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The 2023 Festival Stakes is a Group 3 race run at Rosehill Gardens in late November or early December during the Sydney Summer Racing Carnival.

The quality handicap race is run over 1500m, offers $250,000 in prize money and takes place on the same Saturday as Perth’s $1.5 million Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m).

Horses running in the Festival Stakes field can come via a host of different lead-ups including Melbourne races run over the spring such as the Group 3 Chatham Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on Champions Stakes Day.

The Festival Stakes serves as a nice lead-up race to the old Villiers Stakes (1600m), now run over the mile at Royal Randwick a fortnight later as the $2 million The Ingham Stakes – and the Group 3 Summer Cup (2000m) back at Randwick on Boxing Day in late December.

Monton (2011) was the last horse to complete the Festival Stakes – Villiers Stakes double, while the 2018 Festival Stakes winner My Nordic Hero ran third in the Villiers next start.

More recently the 2021 Festival Stakes winner Ellsberg ran a next-up second in the Villiers Stakes results. He returned in 2022 and further franked the form with a third in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes in the autumn before an outstanding spring saluting in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) in a dead-heat with Top Ranked before completing the Five Diamonds Prelude – $2 million Five Diamonds double.

In 2023 the Ingham Stakes winner, Kirwan’s Lane, won the lucrative summer feature on the back of a third in that year’s Festival Stakes results.

The Festival Stakes 2023 ran on Saturday December 2, 2023 at Rosehill Gardens offering $250,000 in prize money and was won in an upset photo thriller by the consistent Phearson ($17). 

2023 Festival Stakes
Date:	Saturday December 2, 2023
Track:	Rosehill Racecourse
Distance:	1500m
Race Type:	Quality Handicap
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$250,000

2023 Festival Stakes Results

• 1st: #7 Phearson ($17)
• 2nd: #14 Williamsburg
• 3rd: #2 Rustic Steel

Brad Widdup’s in-form Exosphere six-year-old Phearson ($17) survived a protest to hang on to his narrow victory in the Festival Stakes 2023 results in Sydney.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	7	PHEARSON	Brad Widdup	Tom Sherry		3	54kg		$17
	2	14	WILLIAMSBURG	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	Tyler Schiller	0.06L	11	53kg		$8
	3	2	RUSTIC STEEL	Kris Lees	Sam Clipperton	0.73L	4	57.5kg		$4.40EF
	4	13	SUPERIUM	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jett Stanley (a)	1.06L	9	53kg		$71
	5	18	TAZARAL (IRE)	Peter & Paul Snowden	Zac Lloyd (a)	1.49L	5	53kg		$11
	6	17	GREBENI	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	Kerrin McEvoy	3.27L	7	53kg		$4.40EF
	7	4	DAJRAAN (GB)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	4.54L	8	54kg		$21
	8	11	MILITARY EXPERT	Annabel Neasham	Ms Rachel King	6.7L	6	53.5kg		$12
	9	5	FINEPOINT	Chris Waller	Regan Bayliss	7.01L	1	54kg		$5.50
	10	3	BANJU	Lyle Chandler	Reece Jones	9.32L	10	55kg		$26
	11	8	FELIX MAJESTIC	Gary Nickson	Jason Collett	10.59L	2	54kg		$9.50
		16	GLINT OF SILVER	David Pfieffer	Dylan Gibbons (a)		0
		1	VILANA	James Cummings	Nash Rawiller		0
		15	ACQUITTED (IRE)	Kris Lees	Jay Ford		0
		9	JAMBEROO	Diane Poidevin Laine	Peter Wells		0
		6	RUBAMOS	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry		0
		12	LOVE TAP	Richard & Will Freedman			0
		10	CHASE MY CROWN	Wayne Wilkes			0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Festival Stakes Betting Odds

The latest Festival Stakes odds will be listed below with pricing links to Ladbrokes.com.au for you to lock in your Festival Stakes Tips at the right price this summer racing season.

Rainer ($6EF) followed by Ellsberg ($2.40 in 2021) are the latest Festival Stakes favourites (or equal favourites) to salute for the punters.

There was a notable upset in 2023 with Phearson saluting at Festival Stakes odds of $17.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 FESTIVAL STAKES ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Festival Stakes Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 FESTIVAL STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 Festival Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Festival Stakes 2023 Tips on the Ingham Stakes lead-up this spring-summer racing season.

• To Win: #17 Grebeni ($3.90 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Large field and plenty of livewire Festival Stakes hopes this season but sticking with Grebeni coming off a confidence-boosting win in the Goulburn Cup (1400m) at the start of the month. Ultra-consistent Ocean Park four-year-old who has a great record here at Rosehill with two wins from three starts at the track. Carried plenty more weight for some good wins in the winter, is a Group 3 place-getter, and is fit now third-up ready to fire with just 53kg and Kerrin McEvoy aboard.

2023 Festival Stakes Field

The Festival Stakes field attracts a diverse line-up of summer gallopers many of which are heading towards a run in the season’s Villiers Stakes (now The Ingham Stakes) over the Randwick mile and is released on the Wednesday before the race.

The official 2023 Festival Stakes field and barriers will be published below as soon as announced by Racing NSW.

The Festival Stakes 2023 final field features a big line-up of Sydney summer hopefuls led in betting by the Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou-trained Grebeni following the early scratching of the James Cummings-trained top-weight Vilana. 

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	0x1760x568	VILANA	James Cummings	Nash Rawiller	3	59kg			107
2	1x88610x75	RUSTIC STEEL	Kris Lees	Sam Clipperton	6	57.5kg			104
3	112x19x007	BANJU	Lyle Chandler	Reece Jones	15	55kg			99
4	3x0x10x7x0	DAJRAAN (GB)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	13	54kg			97
5	0x330003x3	FINEPOINT	Chris Waller	Regan Bayliss	1	54kg			91
6	422x57x536	RUBAMOS	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	10	54kg	55kg		91
7	x10212x023	PHEARSON	Brad Widdup	Tom Sherry	5	54kg			83
8	x800x41161	FELIX MAJESTIC	Gary Nickson	Jason Collett	2	54kg			80
9	7317x7x132	JAMBEROO	Diane Poidevin Laine	Peter Wells	18	54kg			69
10	4213544143	CHASE MY CROWN	Wayne Wilkes		8	54kg			67
11	2370x036x6	MILITARY EXPERT	Annabel Neasham	Ms Rachel King	9	53.5kg			96
12	x10x735x05	LOVE TAP	Richard & Will Freedman		16	53kg			93
13	8795×96318	SUPERIUM	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jett Stanley (a)	14	53kg			93
14	5303×42960	WILLIAMSBURG	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	Tyler Schiller	17	53kg			92
15	41035720×2	ACQUITTED (IRE)	Kris Lees	Jay Ford	12	53kg			91
16	2127×63402	GLINT OF SILVER	David Pfieffer	Dylan Gibbons (a)	4	53kg			86
17	3x21113x01	GREBENI	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	Kerrin McEvoy	11	53kg			86
18	x630x1126x	TAZARAL (IRE)	Peter & Paul Snowden	Zac Lloyd (a)	7	53kg			84

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Festival Stakes Nominations

The Festival Stakes nominations are taken the Monday prior to the race and are the first indication of what middle-distance gallopers will take to the track for the handicap clash in early December.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	x08x3x907x	LAUDA SION (JPN)	H	7	Chris Waller	1=	59kg	59kg		107
2	0x1760x568	VILANA	H	5	James Cummings	1=	59kg	59kg		107
3	9187×07714	NEW MANDATE (IRE)	G	6	Chris Waller	3	58.5kg	58.5kg		106
4	1x88610x75	RUSTIC STEEL	G	6	Kris Lees	4	57.5kg	57.5kg		104
5	043×200330	SKYMAN (GB)	G	8	Chris Waller	5	57kg	57kg		103
6	112x19x007	BANJU	G	7	Lyle Chandler	6	55kg	55kg		99
7	3x0x10x7x0	DAJRAAN (GB)	H	6	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	7	54kg	54kg		97
8	2370x036x6	MILITARY EXPERT	G	5	Annabel Neasham	8	54kg	53.5kg		96
9	x10x735x05	LOVE TAP	G	6	Richard & Will Freedman	9=	54kg	53kg		93
10	8795×96318	SUPERIUM	G	7	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	9=	54kg	53kg		93
11	43024265×2	KEATS (IRE)	G	7	Gavin Bedggood	11=	54kg	53kg		92
12	5303×42960	WILLIAMSBURG	H	4	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	11=	54kg	53kg		92
13	41035720×2	ACQUITTED (IRE)	G	7	Kris Lees	13=	54kg	53kg		91
14	0x330003x3	FINEPOINT	M	5	Chris Waller	13=	54kg	53kg		91
15	422x57x536	RUBAMOS	G	6	Chris Waller	13=	54kg	53kg		91
16	2127×63402	GLINT OF SILVER	G	4	David Pfieffer	16=	54kg	53kg		86
17	3x21113x01	GREBENI	G	4	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	16=	54kg	53kg		86
18	x630x1126x	TAZARAL (IRE)	G	6	Peter & Paul Snowden	18	54kg	53kg		84
19	x10212x023	PHEARSON	G	6	Brad Widdup	19	54kg	53kg		83
20	43501458×6	ITA	M	6	Bjorn Baker	20	54kg	53kg		81
21	x800x41161	FELIX MAJESTIC	G	4	Gary Nickson	21	54kg	53kg		80
22	7317x7x132	JAMBEROO	G	4	Diane Poidevin Laine	22	54kg	53kg		69
23	4213544143	CHASE MY CROWN	M	6	Wayne Wilkes	23	54kg	53kg		67

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Festival Stakes History

The Festival Stakes was first run in 1948 and won by Cragside. Since then a number of quality contenders have taken out the Sydney showdown including Headstrong (1994), Ike’s Dream (2004), Monton (2011), I’m Imposing (2014) and inaugural Five Diamonds winner the following spring Ellsberg (2021).

The event has run at both Rosehill Racecourse as well as Canterbury Park and has also undergone a number of distance changes. It has been run over its current 1500m distance since 2008. It was inaugurated as a Principal race before gaining Listed status in 1979 – 2015. The Festival Stakes was elevated to a Group 3 race for the first time in 2016.

Recent Festival Stakes Winners

See below for the full list of Festival Stakes winners and results going back to 2000.

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Festival Stakes	1st	Phearson	1 minute 29.04 seconds
	2nd	Williamsburg
	3rd	Rustic Steel
2022 Festival Stakes	1st	Dajraan	1 minute 27.96 seconds
	2nd	Mirra Vision
	3rd	Kirwan’s Lane
2021 Festival Stakes	1st	Ellsberg	1 minute 32.04 seconds
	2nd	Stockman
	3rd	Bandersnatch
2020 Festival Stakes	1st	Outrageous	1 minute 29.25 seconds
	2nd	Royal Celebration
	3rd	Evalina
2019 Festival Stakes	1st	Ranier	1 minute 29.46 seconds
	2nd	Live And Free
	3rd	Cellarman
2018 Festival Stakes	1st	My Nordic Hero	1 minute 29.10 seconds
	2nd	Goodfella
	3rd	Chamois Road
2017 Festival Stakes	1st	Testashadow	1 minute 31.67 seconds
	2nd	Mister Sea Wolf
	3rd	Red Excitement
2016 Festival Stakes	1st	Sweet Redemption	1 minute 29.63 seconds
	2nd	Hazzabeel
	3rd	Red Excitement
2015 Festival Stakes	1st	Mighty Lucky	1 minute 29.49 seconds
	2nd	It’s Somewhat
	3rd	Peace Force
2014 Festival Stakes	1st	I’m Imposing	1 minute 28.51 seconds
	2nd	Estonian Princess
	3rd	Strawberry Boy
2013 Festival Stakes	1st	White Sage	1 minute 30.0 seconds
	2nd	Terravista
	3rd	Alma’s Fury
2012 Festival Stakes	1st	Malavio	1 minute 28.72 seconds
	2nd	Monton
	3rd	Galah
2011 Festival Stakes	1st	Monton	1 minute 28.63 seconds
	2nd	Lightinthenite
	3rd	Viva Las
2010 Festival Stakes	1st	Race Not Run	–
	2nd	–
	3rd	–
2009 Festival Stakes	1st	Rabbuka	1 minute 28.72 seconds
	2nd	Parfumier
	3rd	Ahdashim
2008 (December) Festival Stakes	1st	Voice Commander	1 minute 29.25 seconds
	2nd	Synonym
	3rd	Theophorus
2008 (January) Festival Stakes	1st	Eremein	1 minute 33.92 seconds
	2nd	Lancaster Park
	3rd	Beauty Watch
2007 Festival Stakes	1st	Race Not Run	–
	2nd	–
	3rd	–
2006 Festival Stakes	1st	Utzon	1 minute 22.69 seconds
	2nd	Anwaar
	3rd	Real Strike
2005 Festival Stakes	1st	Spirit Of Tara	1 minute 24.83 seconds
	2nd	Our Apache
	3rd	Benedetti
2004 Festival Stakes	1st	Ike’s Dream	1 minute 21.82 seconds
	2nd	Sam Sung A Song
	3rd	Rinehart
2003 Festival Stakes	1st	This Manshood	1 minute 22.69 seconds
	2nd	Palladium Star
	3rd	Salagado
2002 Festival Stakes	1st	This Manshood	1 minute 23.98 seconds
	2nd	Gabfest
	3rd	Raw Instinct
2001 Festival Stakes	1st	Nanny Maroon	1 minute 22.35 seconds
	2nd	Play Station
	3rd	Osca Warrior
2000 Festival Stakes	1st	Adam	1 minute 17.02 seconds
	2nd	Mr. Innocent
	3rd	Steel City