Cameron Handicap

The Cameron Handicap is a Group 3 event held at Newcastle Racecourse in mid-September on Newcastle Gold Cup Day as a lead-up to the Epsom Handicap.

2023 Cameron Handicap Results

  • 1st: #6 Democracy Manifest
  • 2nd: #7 Palmetto
  • 3rd: #14 Spangler



The Cameron Handicap is a Group 3 race conducted over 1500m during the Newcastle Gold Cup Racing Carnival each September.

Held at Newcastle Racecourse on a Friday in mid-September, the Cameron Handicap is worth $250,000 in total prize money as of 2023. The Cameron Handicap is held under open handicap conditions and usually attracts a fairly commendable field. Held on Newcastle Gold Cup Day the event usually draws horses from local and Sydney-based stables.

The Cameron Handicap is part of the two day Newcastle Spring Carnival, which also features the Newcastle Gold Cup (2300m) and Tibbie Stakes (1400m).

Horses often seek to contend the Cameron Handicap following successful runs in other races held at Newcastle. The Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) is another lead up race for Sydney horses. Some Sydney horses might seek to incorporate the Cameron Handicap into their spring campaigns and make the two hour journey up for the race.

The Cameron Handicap winner is exempt from ballot for the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) held at Randwick the following month and Excellerator (2002) was the last to do the double.

In 2020 Rock successfully defended his Cameron Handicap title and went on to run third in that year’s Group 1 Kennedy Cantala during the Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington.

The 2021 Cameron Handicap form was franked with the third-placed mare Duais returning the following autumn to complete the Group 1 Australian Cup – Tancred Stakes interstate double in 2022.

The 2023 Cameron Handicap ran on Friday September 15, 2023 as part of the Newcastle Gold Cup Day card and was won in explosive fashion by the fast finishing Chris Waller-trained Democracy Manifest ($5). 

Cameron Handicap 2023
Date: Friday September 15, 2023
Track: Newcastle Racecourse
Distance: 1500m
Race Type: Open Handicap
Status: Group 3
Prize Money: $250,000

2023 Cameron Handicap Results

  • 1st: # Democracy Manifest ($5)
  • 2nd: #7 Palmetto
  • 3rd: #14 Spangler

Chris Waller’s Flying Artie five-year-old, Democracy Manifest ($5), franked the Group 2 Tramway Stakes form improving on an unplaced run to explode up the inside over the closing stages and fly past his rivals to take out the 2023 Cameron Handicap results at Newcastle. It was a peach of a ride by Tyler Schiller who guided Democracy Manifest from last to first in a new track record time of 1 minute 28.71 seconds.

Finish No. Horse Trainer Jockey Margin Bar. Weight Penalty Starting Price
1 6 DEMOCRACY MANIFEST Chris Waller Tyler Schiller 9 54kg $5
2 7 PALMETTO (NZ) John Sargent Kerrin McEvoy 2.46L 8 54kg $5
3 14 SPANGLER (IRE) Kris Lees Tom Sherry 2.67L 1 54kg $10
4 3 NO COMPROMISE (NZ) Chris Waller Joshua Parr 3.17L 2 58kg $26
5 11 INVER PARK (GB) Kris Lees Dylan Gibbons (a) 3.96L 6 54kg $3.30F
6 9 LOOKS LIKE ELVIS Jarrod Austin Brock Ryan 4.22L 5 54kg $81
7 4 KUKERACHA (NZ) Chris Waller Jason Collett 5.3L 3 56.5kg $41
8 5 MOUNT POPA (IRE) Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes Zac Lloyd (a) 5.39L 12 56kg $61
9 2 LUNCIES (GB) Kris Lees Damien Oliver 5.53L 11 58kg $14
10 10 VRENELI Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Regan Bayliss 5.76L 13 54kg $12
11 15 GLINT OF SILVER David Pfieffer Jay Ford 7.08L 4 54kg $20
12 12 LAURE ME IN David Pfieffer Ms Rachel King 7.85L 7 54kg $81
13 1 SKYMAN (GB) Chris Waller Brett Prebble 8.17L 10 59kg $10
8 ARAMAYO Sam Kavanagh Ashley Morgan 0
13 POLITICAL DEBATE Chris Waller Jason Collett 0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Cameron Handicap Betting Odds

The top Newcastle racing odds and Cameron Handicap 2023 betting market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below the week of the race.

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

2023 Cameron Handicap Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 CAMERON HANDICAP FORM GUIDE

2023 Cameron Handicap Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Cameron Handicap 2023 Tips on the spring carnival showdown this September.

  • To Win: #1 Skyman ($5 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Quality edition of the Cameron Handicap with plenty of good horses resuming or in the early stages of their spring bids. Happy to stick with the current favourite Skyman from the Waller stable who is second-up here with the 59kg top-weight. The eight-year-old import may have the heavy kilos, but his first-up second to Pericles in Randwick’s Group 2 Tramway Stakes was eye-catching. Brett Prebble retains the ride, extra distance suits, can improve on his first-up run and win here.

2023 Cameron Handicap Field

The official Cameron Handicap Final Field & Barrier Draw is announced on the Wednesday of race week and attracts quality middle-distance sprinters coming off lead-up runs in earlier spring events including the Group 2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Randwick a fortnight earlier or the Group 3 Show County Quality (1200m) in late August.

Democracy Manifest (10th in 2023) was the last Tramway Stakes graduate to win the Cameron Handicap.

The 2023 Cameron Handicap field features a strong line-up of middle-distance spring hopefuls led in betting by the Chris Waller-trained top-weight Skyman coming off a Group 2 Tramway second fresh at Randwick.

No Last 10 Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight Probable Weight Penalty Hcp Rating
1 01x61043x2 SKYMAN (GB) Chris Waller Brett Prebble 11 59kg 107
2 922x22418x LUNCIES (GB) Kris Lees Damien Oliver 13 58kg 105
3 107x20480x NO COMPROMISE (NZ) Chris Waller Joshua Parr 3 58kg 105
4 627x05314x KUKERACHA (NZ) Chris Waller Jason Collett 4 56.5kg 102
5 13x9x0050x MOUNT POPA (IRE) Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes Zac Lloyd (a) 14 56kg 101
6 213x1761x0 DEMOCRACY MANIFEST Chris Waller Tyler Schiller 10 54kg 94
7 408x3110x7 PALMETTO (NZ) John Sargent Kerrin McEvoy 9 54kg 93
8 x5428x009x ARAMAYO Sam Kavanagh Ashley Morgan 12 54kg 91
9 2x32500x06 LOOKS LIKE ELVIS Jarrod Austin Brock Ryan 6 54kg 91
10 x711286x71 VRENELI Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Regan Bayliss 15 54kg 91
11 3111878×67 INVER PARK (GB) Kris Lees Dylan Gibbons (a) 7 54kg 90
12 9x80200x90 LAURE ME IN David Pfieffer Ms Rachel King 8 54kg 88
13 2312x80x52 POLITICAL DEBATE Chris Waller Jason Collett 2 54kg 88
14 13285210×5 SPANGLER (IRE) Kris Lees Tom Sherry 1 54kg 87
15 162127×634 GLINT OF SILVER David Pfieffer Jay Ford 5 54kg 86

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Cameron Handicap Nominations

Nominations for the Cameron Handicap 2023 are taken the Monday leading-up to Newcastle Gold Cup Day.

Last 10 Horse Sex Age Trainer Ballot Weight True Weight Penalty Hcp Rating
1 01x61043x2 SKYMAN (GB) G 8 Chris Waller 1 59kg 59kg 107
2 922x22418x LUNCIES (GB) G 7 Kris Lees 2= 58kg 58kg 105
3 107x20480x NO COMPROMISE (NZ) G 7 Chris Waller 2= 58kg 58kg 105
4 x385281117 BOLD MAC (NZ) G 6 Chris Waller 4 57.5kg 57.5kg 104
5 627x05314x KUKERACHA (NZ) G 6 Chris Waller 5 56.5kg 56.5kg 102
6 13x9x0050x MOUNT POPA (IRE) G 9 Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 6 56kg 56kg 101
7 213x1761x0 DEMOCRACY MANIFEST G 5 Chris Waller 7 54kg 54kg 94
8 408x3110x7 PALMETTO (NZ) G 5 John Sargent 8 54kg 54kg 93
9 x5428x009x ARAMAYO G 8 Sam Kavanagh 9= 54kg 54kg 91
10 2x32500x06 LOOKS LIKE ELVIS G 9 Jarrod Austin 9= 54kg 54kg 91
11 x711286x71 VRENELI G 6 Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott 9= 54kg 54kg 91
12 3111878×67 INVER PARK (GB) G 6 Kris Lees 12 54kg 54kg 90
13 9x80200x90 LAURE ME IN G 9 David Pfieffer 13= 54kg 54kg 88
14 2312x80x52 POLITICAL DEBATE H 4 Chris Waller 13= 54kg 54kg 88
15 13285210×5 SPANGLER (IRE) G 6 Kris Lees 15 54kg 54kg 87
16 162127×634 GLINT OF SILVER G 4 David Pfieffer 16 54kg 54kg 86
17 94x61250x9 LOCH EAGLE G 5 Kris Lees 17 54kg 54kg 84
18 10150×0 ARTS M 4 Edward Cummings 18 54kg 54kg 78
19 46x51110x2 PATRIKA MIST M 5 Joseph Ible 19 54kg 54kg 68

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Cameron Handicap History

The Cameron Handicap was inaugurated in 1950 and has continued to grow in prize money and prestige over the decades. The race is named after James George Cameron, who was born in Newcastle to a very large family. He built Cameron’s Family Hotel in Broadmeadow, a home on Cameron’s Hill and purchased land nearby the racecourse. Tibbie, after whom the Tibbie Stakes is named, was part-owned by Cameron. James George Cameron served the Newcastle Jockey Club as president for 25 years and was instrumental in the construction of Newcastle Racecourse.

The Cameron Handicap was a listed race until the 2005 edition ran as a Group 3 event for the first time. It has remained at that grade since. In 2011, the distance was changed to the current 1500m.

In 2020 Rock made history becoming the first back-to-back Cameron Handicap winner since Romantic Dream (1976 & 1979) having also won the event in 2019.

Notable Cameron Handicap winners include Luskin Star (1977), Cheval Cavalier (1990), Court’s In Session (2006), and Toydini (2013).

In 2023 the Chris Waller-trained Democracy Manifest came from last to first to win the Cameron Handicap in a new track record time of 1 minute 28.71 seconds.

Cameron Handicap results with winning times are listed below.

Cameron Handicap Results

Year Place Horse Time
2023
Cameron Handicap
1st Democracy Manifest 1 minute 28.71 seconds (R)
2nd Palmetoo
3rd Spangler
2022
Cameron Handicap
1st Wild Chap 1 minute 31.87 seconds
2nd Luncies
3rd Character
2021
Cameron Handicap
1st Ashman 1 minute 31.58 seconds
2nd Sky Lab
3rd Duais
2020
Cameron Handicap
1st Rock 1 minute 29.46 seconds
2nd Just Thinkin’
3rd Chief Ironside
2019
Cameron Handicap
1st Rock 1 minute 29.46 seconds
2nd Articus
3rd Nettoyer
2018
Cameron Handicap
1st New Tipperary 1 minute 29.88 seconds
2nd Red Excitement
3rd Best Of Days
2017
Cameron Handicap
1st Got Unders 1 minute 29.5 seconds
2nd Sound Proposition
3rd Spectroscope
2016
Cameron Handicap
1st Chetwood 1 minute 18.3 seconds
2nd Le Romain
3rd Famous Seamus
2015
Cameron Handicap
1st Forget 1 minute 29.6 seconds
2nd Malice
3rd Wouldnt It Be Nice
2014
Cameron Handicap
1st Hooked 1 minute 32.3 seconds
2nd Rugged Cross
3rd Mighty Lucky
2013
Cameron Handicap
1st Toydini 1 minute 29.1 seconds
2nd High Esteem
3rd Scream Machine
2012
Cameron Handicap
1st Rolling Pin 1 minute 29.1 seconds
2nd Lightinthenite
3rd Offenders
2011
Cameron Handicap
1st Raspberries 1 minute 29.6 seconds
2nd Light Brigade
3rd Kaunda
2010
Cameron Handicap
1st Kenny’s World 1 minute 15.3 seconds
2nd Prince Braeman
3rd Chasm
2009
Cameron Handicap
1st Absolutelyfabulous 1 minute 16.3 seconds
2nd Black Piranha
3rd McClintock
2008
Cameron Handicap
1st Raheeb 1 minute 22.4 seconds
2nd Ashikaga
3rd Falaise
2007
Cameron Handicap
Race Not Held  
2006
Cameron Handicap
1st Court’s In Session 1 minute 22.2 seconds
2nd Malcolm
3rd Mac’s Tune
2005
Cameron Handicap
1st Collate 1 minute 23.2 seconds
2nd Mr Celebrity
3rd Cincinatti Gal
2004
Cameron Handicap
1st Osca Warrior 1 minute 22.6 seconds
2nd Shamekha
3rd Tsuimai
2003
Cameron Handicap
1st Archave 1 minute 22.4 seconds
2nd Britt’s Best
3rd Stoway
2002
Cameron Handicap
1st Excellerator 1 minute 24.4 seconds
2nd Hey Pronto
3rd Mowerman
2001
Cameron Handicap
1st Kingsgate 1 minute 17.3 seconds
2nd Lord Essex
3rd Maitland Gold
2000
Cameron Handicap
1st Mulan Princess 1 minute 22.0 seconds
2nd Kenconcarne
3rd Spying

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