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The Epona Stakes is a Group 3 race for fillies and mares held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse on Golden Slipper Day in March.

Golden Slipper Day is one of the highlights of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival and features five Group 1 races: the Golden Slipper Stakes, Ranvet Stakes, The Galaxy, George Ryder Stakes and Rosehill Guineas. There are also a number of key support acts on the card that hold Group status including the Epona Stakes.

Run under set weights plus penalties conditions the Epona Stakes is contested over 1900m by female stayers and offers $160,000 in prize money. Fillies and mares may come into the Epona Stakes field via a number of lead-ups including a tougher run in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) the weekend before or the Group 3 Aspiration Quality (1600m) at the start of the month. In 2018 the Epona Stakes winner The Pinnacle improved on a lead-up second in the Aspiration Quality.

Possible later autumn targets for Epona Stakes graduates including the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) and the Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m). In 2016 Heavens Above ran second in both the Epona Stakes and Queen Of The Turf Stakes.

Mares looking for longer distance targets may contest the Group 2 Chairman’s Handicap (2600m) at Royal Randwick on Day 1 of ‘The Championships’ or even the following weekend’s Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m).

The Epona Stakes 2020 ran at Rosehill Racecourse on Saturday March 21, 2020 and was won in an upset by the Bjorn Baker-trained Missybeel ($21). 

2020 Epona Stakes
Date:	Saturday March 21, 2020
Track:	Rosehill Racecourse
Distance:	1900m
Race Type:	SW+P / F&M 3YO&Up
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$160,000

2020 Epona Stakes Results & Finishing Order

• 1st: #12 Missybeel
• 2nd: #7 Gayatri
• 3rd: #2 Greysful Glamour

The Epona Stakes 2020 results saw a narrow upset by the well-bred Bjorn Baker-trained Savabeel five-year-old Missybeel ($21) who broke through with a nice Group 3 victory adding to her future value as a broodmare. She beat home the Chris Waller-trained Gayatri ($8.50) by a neck, with Greysful Glamour ($7) a further two lengths back third.

At the price, Missybeel was the longest-priced Epona Stakes winner since Scratchy Bottom (2015).

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Barrier	Weight	SP
1	12	MISSYBEEL (NZ)	Bjorn Baker	Tim Clark	–	1	54kg	$21
2	7	GAYATRI	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	0.2L	5	54kg	$8.50
3	2	GREYSFUL GLAMOUR	Mark Newnham	Ms Rachel King	2L	9	56kg	$7
4	4	ALIFEROUS	Kris Lees	Brenton Avdulla	2.1L	4	56kg	$7.50
5	1	LUVALUVA (NZ)	John Sargent	Damian Lane	3.9L	13	56.5kg	$4.60F
6	6	SAVACOOL (NZ)	Chris Waller	Ms Kathy O’Hara	4L	11	54kg	$9.50
7	8	ALL TOO SOON	David Payne	Glyn Schofield	4.2L	2	54kg	$21
8	3	PAINT THE TOWN TWO (NZ)	Bevan Laming	James McDonald	4.4L	8	56kg	$7
9	13	MRS MADRID	Anthony Cummings	Jean Van Overmeire (a)	4.5L	3	54kg	$81
10	5	ANOTHER DOLLAR (NZ)	Chris Waller	Jason Collett	4.7L	12	54kg	$9.50
11	14	CRYPTIC JEWEL (NZ)	Brent Stanley	Kerrin McEvoy	8.7L	7	54kg	$10
–	10	PUMPKIN PIE	Richard & Michael Freedman	–	–	0	–	–
–	9	ON THE WHITE TURF (NZ)	Richard & Michael Freedman	Craig Williams	–	0	–	–
–	11	KILLER INSTINCT	John O’Shea	Tom Marquand	–	0	–	–

2020 Epona Stakes Odds & Betting

The updated Epona Stakes 2020 betting odds on the staying fillies & mares racing in the Group 3 this Golden Slipper Day will be available below.

2020 Epona Stakes Field

The Epona Stakes field features a smart line-up of fillies and mares either proven at staying distances or testing the waters over more metres during the autumn.

The official 2020 Epona Stakes field and barriers are set for release on Wednesday March 18, 2020 and will be published below as soon as available.

John Sargent’s four-time Group winner Luvaluva sits top of the 2020 Epona Stakes field and odds despite drawing wide (13) in line-up and set to carry the 56.5kg topweight.

Update: #9 On The White Turf (14), #10 Pumpkin Pie (10) and #11 Killer Instinct (6) have all come out of the Epona Stakes field for 2020

Click here for all the 2020 Golden Slipper Day scratchings.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	854×256116	LUVALUVA (NZ)	John Sargent	Damian Lane	13	56.5kg	107
2	9x02514x10	GREYSFUL GLAMOUR	Mark Newnham	Ms Rachel King	9	56kg	99
3	42124×1121	PAINT THE TOWN TWO (NZ)	Bevan Laming	James McDonald	8	56kg	97
4	3x05420x24	ALIFEROUS	Kris Lees	Brenton Avdulla	4	56kg	88
5	1x75293x79	ANOTHER DOLLAR (NZ)	Chris Waller	Jason Collett	12	54kg	95
6	x852255x53	SAVACOOL (NZ)	Chris Waller	Ms Kathy O’Hara	11	54kg	89
7	x9092154x8	GAYATRI	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	5	54kg	83
8	40077×4569	ALL TOO SOON	David Payne	Glyn Schofield	2	54kg	77
9	211490×163	ON THE WHITE TURF (NZ)	Richard & Michael Freedman	Craig Williams	14	54kg	74
10	5×32853130	PUMPKIN PIE	Richard & Michael Freedman	–	10	54kg	74
11	311×141307	KILLER INSTINCT	John O’Shea	Tom Marquand	6	54kg (probable weight 55kg)	73
12	254Px71256	MISSYBEEL (NZ)	Bjorn Baker	Tim Clark	1	54kg	73
13	264x8146x0	MRS MADRID	Anthony Cummings	Jean Van Overmeire (a)	3	54kg	71
14	412x16x505	CRYPTIC JEWEL (NZ)	Brent Stanley	Kerrin McEvoy	7	54kg	69

Epona Stakes History

The Epona Stakes was first run in 1998 and won by Burning Embers. Since then some nice types have taken out the race including Fibrillation (2012) and Scratchy Bottom (2015). It only gained black-type status in 2001 as a Listed race before a Group 3 upgrade in 2012. The race is named after Celtic-Roman god Epona known as the protector of horses.

Known by a number of different names over the years the Epona Stakes has run as the Epona Mares Quality Plate, De Bortoli Wines Stakes and Percy Sykes Tribute Stakes in recent years. From 2000 – 2002 the race took place at Canterbury Park and from 1998 – 1999 it was contested over 2000m instead of the current 1900m distance.

Recent Epona Stakes Winners

See below for the full Epona Stakes results and winners going back to the year 2000.

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2020 Epona Stakes	1st	Missybeel	1 minute 57.64 seconds
	2nd	Gayatri
	3rd	Greysful Glamour
2019 Epona Stakes	1st	Semari	2 minutes 02.30 seconds
	2nd	I’m A Princess
	3rd	All Too Soon
2018 Epona Stakes	1st	The Pinnacle	1 minute 58.51 seconds
	2nd	Domed
	3rd	Nettoyer
2017 Epona Stakes	1st	Consommateur	2 minutes 06.45 seconds
	2nd	Ambience
	3rd	Top Of My List
2016 Epona Stakes	1st	Vergara	1 minute 56.8 seconds
	2nd	Heavens Above
	3rd	Sweet Fire
2015 Epona Stakes	1st	Scratchy Bottom	1 minute 57.3 seconds
	2nd	Rising Romance
	3rd	Telepathic
2014 Epona Stakes	1st	Intimate Moment	2 minutes 7.0 seconds
	2nd	Any Day Will Do
	3rd	Epingle
2013 Epona Stakes	1st	Aliyana Tilde	1 minute 55.8 seconds
	2nd	Epingle
	3rd	Dolly Dolly
2012 Epona Stakes	1st	Fibrillation	1 minute 57.6 seconds
	2nd	Crafty Irna
	3rd	Once Were Wild
2011 Epona Stakes	1st	Galizani	1 minute 57.0 seconds
	2nd	Vivid Vixen
	3rd	Vintedge
2010 Epona Stakes	1st	Messenger	1 minute 59.8 seconds
	2nd	Pagan Princess
	3rd	Jessicabeel
2009 Epona Stakes	1st	Divine Rebel	1 minute 58.5 seconds
	2nd	Prima Nova
	3rd	Risayla
2008 Epona Stakes	1st	Ready To Lift	1 minute 57.69 seconds
	2nd	My Lady’s Chamber
	3rd	Reggie
2007 Epona Stakes	1st	Safwa	1 minute 55.62 seconds
	2nd	Grey Stream
	3rd	Upper Echelon
2006 Epona Stakes	1st	Kosi Bay	1 minute 57.78 seconds
	2nd	Fantasia
	3rd	Sun Song
2005 Epona Stakes	1st	Natural Woman	1 minute 55.06 seconds
	2nd	Cincinnati Gal
	3rd	Clevedon
2004 Epona Stakes	1st	Great Anna	1 minute 56.55 seconds
	2nd	Vereza
	3rd	Thundarosa
2003 Epona Stakes	1st	Airlie Bird	1 minute 55.8 seconds
	2nd	Talista Belle
	3rd	Honor Babe
2002 Epona Stakes	1st	Ilze	1 minute 58.43 seconds
	2nd	Floridays
	3rd	Call Me Lily
2001 Epona Stakes	1st	Market Price	1 minute 57.85 seconds
	2nd	Poppett
	3rd	The Druidess
2000 Epona Stakes	1st	Our Erin	2 minutes 00.16 seconds
	2nd	Eye Spy
	3rd	Dalquareen