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The Naturalism Stakes – run in 2021 as the MRC Foundation Cup – 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 $200,000 Naturalism Stakes attracts plenty talent and is now part of the support card on Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes Day. Along with the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) the other features on the program are the: Group 2 Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m), Group 3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude (1400m) and 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 2021 Naturalism Stakes ran on Saturday September 18, 2021 as the MRC Foundation Cup and was won by the favourite Nonconformist. 

Naturalism Stakes (MRC Foundation Cup)
Date:	Saturday September 18, 2021
Track:	Caulfield Racecourse
Distance:	2000m
Race Type:	Open Quality
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$200,000

2021 Naturalism Stakes Results

• 1st: #11 Nonconformist
• 2nd: #4 Delphi
• 3rd: #15 Tralee Rose

The Caulfield Cup ballot exemption went to the Grahame Begg-trained five-year-old Nonconformist ($4.40F) who saluted for the punters with a devastatingly close win in the 2021 Naturalism Stakes results.

Click here to read more on the narrow 2021 Naturalism Stakes win by Nonconformist. 

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	11	NONCONFORMIST	Grahame Begg	Jordan Childs		7	55.5kg		$4.40F
	2	4	DELPHI (IRE)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	John Allen	0.1L	4	57kg		$8
	3	15	TRALEE ROSE (NZ)	Symon Wilde	Craig Williams	2.35L	2	54kg		$4.80
	4	3	MIRAGE DANCER (GB)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Craig Newitt	2.45L	12	57.5kg		$101
	5	12	GRAND PROMENADE (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Harry Coffey	2.95L	14	55kg		$9
	6	9	PORT GUILLAUME (FR)	Ben & JD Hayes	Jamie Mott	3.45L	9	56kg		$101
	7	16	MOSH MUSIC	Archie Alexander	Declan Bates	3.65L	3	54kg		$101
	8	6	AMADE (IRE)	Phillip Stokes	Ben Allen	3.95L	6	56.5kg		$12
	9	5	KNIGHTS ORDER (IRE)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Michael Dee	4.15L	16	57kg		$31
	10	13	NO EFFORT	Gavin Bedggood	Beau Mertens	4.25L	11	54.5kg		$20
	11	1	VOW AND DECLARE	Danny O’Brien	Damian Lane	5L	5	59kg		$31
	12	7	CHAPADA	Michael Moroney	Daniel Stackhouse	6.25L	10	56.5kg		$21
	13	10	FUTURE SCORE (IRE)	Matt Cumani	Dean Yendall	6.45L	13	55.5kg		$26
	14	14	REALM OF FLOWERS	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Damien Oliver	7.7L	1	54.5kg (cd 55kg)		$19
	15	2	ANGEL OF TRUTH	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jye McNeil	7.9L	8	57.5kg		$9
	16	8	MIAMI BOUND (NZ)	Danny O’Brien	Brett Prebble	10.15L	15	56kg		$41
		19e	ZEYREK (FR)	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes			0
		18e	CONSTANTINOPLE (IRE)	Aaron Purcell			0
		17e	ROSTROPOVICH (IRE)	Ben & JD Hayes	Teodore Nugent (a)		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2021 Naturalism Stakes Betting

The updated Naturalism Stakes 2021 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) followed by Nonconformist ($4.40 in 2021) are the latest favourites in Naturalism Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

2021 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 2021 Naturalism Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw will be published below as soon as released by Racing Victoria.

The Naturalism Stakes runs as the 2021 MRC Foundation Cup and the field features a capacity line-up of star stayers chasing the Caulfield Cup exemption including 2019 Melbourne Cup hero Vow And Declare, Adelaide Cup fourth placegetter Tralee Rose and the well-backed Grahame Begg-trained Nonconformist. 

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	5x9000x8x0	VOW AND DECLARE	Danny O’Brien	Damian Lane	5	59kg		107
2	3x66538x25	ANGEL OF TRUTH	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jye McNeil	8	57.5kg		104
3	x9308x8268	MIRAGE DANCER (GB)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Craig Newitt	12	57.5kg		104
4	7x1111x6x4	DELPHI (IRE)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	John Allen	4	57kg		103
5	6143x8511x	KNIGHTS ORDER (IRE)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Michael Dee	16	57kg		103
6	11x121x41x	AMADE (IRE)	Phillip Stokes	Ben Allen	6	56.5kg		102
7	93x73590x0	CHAPADA	Michael Moroney	Daniel Stackhouse	10	56.5kg		102
8	7x878333x0	MIAMI BOUND (NZ)	Danny O’Brien	Brett Prebble	15	56kg		105
9	11x1510x0	PORT GUILLAUME (FR)	Ben & JD Hayes	Jamie Mott	9	56kg		101
10	1253x6133x	FUTURE SCORE (IRE)	Matt Cumani	Dean Yendall	13	55.5kg		100
11	19x3502x64	NONCONFORMIST	Grahame Begg	Jordan Childs	7	55.5kg		100
12	44×2212112	GRAND PROMENADE (GB)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Harry Coffey	14	55kg		99
13	7×72511231	NO EFFORT	Gavin Bedggood	Beau Mertens	11	54.5kg		102
14	62x62251x0	REALM OF FLOWERS	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Damien Oliver	1	54.5kg		102
15	x1112114x3	TRALEE ROSE (NZ)	Symon Wilde	Craig Williams	2	54kg		100
16	7651716×80	MOSH MUSIC	Archie Alexander	Declan Bates	3	54kg		99
17e	7900x00x50	ROSTROPOVICH (IRE)	Ben & JD Hayes	Teodore Nugent (a)	19	54kg		95
18e	0x0x0558x9	CONSTANTINOPLE (IRE)	Aaron Purcell		17	54kg		89
19e	1122x05x6	ZEYREK (FR)	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes		18	54kg		84

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2021 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.

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
2021 Naturalism Stakes(Run as the MRC Foundation Cup)	1st	Nonconformist	2 minutes 01.80 seconds
	2nd	Delphi
	3rd	Tralee Rose
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