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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).

In 2021 the Epona Stakes third placed She’s Ideel franked the form running second next-up in the Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) before a fourth in that autumn’s Sydney Cup results.

The Epona Stakes 2022 ran at Rosehill Racecourse on Saturday March 19, 2022 as part of Golden Slipper Day card in Sydney and was won by Monegal ($7). 

2022 Epona Stakes
Date:	Saturday March 19, 2022
Track:	Rosehill Racecourse
Distance:	1900m
Race Type:	SW+P / F&M 3YO&Up
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$160,000

2022 Epona Stakes Results & Finishing Order

• 1st: #4 Monegal ($7)
• 2nd: #5 Nerve Not Verve
• 3rd: #13 Feel The Rush

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	4	MONEGAL	Theresa Bateup	Ms Rachel King		7	54kg		$7
	2	5	NERVE NOT VERVE (NZ)	Michael Moroney	William Pike	2.17L	5	54kg		$9
	3	13	FEEL THE RUSH (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ms Linda Meech	6.47L	10	54kg		$26
	4	9	BEDFORD SQUARE (NZ)	Matthew Smith	Ms Kathy O’Hara	6.89L	9	54kg		$21
	5	1	LE LUDE	John Thompson	Brock Ryan	8.84L	11	56kg		$3.80F
	6	2	HARMONY ROSE	Mark Newnham	Tom Sherry (a)	11.32L	1	54kg		$4.80
	7	6	GALAXY BELLE (NZ)	Kris Lees	Jason Collett	12.86L	6	54kg		$4.80
	8	8	FILL OF FUN	Anthony Cummings	Tyler Schiller (a)	13.42L	4	54kg		$31
	9	12	AZARMIN	Kris Lees	Brenton Avdulla	16L	3	54kg (cd 54.5kg)		$17
	10	11	WILD SHEILA	Kris Lees	Regan Bayliss	33.38L	2	54kg		$91
	11	10	TWICE ON SUNDAY	Bjorn Baker	Tim Clark	43.42L	8	54kg		$21
		7	WELSH LEGEND	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry		0
		3	OUR INTRIGUE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2022 Epona Stakes Betting Odds

The updated Epona Stakes 2022 betting odds on the staying fillies & mares racing in the Group 3 this Golden Slipper Day will be available below.

2022 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 2022 Epona Stakes field and barriers are set for release on Wednesday March 16, 2022 and will be published below as soon as available.

2022 Epona Stakes Scratchings: 

• #3 Our Intrigue (5)
• #7 Welsh Legend (12)

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	x055829x31	LE LUDE	John Thompson	Brock Ryan	13	56kg			97
2	327x6030x7	HARMONY ROSE	Mark Newnham	Tom Sherry (a)	1	54kg			95
3	448125132x	OUR INTRIGUE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Kerrin McEvoy	5	54kg			92
4	4042416515	MONEGAL	Theresa Bateup	Ms Rachel King	8	54kg			88
5	0836×72251	NERVE NOT VERVE (NZ)	Michael Moroney	William Pike	6	54kg			80
6	17111×0132	GALAXY BELLE (NZ)	Kris Lees	Jason Collett	7	54kg			77
7	94559x524x	WELSH LEGEND	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	12	54kg			77
8	x9049x1135	FILL OF FUN	Anthony Cummings	Tyler Schiller (a)	4	54kg			68
9	0x41222144	BEDFORD SQUARE (NZ)	Matthew Smith	Ms Kathy O’Hara	10	54kg			67
10	7×81543322	TWICE ON SUNDAY	Bjorn Baker	Tim Clark	9	54kg			66
11	96244×9464	WILD SHEILA	Kris Lees	Chad Schofield	2	54kg			63
12	177×571031	AZARMIN	Kris Lees	Brenton Avdulla	3	54kg	54.5kg		75
13	0x053840x5	FEEL THE RUSH (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ms Linda Meech	11	54kg			75

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2022 Epona Stakes Nominations

Early Epona Stakes nominations in 2022 are taken the Monday of race week and will be updated below once released.

• Nominations Extended Until: 15/03/2022 11:00:00 AM

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp Rating
1	6×61331312	ANGEL ROCK	M	5	Tom Dabernig	76
2	0x41222144	BEDFORD SQUARE (NZ)	M	4	Matthew Smith	67
3	x9049x1135	FILL OF FUN	M	5	Anthony Cummings	68
4	17111×0132	GALAXY BELLE (NZ)	M	4	Kris Lees	77
5	56×3312392	GIRLS ARE READY	M	5	Joe Cleary	62
6	327x6030x7	HARMONY ROSE	M	4	Mark Newnham	95
7	x055829x31	LE LUDE	M	6	John Thompson	97
8	6404241651	MONEGAL	M	6	Theresa Bateup	88
9	0836×72251	NERVE NOT VERVE (NZ)	M	6	Michael Moroney	80
10	448125132x	OUR INTRIGUE (NZ)	M	6	Chris Waller	92
11	7×81543322	TWICE ON SUNDAY	M	4	Bjorn Baker	66
12	94559x524x	WELSH LEGEND	M	6	Chris Waller	77
13	96244×9464	WILD SHEILA	M	6	Kris Lees	63

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

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.

In 2021 the original Golden Slipper Stakes race day including the Epona Stakes was abandoned due to heavy rainfall and unsafe track conditions and postponed to the following Saturday.

Recent Epona Stakes Winners

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

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2022 Epona Stakes	1st	Monegal	2 minutes 00.62 seconds
	2nd	Nerve Not Verve
	3rd	Feel The Rush
2021 Epona Stakes	1st	Polly Grey	1 minute 57.80 seconds
	2nd	Aliferous
	3rd	She’s Ideel
2020 Epona Stakes	1st	Missybeel	1 minute 57.64
	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