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The Craven Plate is a Group 3 staying event hosted by the Australian Turf Club (ATC) at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.

Held towards the end of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival on a Saturday in mid to late October, the Craven Plate is a genuine distance race, which provides local stayers with a final run over a decent distance before heading to Victoria for the major feature days of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

Previously held over 2000m, it is now run over 1800m having been decreased in distance ahead of the 2022 edition.

The Craven Plate is raced under weight for age conditions and pays a lucrative $750,000 prize money. As of 2023 it runs on the same card as the $2 million The Invitation race and Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m).

The Craven Plate is also one of four lead-up races that offers a lucrative bonus to any horse that can win it plus Rosehill’s $750,000 Rosehill Gold Cup (2000m) on Golden Eagle Day. In 2019 the Craven Plate runner-up Tally went on to win the inaugural edition of the Rosehill Gold Cup.

Think It Over (2021) was the last horse to complete the lucrative Craven Plate – Rosehill Gold Cup double.

The Craven Plate form from 2020 was franked with the upset winner Think It Over going on to run third in that year’s $1 million The Gong before winning the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes the following autumn in 2021.

In 2021 Think It Over went back-to-back in the Craven Plate saluting as the odds-on favourite before his Rosehill Gold Cup win that spring.

Think It Over further franked the Craven Plate form returning in the autumn of 2022 for a stellar campaign headlined by a Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) second in Melbourne and victory in the Group 1 $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) in Sydney.

The 2022 Craven Plate winner Cascadian franked the form the next autumn with a $5 million The All-Star Mile second, Group 1 Australian Cup victory at Flemington and third in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes in 2023.

This 2023 Craven Plate ran on Saturday October 28, 2023 at Randwick Racecourse offering $750,000 and was won narrowly by the Team Hawkes-trained Zeyrek ($9.50). 

Craven Plate 2023
Date:	Saturday October 28, 2023
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	1800m
Race Type:	Weight-For-Age
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$750,000

2023 Craven Plate Results

• 1st: #5 Zeyrek ($9.50)
• 2nd: #10 Renaissance Woman
• 3rd: #4 Skyman

The Team Hawkes-trained Zeyrek ($9.50) came with a flashing late run down the outside to snare the 2023 Craven Plate win by a nose over Renaissance Woman.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	5	ZEYREK (FR)	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Tyler Schiller		8	59kg		$9.50
	2	10	RENAISSANCE WOMAN (NZ)	Bjorn Baker	Joshua Parr	0.05L	7	56kg		$4.60
	3	4	SKYMAN (GB)	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	0.38L	6	59kg		$26
	4	2	NUMERIAN (IRE)	Annabel Neasham	Adam Hyeronimus	1.35L	1	59kg		$3.90F
	5	3	NO COMPROMISE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	2.15L	2	59kg		$5
	6	1	HUETOR (FR)	Peter & Paul Snowden	Ryan Maloney	2.4L	5	59kg		$5
	7	9	FIREBURN	Gary Portelli	Jason Collett	3.31L	3	56kg		$7.50
	8	6	STOCKMAN (NZ)	Joseph Pride	Sam Clipperton	3.84L	4	59kg		$31
		7	SIBAAQ (GB)	Annabel Neasham	Regan Bayliss		0
		8	HINGED	Chris Waller	Brett Prebble		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Craven Plate Betting Odds

The full Craven Plate 2023 betting odds available online on the Craven Plate field through Ladbrokes.com.au will be provided for race fans below as soon as announced.

Think It Over ($1.75 in 2021) and Cascadian ($1.75 in 2022) are the last favourites in Craven Plate betting to salute for the punters.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 CRAVEN PLATE ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Craven Plate Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Craven Plate 2023 Tips on the lucrative WFA showdown in Sydney this October.

• To Win: #2 Numerian ($6.50 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Open edition of the Craven Plate and even with the bigger weight have Numerian on top from the stables of Annabel Neasham. This now eight-year-old ran in the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup last year, and he put in a solid performance in the winter when runner-up in the Doomben Cup. Fresh he ran ninth in the Hill Stakes over the 1900 at Rosehill only 3.5 lengths beaten. Wide draw that day, gets the rails run over 100m less now. Proven Group 2 winner, was second in the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington two runs in during the autumn so looks a chance fitter now from the gate.

2023 Craven Plate Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 CRAVEN PLATE FORM GUIDE

2023 Craven Plate Field

The Craven Plate field attracts an increasingly high quality of spring stayers thanks to the boosted prize money on offer.

Horses may come into the Craven Plate field via a lead-up run in a race like the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) or the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington earlier in the spring.

Other good lead-up races into the Craven Plate include the Group 2 Hill Stakes (1800m) – now worth $2 million in prize money or the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield.

Moriarty (2014), Classic Uniform (2017), Think It Over (2021) and Cascadian (2022) are the latest horses to complete the Hill Stakes – Craven Plate double.

The Craven Plate 2023 field and barrier draw will be released by Racing NSW on the Wednesday of race week and published in full below for punters.

The 2023 Craven Plate final field features a line-up of quality spring staying types led in betting by Chris Waller’s former The Metropolitan winner No Compromise.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	x0653216x0	HUETOR (FR)	Peter & Paul Snowden	Ryan Maloney	5	59kg			111
2	0x426256x9	NUMERIAN (IRE)	Annabel Neasham	Adam Hyeronimus	1	59kg			109
3	7x20480x45	NO COMPROMISE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	2	59kg			105
4	x61043x200	SKYMAN (GB)	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	7	59kg			105
5	21735×4540	ZEYREK (FR)	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Tyler Schiller	10	59kg			105
6	x005875x09	STOCKMAN (NZ)	Joseph Pride	Sam Clipperton	4	59kg			104
7	2x460x4023	SIBAAQ (GB)	Annabel Neasham	Regan Bayliss	9	59kg			99
8	x26844x407	HINGED	Chris Waller	Brett Prebble	6	57kg			106
9	694341×880	FIREBURN	Gary Portelli	Jason Collett	3	56kg			100
10	69x6124x51	RENAISSANCE WOMAN (NZ)	Bjorn Baker	Joshua Parr	8	56kg			98

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Craven Plate Nominations

Early nominations for the Craven Plate in 2023 close the Monday leading-up to the race and will be updated below once announced.

2023 Craven Plate nominations extended until 11:00am (AEDT) 24/10/2023 

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp Rating
1	6362598×73	BANKERS CHOICE (NZ)	G	6	Michael Moroney	103
2	119535x	CANBERRA LEGEND (IRE)	H	4	James Ferguson	90
3	694341×880	FIREBURN	M	4	Gary Portelli	100
4	x26844x407	HINGED	M	5	Chris Waller	106
5	x0653216x0	HUETOR (FR)	G	7	Peter & Paul Snowden	111
6	1119×41111	IKNOWASTAR	G	4	Bjorn Baker	90
7	7x20480x45	NO COMPROMISE (NZ)	G	7	Chris Waller	105
8	0x426256x9	NUMERIAN (IRE)	G	8	Annabel Neasham	109
9	69x6124x51	RENAISSANCE WOMAN (NZ)	M	4	Bjorn Baker	98
10	2x460x4023	SIBAAQ (GB)	G	6	Annabel Neasham	99
11	x61043x200	SKYMAN (GB)	G	8	Chris Waller	105
12	x005875x09	STOCKMAN (NZ)	G	7	Joseph Pride	104
13	37685×1261	TERRITORY EXPRESS	G	4	Paul Niceforo	65
14	21735×4540	ZEYREK (FR)	G	7	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	105

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Craven Plate History

The Craven Plate was inaugurated in 1867, making it one of the oldest races in the country. Interestingly, the Craven Plate has a fairly consistent history. Throughout the many years it has ran, it has remained around the 2000m mark. Between 1867 and 1971 the Craven Plate was held over 10 furlongs, which is approximately 2000m. In 1972, the conversion to metric saw the Craven Plate rounded to an even 2000m. In 2001, for a year, the Craven Plate was held over 1800m. In 2002, it returned to 2000m before being dropped back to 1800m ahead of the 2022 race.

From its inception to 1978 the Craven Plate was regarded as a Principal event. Strangely, in 1979 the decision was made not to hold the race. That decision held until 1984 when the Craven Plate was reintroduced as a listed event. In 1993, an upgrade saw the Craven Plate run as a Group 3 event, a status it has retained since.

Known as the Craven Plate from the outset, very few name changes have befallen this long-abiding event. Given the prefix “AJC” between 1868 and 1999, the Craven Plate was for a year known as the AJC Queen’s Cup in 2000. In 2001, it was referred to as the AJC Japan Trophy Race. From 20002 onwards, the Craven Plate has returned to its original name.

The Craven Plate has acquired a reputation as an important stepping stone in the career of great horses. Some notable Craven Plate winners include Glencoe (1869), Chester (1878), Carbine (1890), Wakeful (1902), Gloaming (1919 & 1922), Phar Lap (1929-1931), Flight (1943 & 1945) Tulloch (1960), Ming Dynasty (1978), and Honorius (2013).

Craven Plate results and winning times since 2000 are provided below.

In 2020-21 Think It Over became the latest dual winner of the Craven Plate.

Craven Plate Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Craven Plate	1st	Zeyrek	1 minute 49.10 seconds
	2nd	Renaissance Woman
	3rd	Skyman
2022 Craven Plate	1st	Cascadian	1 minute 50.68 seconds (run over 1800m)
	2nd	Just Folk
	3rd	Promitto
2021 Craven Plate	1st	Think It Over	2 minutes 05.03 seconds
	2nd	Sky Lab
	3rd	Lion’s Roar
2020 Craven Plate	1st	Think It Over	2 minutes 02.68 seconds
	2nd	Nettoyer
	3rd	Vanna Girl
2019 Craven Plate	1st	Happy Clapper	2 minutes 0.66 seconds
	2nd	Tally
	3rd	Life Less Ordinary
2018 Craven Plate	1st	Moss ‘N’ Dale	2 minutes 7.95 seconds
	2nd	Doukhan
	3rd	Egg Tart
2017 Craven Plate	1st	Classic Uniform	2 minutes 4.34 seconds
	2nd	Happy Clapper
	3rd	McCreery
2016 Craven Plate	1st	It’s Somewhat	2 minutes 2.5 seconds
	2nd	Spiritjim
	3rd	Pinstripe Lane
2015 Craven Plate	1st	Complacent	2 minutes 1.8 seconds
	2nd	Hauraki
	3rd	I’m Imposing
2014 Craven Plate	1st	Moriarty	2 minutes 2.6 seconds
	2nd	Rising Romance
	3rd	Vilanova
2013 Craven Plate	1st	Honorius	2 minutes 3.7 seconds
	2nd	Masked Marvel
	3rd	Vaquera
2012 Craven Plate	1st	Mourayan	2 minutes 2.4 seconds
	2nd	Western Symbol
	3rd	Dare To Dream
2011 Craven Plate	1st	My Kingdom Of Fife	2 minutes 4.3 seconds
	2nd	Shootoff
	3rd	Gazza Guru
2010 Craven Plate	1st	C’Est La Guerre	2 minutes 2.2 seconds
	2nd	Purple
	3rd	Triple Honour
2009 Craven Plate	1st	Miss Marielle	2 minutes 8.3 seconds
	2nd	Nom De Jeu
	3rd	Fulmonti
2008 Craven Plate	1st	Lorne Dancer	2 minutes 6.4 seconds
	2nd	Riva San
	3rd	Ice Chariot
2007 Craven Plate	1st	Race Not Held	–
	2nd	–
	3rd	–
2006 Craven Plate	1st	Cateclipse	2 minutes 3.4 seconds
	2nd	Testafiable
	3rd	Gawne
2005 Craven Plate	1st	Mummify	2 minutes 3.1 seconds
	2nd	Wild Iris
	3rd	Natural Blitz
2004 Craven Plate	1st	Fiery Venture	2 minutes 7.8 seconds
	2nd	Restless
	3rd	Ain’t Seen Nothin’
2003 Craven Plate	1st	Shower Of Roses	2 minutes 2.8 seconds
	2nd	So Assertive
	3rd	Mon Mekki
2002 Craven Plate	1st	Manner Hill	2 minutes 3.9 seconds
	2nd	Spillway
	3rd	Forest Jim
2001 Craven Plate	1st	The Man	1 minute 49.8 seconds
	2nd	Altiero
	3rd	Viva La Vie
2000 Craven Plate	1st	Yippyio	2 minutes 5.6 seconds
	2nd	Pravda
	3rd	Freemason