact
	3rd	Desert Lord
2018 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Siege Of Quebec	1 minute 21.56 seconds
	2nd	Pierata
	3rd	Music Magnate
2017 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Comin’ Through	1 minute 21.67 seconds
	2nd	Tom Melbourne
	3rd	Burning Passion
2016 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Sons Of John	1 minute 22.7 seconds
	2nd	Torgersen
	3rd	Federal
2015 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Sadler’s Lake	1 minute 24.79 seconds
	2nd	Rudy
	3rd	Heart Testa
2014 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Manawanui	1 minute 21.8 seconds
	2nd	Rock Sturdy
	3rd	Tougher Than Ever
2013 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Boban	1 minute 21.8 seconds
	2nd	Beltone
	3rd	Choice Bro
2012 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Steps In Time	1 minute 23.2 seconds
	2nd	Said Com
	3rd	Wild And Proud
2011 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Thankgodyou’rehere	1 minute 22.2 seconds
	2nd	Startsmeup
	3rd	Miss Keepsake
2010 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Drumbeats	1 minute 22.8 seconds
	2nd	Kenny’s World
	3rd	Captain Sonador
2009 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	McClintock	1 minute 23.5 seconds
	2nd	Walking Or Dancing
	3rd	Faulconbridge
2008 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Judged	1 minute 23.1 seconds
	2nd	Rockwood
	3rd	Kiloton
2007 Bill Ritchie Handicap	Race Not Held
2006 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Coalesce	1 minute 21.6 seconds
	2nd	New Edge
	3rd	Flaming
2005 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Flaming	1 minute 21.3 seconds
	2nd	Devil
	3rd	Messiaen
2004 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Osca Warrior	1 minute 21.7 seconds
	2nd	Utzon
	3rd	In A Bound
2003 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Zabarra	1 minute 22.6 seconds
	2nd	Britt’s Best
	3rd	Forum Floozie
2002 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Zabarra	1 minute 23.8 seconds
	2nd	This Manshood
	3rd	Swiss Echo
2001 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Fouardee	1 minute 21.7 seconds
	2nd	Defier
	3rd	Adamantly
2000 Bill Ritchie Handicap	1st	Landsighting	1 minute 21.7 seconds
	2nd	Tie The Knot
	3rd	Valuate