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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.

Raced over 1400m, the Bill Ritchie Handicap is an exciting sprinting test 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 $160,000, the Bill Ritchie Handicap is a lucrative Group 3 event that is regularly targeted by decent handicappers.

Held on George Main Stakes Day, the Bill Ritchie Handicap shares the race program with a host of other black-type events. These include the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) and the Group 2 The Shorts (1100m) for the spring’s top sprinters.

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.

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 Bill Ritchie Handicap 2019 ran on Saturday September 21, 2019 and saw trainer Chris Waller take it out with Kolding. 

2019 Bill Ritchie Handicap
Date:	Saturday September 21, 2019
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	1400m
Race Type:	3YO&UP Quality Hcp
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$160,000

2019 Bill Ritchie Handicap Results

• 1st: #5 Kolding
• 2nd: #8 Fierce Impact
• 3rd: #12 Desert Lord

The official Bill Ritchie Handicap 2019 results saw the Chris Waller-trained Kolding secure a narrow victory over the Japanese-bred Fierce Impact, while the Team Hawkes-trained Desert Lord ran two lengths back for third in the Epsom lead-up.

Read more on the thrilling 2019 Bill Ritchie Handicap win by Kolding.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Barrier	Weight	SP
1	5	KOLDING (NZ)	Chris Waller	Glen Boss	–	9	57kg	$7
2	8	FIERCE IMPACT (JPN)	Matthew Smith	Nash Rawiller	0.2L	2	56kg	$10
3	12	DESERT LORD	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Tommy Berry	2L	8	54.5kg	$5.50
4	7	CASCADIAN (GB)	James Cummings	Kerrin McEvoy	2.8L	3	56kg	$4.20F
5	11	PURPLE SECTOR (NZ)	John Thompson	Tim Clark	3.2L	7	54.5kg	$14
6	1	TALLY	James Cummings	Joshua Parr	3.6L	5	58kg	$71
7	4	ARCHEDEMUS	Gwenda Markwell	Luke Currie	3.7L	6	57kg	$12
8	3	AVANTAGE	Jamie Richards	James McDonald	4.2L	10	57kg	$7
9	6	STAR OF THE SEAS (NZ)	Chris Waller	Brenton Avdulla	5.6L	4	56.5kg	$5.50
10	10	MY XPRESSION (NZ)	Chris Waller	Jay Ford	6L	1	54.5kg	$41
–	9	KAONIC (NZ)	Chris Waller	Glyn Schofield	–	0	–	–
–	2	MANTASTIC (IRE)	Chris Waller	Jason Collett	–	0	–	–

2019 Bill Ritchie Handicap Odds

The season’s best Bill Ritchie Handicap 2019 betting odds and market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be provided below the week of the race.

2019 Bill Ritchie Handicap Field

The 2019 Bill Ritchie Handicap Final Field & Barrier Draw will be provided in full below once acceptances are taken on the Wednesday leading-up to George Main Stakes Day.

The official Bill Ritchie Handicap 2019 Field attracted a dozen potential Epsom Handicap horses including Godolphin’s Group 1 placed import Cascadian who heads betting to win the race second-up down under. The dangers include the Chris Waller-trained duo of Star Of Seas and Kolding who ran fourth and fifth respectively last start in the Tramway.

Update: The 2019 Bill Ritchie Handicap field is down to 10 runners after the withdrawal of the Chris Waller-trained Manatastic (12) and stablemate Kaonic (1) who were drawn the outside and inside barriers respectively.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Br.	Wgt.	Hcp. Rating
1	1514x6770x	TALLY	James Cummings	Joshua Parr	6	58kg	102
2	5x812511x8	MANTASTIC (IRE)	Chris Waller	Jason Collett	12	57.5kg	101
3	121x1x13x2	AVANTAGE	Jamie Richards	James McDonald	11	57kg	104
4	x1118118x0	ARCHEDEMUS	Gwenda Markwell	Luke Currie	7	57kg	100
5	12331111×5	KOLDING (NZ)	Chris Waller	Glen Boss	10	57kg	100
6	22113211×4	STAR OF THE SEAS (NZ)	Chris Waller	Brenton Avdulla	5	56.5kg	99
7	121x128x5	CASCADIAN (GB)	James Cummings	Kerrin McEvoy	4	56kg	98
8	8321x6720x	FIERCE IMPACT (JPN)	Matthew Smith	Nash Rawiller	3	56kg	98
9	441x5496x0	KAONIC (NZ)	Chris Waller	Glyn Schofield	1	55.5kg	97
10	133x00x535	MY XPRESSION (NZ)	Chris Waller	Jay Ford	2	54.5kg	89
11	0x2490431x	PURPLE SECTOR (NZ)	John Thompson	Tim Clark	8	54.5kg	86
12	5x4131x1x4	DESERT LORD	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Tommy Berry	9	54.5kg	82

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) and Comin’ Through (2017). Bill Ritchie Handicap results since 2000 are listed below.

Bill Ritchie Handicap Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
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