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

2025 Bill Ritchie Handicap Results

Stay tuned for the official 2025 Bill Ritchie Handicap results and finishing order and to see which horse has secured this year’s Epsom Handicap ballot exemption!

• 1st: #8 With Your Blessing ($4.20)
• 2nd: #4 Bosustow
• 3rd: #12 Depth Of Character

John Thompson’s in-form seven-year-old With Your Blessing ($4.20) improved on his lead-up third in the Tramway Stakes to lead throughout and salute in the 2025 Bill Ritchie Handicap results thanks to a brilliant front-running ride by Alysha Collett. While a key lead-up to the Group 1s of the spring, Thompson indicated his Bill Ritchie winner was more likely to be freshened up for a shot at The Hunter at Newcastle in November.

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), Top Ranked (2022), and Rediener (2023) 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 2024 Bill Ritchie runner-up Gringotts went on to run very well that spring finishing a next-up second in the $1.5 million Alan Brown before winning The Big Dance – The Gong double. He also returned in the autumn of 2025 to secure a Group 1 success in George Ryder Stakes defeating Fangirl.

The Bill Ritchie Handicap 2025 ran on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at Randwick with John Thompson’s in-form With Your Blessing ($4.20) securing an all-the-way win ahead of a likely freshen-up for The Hunter at Newcastle. 

2025 Bill Ritchie Handicap Betting Odds

The season’s best Bill Ritchie Handicap 2025 betting odds and market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be provided at Races.com.au 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.

There was a notable upset in 2024 with Mchale saluting in a thrilling photo-finish at Bill Ritchie Handicap odds of $26 for the Waller stable.

2025 Bill Ritchie Handicap Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2025 BILL RITCHIE HANDICAP FORM GUIDE

2025 Bill Ritchie Handicap Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Bill Ritchie Handicap 2025 Tips on the Epsom lead-up this spring.

• To Win: #17 Royal Patronage ($2.80 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Quite a few scratchings out of the Bill Ritchie including my original selection HEADLEY GRANGE (16). We’re left with a depleted 10-horse field but there’s still some good types getting about including the new, hard-to-knock favourite ROYAL PATRONAGE (10) from the outside alley. Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott’s resuming import is an absolute fresh flyer boasting an excellent first-up record (5:3-0-0). This distance looks spot-on for his spring campaign kick-off (4:3-1-0). First-up last prep he won the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) here at Randwick before two more good autumn runs that included a Doncaster Mile second. His Sha Tin bid was disappointing when second last in the Champions Mile back in April and this is his first assignment since. Has looked strong in recent trials and is down in grade facing a winnable event here to get confidence back.

2025 Bill Ritchie Handicap Field

The 2025 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 2025 field features a line-up of potential Epsom Handicap bound gallopers including the returning Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott trained Group 1 winner Royal Patronage the consistent With Your Blessing coming off a Group 2 Tramway Stakes third.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2025 Bill Ritchie Handicap Nominations

Nominations for the Bill Ritchie Handicap in 2025 close the Monday of race week and will be provided for punters below as soon as released.

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