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The Ethereal Stakes is a Group 3 race held in October on Caulfield Cup Day for VRC Oaks-bound fillies during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

2025 Ethereal Stakes Results

Stay tuned for the official 2025 Ethereal Stakes results and finishing order this Caulfield Cup Day and to see what fillies may be VRC Oaks bound!

• 1st: No. 1 Spicy Lu ($6)
• 2nd: No. 3 Just A Journey
• 3rd: No. 5 After Summer

Winning Margin: 0.75 lengths

Winning Time: 2:05.10

Nick Olive’s improving Tagaloa filly Spicy Lu ($6) put in a career best performance leading all-the-way off a bold front-running ride by jockey Nash Rawiller to hold off her rivals and salute in the 2025 Ethereal Stakes results by three-quarters of a length. She has now firmed in from $15 to $9 in the all-in Group 1 VRC Oaks odds online at Ladbrokes.com.au.

Named in honour of the 2011 Caulfield Cup – Melbourne Cup double winning mare Ethereal, the race is open only to three-year-old fillies and takes place at set weights plus penalties.

Offering $240,000 and contested over 2000m, the Ethereal Stakes is a traditional lead-up into the Group 1 VRC Oaks (2500m) held the following month at Flemington during the coveted four-day Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Pinot (2017) was the last filly to complete the Ethereal Stakes – VRC Oaks double, while the year before the Ethereal Stakes winner Eleonora (2016) ran third in the VRC Oaks (then Crown Oaks) next start.

The 2021 Ethereal Stakes form was franked with the runner-up Glint Of Hope going on to win the Group 1 Australasian Oaks (2000m) in Adelaide the following autumn. Biscayne Bay meanwhile ran third in both the 2021 Ethereal Stakes and VRC Oaks results that spring.

The 2022 Ethereal Stakes third placegetter Pavitra franked the form going on to run second in that spring’s Wakeful Stakes and VRC Oaks results, before also returning in the autumn of 2023 for a second in Sydney’s Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m).

The 2023 Ethereal Stakes form was franked with the winner Autumn Angel returning the following autumn to claim the Group 1 ATC Oaks in 2024. The Ethereal runner-up that year, Tropical Squall, meanwhile went on to win the Group 1 Surround Stakes the following year.

The Ethereal Stakes third placegetter from 2024, Femminile, franked the form going on to win the Group 1 SA Derby the following May.

The 2025 edition of the Ethereal Stakes ran on Saturday October 18, 2025 as part of a bumper Caulfield Cup Day program and saw the untapped Nick Olive trained Spicy Lu ($6) lead from barrier to box to earn her shot at the VRC Oaks on November 6. 

2025 Ethereal Stakes Betting

Betting on the Ethereal Stakes 2025 opens the week of the race with all-in markets available at Ladbrokes.com.au as soon as the nominations are taken.

The latest Ethereal Stakes odds on the Oaks-bound fillies will be provided below as soon as released.

Verry Elleegant ($2.35 in 2018) and Too Darn Discreet ($3.90 in 2024) are the latest favourites in Ethereal Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

2025 Ethereal Stakes Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2025 ETHEREAL STAKES FORM GUIDE

2025 Ethereal Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our exclusive Ethereal Stakes 2025 Tips on the Caulfield Cup Day support act this spring.

• To Win: No. 3 Just A Journey ($2.50 at time of publish) – BET NOW
  

JUST A JOURNEY (5) looks primed to bounce back into the winner’s circle on Caulfield Cup Day and claim a well-earned Group 3 trophy. Michael Freedman’s in-form daughter of Justify has missed the placings just once in seven career starts, and with winning form up to 1550m, the rise to 2000m holds no fears. She’s been climbing the grades impressively this prep, winning second-up in a Canterbury BM72 before a gutsy runner-up finish in the Group 2 Edward Manifold (1600m) on Turnbull Day where she did all the work up front and was only nabbed late by Getta Good Feeling. That filly lines up in Saturday’s Group 1 Thousand Guineas, which makes this a softer assignment on the same card. She brings strong form lines, Blake Shinn is a quality replacement for J-Mac (who’s in Sydney for Everest Day), and from a favourable draw, she can take up the running and prove hard to catch.

2025 Ethereal Stakes Field

The official Ethereal Stakes 2025 Field & Barriers are announced the Wednesday leading-up to the Caulfield Cup.

The 2025 Ethereal Stakes final field features a quality line-up of potential Oaks fillies led in betting by last start Group 2 Edward Manifold runner-up Just A Journey.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2025 Ethereal Stakes Nominations

Early nominations for the Ethereal Stakes in 2025 are confirmed on the Monday leading-up to the race.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Ethereal Stakes History

The Ethereal Stakes was first conducted in 2000 making it one of the newer editions to the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

The event has gone by many names due to sponsorship purposes including its inaugural title – the Foster’s Light Ice Handicap. Originally it was a handicap race, but it is now a set weights plus penalties feature.

The Ethereal Stakes became a key VRC Oaks lead-up when upgraded to Group 3 status in 2015. It has been won by many quality fillies including Set Square (2014), that year’s VRC Oaks winner Pinot (2017) and the Chris Waller-trained Verry Elleegant (2018).

Ethereal Stakes results since the upgrade to Group 3 status are listed below.

Ethereal Stakes Results