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The Naturalism Stakes is a Group 3 staying event held during September each year as part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. The Naturalism Stakes draws considerable attention from both punters and trainers due to it offering the winner a ballot exemption for the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) a month later.

Raced over 2000m, the Naturalism Stakes provides horses with a good opportunity mid-campaign to adjust their distance. The Naturalism Stakes has in the past been used by milers who are keen to step up in distance, while it is also regularly targeted by top class stayers kicking off their spring preps.

Run under open quality handicap conditions, the $160,000 Naturalism Stakes attracts plenty talent and is now part of the support card on Ladbrokes Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes Day. Along with the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m), the other feature on the program is the Group 3 How Now Stakes (1200m).

The Naturalism Stakes acts as an effective lead-up race to many major events such as the mile and a half classic, the Caulfield Cup, and Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) run at weight-for-age at Moonee Valley the weekend after Caulfield Cup Day.

The last horse to complete the Naturalism Stakes – Caulfield Cup double was the classy mare Jameka (2016).

The 2020 Naturalism Stakes ran on Saturday September 19, 2020 as the MRC Foundation Cup and was won by the Danny O’Brien-trained favourite Orderofthegarter.

Naturalism Stakes
Date:	Saturday September 19, 2020
Track:	Caulfield Racecourse
Distance:	2000m
Race Type:	Open Quality
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$160,000

2020 Naturalism Stakes Results

• 1st: #9 Orderofthegarter
• 2nd: #11 Chapada
• 3rd: #6 Steel Prince

Orderofthegarter ($2.90) saluted for the punters in the 2020 MRC Foundation Cup results, the sparingly-raced import given a clinical ride by ace hoop Damien Oliver to win the Caulfield Cup ballot exemption.

Click here to read more on Danny O’Brien’s Caulfield Cup-bound Naturalism Stakes 2020 winner.

Colour	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	9	ORDEROFTHEGARTER (IRE)	Danny O’Brien	Damien Oliver		4	56kg		$2.90F
	2	11	CHAPADA	Michael Moroney	Daniel Stackhouse	0.75L	7	55kg		$21
	3	6	STEEL PRINCE (IRE)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Jye McNeil	0.85L	3	58.5kg		$11
	4	10	IN GOOD HEALTH	Peter G Moody	Luke Nolen	1.6L	14	55kg		$21
	5	13	POLLY GREY (NZ)	Chris Waller	John Allen	2.85L	10	55kg		$31
	6	14	GAME KEEPER	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Luke Currie	3.05L	8	55kg		$10
	7	12	DABIYR (IRE)	Chris Waller	Michael Walker	4.05L	2	55kg		$13
	8	7	MAHAMEDEIS	Nick Ryan	Rhys McLeod	4.15L	1	57.5kg		$13
	9	15	THINK WE’RE DUE	Andrew Noblet	William Pike	4.35L	13	55kg		$31
	10	8	GALLIC CHIEFTAIN (FR)	Archie Alexander	Damian Lane	4.55L	6	56.5kg		$61
	11	19e	SUPER GIRL	Josh Julius	Billy Egan	5.05L	9	55kg		$91
	12	20e	SHANDY	Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra	Daniel Moor	6.05L	15	55kg		$31
	13	18e	KINANE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Michael Dee	6.35L	11	55kg		$11
	14	17e	THE KING (IRE)	Lindsey Smith	Dean Yendall	6.85L	16	55kg		$101
	15	4	HAKY (IRE)	Archie Alexander	Declan Bates	10.85L	12	59kg		$71
	16	3	DR DRILL (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Craig Williams	12.6L	5	59kg		$6
		2	CAPE OF GOOD HOPE (IRE)	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Jamie Mott		0
		1	MIRAGE DANCER (GB)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Ben Melham		0
		5	SHARED AMBITION (IRE)	Chris Waller			0
		16	DJUKON (GB)	Chris Waller			0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2020 Naturalism Stakes Betting

The updated Naturalism Stakes 2020 odds and betting links to Ladbrokes.com.au on the Caulfield Cup lead-up race will be provided below the week of the race.

Orderofthegarter ($2.90 in 2020) was the last favourite in MRC Foundation Cup betting to salute for the punters.

2020 Naturalism Stakes Field

The Naturalism Stakes field of final acceptances are released on the Wednesday leading up to Naturalism Stakes Day at Caulfield Racecourse and traditionally attracts a capacity 16-starter line-up of Caulfield Cup-bound horses.

Horse may come into the Naturalism Stakes field via a number of different spring lead-up races including the Group 2 Feehan Stakes (1600m) run over the mile at Moonee Valley a fortnight earlier.

The official 2020 Naturalism Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw will be published below as soon as released by Racing Victoria.

The 2020 Naturalism Stakes (MRC Foundation Cup) field features a capacity line-up of Caulfield Cup hopefuls led in betting by Danny O’Brien’s perennial runner-up Orderofthegarter.

Update: The original two top-weights #1 Mirage Dancer and #2 Cape Of Good Hope have been scratched along with #5 Shared Ambition and the Chris Waller-trained #16 Djukon – running in Sydney’s Group 3 Kingston Town Stakes field instead – have all been scratched.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2020 SIR RUPERT CLARKE STAKES DAY SCRATCHINGS & TRACK REPORT

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	30x03643x7	MIRAGE DANCER (GB)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Ben Melham	13	61kg		108
2	x100x80x00	CAPE OF GOOD HOPE (IRE)	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Jamie Mott	5	60.5kg		106
3	115x3010x5	DR DRILL (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Craig Williams	6	59kg		103
4	0386x051x9	HAKY (IRE)	Archie Alexander	Declan Bates	15	59kg		103
5	11x3103x09	SHARED AMBITION (IRE)	Chris Waller		9	59kg		103
6	111x4679x0	STEEL PRINCE (IRE)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Jye McNeil	3	58.5kg		102
7	0932148116	MAHAMEDEIS	Nick Ryan	Rhys McLeod	1	57.5kg		100
8	874x9748x0	GALLIC CHIEFTAIN (FR)	Archie Alexander	Damian Lane	7	56.5kg		98
9	15627x2x22	ORDEROFTHEGARTER (IRE)	Danny O’Brien	Damien Oliver	4	56kg		97
10	410x38x311	IN GOOD HEALTH	Peter G Moody	Luke Nolen	17	55kg		98
11	36x953125x	CHAPADA	Michael Moroney	Daniel Stackhouse	8	55kg		94
12	x615129x33	DABIYR (IRE)	Chris Waller	Michael Walker	2	55kg		94
13	x652x02524	POLLY GREY (NZ)	Chris Waller	John Allen	12	55kg		93
14	06x1111x33	GAME KEEPER	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Luke Currie	10	55kg		92
15	231134×014	THINK WE’RE DUE	Andrew Noblet	William Pike	16	55kg		92
16	21112x08x0	DJUKON (GB)	Chris Waller		19	55kg		91
17e	x34923x4x7	THE KING (IRE)	Lindsey Smith	Dean Yendall	20	55kg		87
18e	2x2113x50	KINANE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Michael Dee	14	55kg		85
19e	81x4143x15	SUPER GIRL	Josh Julius	Billy Egan	11	55kg		80
20e	x84109x111	SHANDY	Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra		18	55kg		79

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2020 Naturalism Stakes Nominations

Nominations for the Naturalism Stakes close the Monday leading-up to Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes Day and will be published for punters below as soon as announced.

The 2020 Naturalism Stakes nominations attracted a bumper 31 stayers chasing the Caulfield Cup ballot exemption including consistent import Orderofthegarter for last year’s Melbourne Cup winning trainer Danny O’Brien.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	30x03643x7	MIRAGE DANCER (GB)	H	7	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	1	61kg		108
2	x100x80x00	CAPE OF GOOD HOPE (IRE)	H	5	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	2	60.5kg		106
3	11x3103x09	SHARED AMBITION (IRE)	G	5	Chris Waller	3	59kg		103
4	115x3010x5	DR DRILL (GB)	G	6	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	4	59kg		103
5	55x5663x90	DANZDANZDANCE	M	6	Chris Waller	5	57kg		103
6	902x7691x8	BRIMHAM ROCKS (GB)	G	7	Chris Waller	6	59kg		103
7	0386x051x9	HAKY (IRE)	G	7	Archie Alexander	7	59kg		103
8	111x4679x0	STEEL PRINCE (IRE)	G	7	Anthony & Sam Freedman	8	58.5kg		102
9	58321023×6	PLATINUM INVADOR (NZ)	G	5	Peter G Moody	9	58kg		101
10	70504150×0	MISS SENTIMENTAL (NZ)	M	5	Chris Waller	10	55.5kg		100
11	0932148116	MAHAMEDEIS	G	6	Nick Ryan	11	57.5kg		100
12	7702×90411	AL GALAYEL (IRE)	G	7	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	12	57kg		99
13	410x38x311	IN GOOD HEALTH	M	5	Peter G Moody	13	55kg		98
14	874x9748x0	GALLIC CHIEFTAIN (FR)	H	8	Archie Alexander	14	56.5kg		98
15	26x1122x80	ZEBROWSKI (NZ)	G	4	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	15	56kg		97
16	731x7836x0	NORWAY (IRE)	G	5	Chris Waller	16	56kg		97
17	11x880x806	MANTASTIC (IRE)	G	7	Chris Waller	17	56kg		97
18	15627x2x22	ORDEROFTHEGARTER (IRE)	H	7	Danny O’Brien	18	56kg		97
19	36x953125x	CHAPADA	G	5	Michael Moroney	19	55kg		94
20	x615129x33	DABIYR (IRE)	G	6	Chris Waller	20	55kg		94
21	x652x02524	POLLY GREY (NZ)	M	6	Chris Waller	21	55kg		93
22	06x1111x33	GAME KEEPER	G	4	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	22	55kg		92
23	231134×014	THINK WE’RE DUE	G	6	Andrew Noblet	23	55kg		92
24	21112x08x0	DJUKON (GB)	G	5	Chris Waller	24	55kg		91
25	0x0684x9x5	VIN DE DANCE (NZ)	G	6	Symon Wilde	25	55kg		91
26	x34923x4x7	THE KING (IRE)	G	6	Lindsey Smith	26	55kg		87
27	2x2113x50	KINANE (NZ)	G	4	Chris Waller	27	55kg		85
28	633x632x48	MASAFF (IRE)	G	5	Chris Waller	28	55kg		85
29	81x4143x15	SUPER GIRL	M	6	Josh Julius	29	55kg		80
30	x84109x111	SHANDY	M	5	Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra	30	55kg		79
31	490365×532	VEGAS KNIGHT	G	4	Colin Little	31	55kg		70

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Naturalism Stakes History

Inaugurated in 1983, the Naturalism Stakes has become a key early form race to follow for Caulfield Cup horses during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

At its inception, the Naturalism Stakes was a Listed event. In 2009 it received an upgrade to Group 3 status and has retained that ever since.

Notable Naturalism Stakes winners include Celestial Show (2000), Zipping (2006), Mr O’Ceirin (2013) and Jameka (2016) who went on to win that season’s Caulfield Cup. Naturalism Stakes results since 2000 are listed below.

Naturalism Stakes Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2020 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Orderofthegarter	2 minutes 01.86 seconds
	2nd	Chapada
	3rd	Steel Prince
2019 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Brimham Rocks	2 minutes 2.39 seconds
	2nd	So You Win
	3rd	Sikandarabad
2018 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Night’s Watch	2 minutes 2.19 seconds
	2nd	Rising Red
	3rd	Odeon
2017 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Harlem	2 minutes 0.43 seconds
	2nd	Samovare
	3rd	Stampede
2016 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Jameka	2 minutes 3.9 seconds
	2nd	Gallante
	3rd	Berisha
2015 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Magnapal	2 minutes 2.7 seconds
	2nd	The United States
	3rd	Genuine Lad
2014 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Gris Caro	2 minutes 2.7 seconds
	2nd	Entirely Platinum
	3rd	Bonfire
2013 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Mr O’Ceirin	2 minutes 7.2 seconds
	2nd	Kesampour
	3rd	Bit Of Hell
2012 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Folding Gear	2 minutes 3.1 seconds
	2nd	Mr O’Ceirin
	3rd	Exceptionally
2011 Naturalism Stakes	1st	December Draw	2 minutes 2.2 seconds
	2nd	At First Sight
	3rd	Lucky Eighty Eight
2010 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Rainbow Styling	2 minutes 1.6 seconds
	2nd	Valdemoro
	3rd	Moudre
2009 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Red Lord	2 minutes 4.0 seconds
	2nd	Light Vision
	3rd	Majestical
2008 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Zagreb	2 minutes 3.7 seconds
	2nd	Light Vision
	3rd	Baughurst
2007 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Douro Valley	2 minutes 1.3 seconds
	2nd	Maldivian
	3rd	Dolphin Jo
2006 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Zipping	2 minutes 1.8 seconds
	2nd	Show Barry
	3rd	Growl
2005 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Sarrera	2 minutes 6.9 seconds
	2nd	Emerald Jack
	3rd	Swift Tango
2004 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Confectioner	2 minutes 5.1 seconds
	2nd	Evil Master
	3rd	Devastating
2003 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Rose Archway	2 minutes 3.5 seconds
	2nd	Another Warrior
	3rd	Vicksburg
2002 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Pentastic	2 minutes 3.0 seconds
	2nd	Spirit Of Westbury
	3rd	Thong Classic
2001 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Inaflury	2 minutes 2.0 seconds
	2nd	Celestial Show
	3rd	Natch
2000 Naturalism Stakes	1st	Celestial Show	2 minutes 2.1 seconds
	2nd	Ancient City
	3rd	Prince Iluka