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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 $150,000 Naturalism Stakes attracts plenty talent and is now part of its own race day supported by 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 2017 Naturalism Stakes ran on  Saturday September 23, 2017.

Naturalism Stakes
Date:	Saturday September 23, 2017
Track:	Caulfield Racecourse
Distance:	2000m
Race Type:	Open Quality
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$150,000

2017 Naturalism Stakes Results

• 1st: #8 Harlem
• 2nd: #15 Samovare
• 3rd: #6 Stampede

Check out the full Naturalism Stakes 2017 Results, the race won in an upset by the Lindsay Park-trained import Harlem who was ultra-impressive in his three length romp home to earn a spot in next month’s Caulfield Cup field.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Br.	Wgt.	SP
1	8	HARLEM (GB)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Dwayne Dunn	–	1	56.5kg	$16
2	15	SAMOVARE	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Noel Callow	3.25L	6	54kg	$7.50
3	6	STAMPEDE	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Beau Mertens (a)	3.35L	8	58kg	$4.40EF
4	9	AMELIE’S STAR	Darren Weir	Damian Lane	4.6L	13	56kg	$4.40EF
5	10	ABBEY MARIE	Michael Kent	Luke Nolen	4.9L	4	55.5kg	$6
6	1	SIR ISAAC NEWTON (GB)	Robert Hickmott	Damien Oliver	5.65L	15	59kg	$41
7	2	TALLY	James Cummings	Michael Walker	5.85L	2	59kg	$19
8	12	HARLOW GOLD (NZ)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Dean Yendall	6.05L	12	54kg	$21
9	13	VENGEUR MASQUE (IRE)	Michael Moroney	Patrick Moloney	6.15L	10	54kg	$61
10	3	BIG DUKE (IRE)	Darren Weir	John Allen	6.45L	9	58.5kg	$11
11	14	MAGNAPAL	Daniel Bowman	Ms Nikita Beriman	7.7L	7	54kg	$81
12	11	SECOND BULLET	Danny O’Brien	James Winks	8.2L	5	54kg	$51
13	4	ARTICUS (FR)	Darren Weir	Brad Rawiller	8.3L	3	58kg	$21
14	16	SETTLER’S STONE	Troy Blacker	Craig Newitt	8.4L	14	54kg	$151
15	5	GALLANTE (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	Ms Katelyn Mallyon	18.4L	11	58kg	$101
–	7	BOOM TIME	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Cory Parish	–	0	–	–

2017 Naturalism Stakes Betting

The updated Naturalism Stakes 2017 odds and betting links to Ladbrokes.com.au on the Caulfield Cup lead-up race will be provided below the week of the race.

2017 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 Dato’ Tan Chin Nam Stakes (1600m) run over the mile at Moonee Valley a fortnight earlier.

The official 2017 Naturalism Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw will be published below as soon as released by Racing Victoria.

The 2017 Naturalism Stakes Field has attracted a capacity line-up of 16 Caulfield Cup hopefuls including Abbey Marie who comes off a nice Group 2 Dato’ Tan Chin Nam Stakes second at Moonee Valley and Stempede for Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott chasing his fourth win on the trot.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	114407x5x8	SIR ISAAC NEWTON (GB)	Robert Hickmott	Damien Oliver	16	59kg	105
2	3x37710x24	TALLY	James Cummings	Michael Walker	2	59kg	105
3	1121113×55	BIG DUKE (IRE)	Darren Weir	John Allen	10	58.5kg	104
4	5x0x010x55	ARTICUS (FR)	Darren Weir	Brad Rawiller	3	58kg	103
5	9x031x270x	GALLANTE (IRE)	Robert Hickmott	Ms Katelyn Mallyon	12	58kg	103
6	1x212411x1	STAMPEDE	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Beau Mertens (a)	9	58kg	103
7	1516510×39	BOOM TIME	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Cory Parish	5	57.5kg	102
8	2384x386x5	HARLEM (GB)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Dwayne Dunn	1	56.5kg	100
9	1x4214x839	AMELIE’S STAR	Darren Weir	Damian Lane	14	56kg	103
10	11x8400x72	ABBEY MARIE	Michael Kent	Luke Nolen	4	55.5kg	102
11	x166214x27	SECOND BULLET	Danny O’Brien	James Winks	6	54kg	95
12	2x34340x46	HARLOW GOLD (NZ)	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Dean Yendall	13	54kg	93
13	2482x542x9	VENGEUR MASQUE (IRE)	Michael Moroney	Patrick Moloney	11	54kg	93
14	05900×3901	MAGNAPAL	Daniel Bowman	Ms Nikita Beriman	8	54kg	90
15	41231x2x21	SAMOVARE	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	Noel Callow	7	54kg	82
16	5336433×70	SETTLER’S STONE	Troy Blacker	Craig Newitt	15	54kg	82

2017 Naturalism Stakes Nominations

The 2017 Naturalism Stakes nominations were released by Racing Victoria on Monday September 18 and feature a bumper 25 early entries including the Godolphin-raced Tally who is allocated the equal 59kg top weight along with the Darren Weir-trained Perth Cup winner Star Exhibit who leads early betting and the Lloyd Williams-owned Sir Isaac Newton.

Read more on the 2017 Naturalism Stakes Nominations.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	3x37710x24	TALLY	G	5	James Cummings	1	59kg	105
2	1211x12x9L	STAR EXHIBIT	G	6	Darren Weir	2	59kg	105
3	114407x5x8	SIR ISAAC NEWTON (GB)	G	6	Robert Hickmott	3	59kg	105
4	1121113×55	BIG DUKE (IRE)	G	6	Darren Weir	4	58.5kg	104
5	x80x621x02	GUARDINI (FR)	H	7	Darren Weir	5	58.5kg	104
6	1x212411x1	STAMPEDE	H	5	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	6	58kg	103
7	1x4214x839	AMELIE’S STAR	M	6	Darren Weir	7	56kg	103
8	5x0x010x55	ARTICUS (FR)	G	6	Darren Weir	8	58kg	103
9	9x031x270x	GALLANTE (IRE)	G	7	Robert Hickmott	9	58kg	103
10	11x8400x72	ABBEY MARIE	M	5	Michael Kent	10	55.5kg	102
11	1516510×39	BOOM TIME	H	6	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	11	57.5kg	102
12	0x0D71x000	AMRALAH (IRE)	H	8	Robert Hickmott	12	57.5kg	102
13	2384x386x5	HARLEM (GB)	H	6	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	13	56.5kg	100
14	x533x0x038	FOUNDATION (IRE)	G	5	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	14	56kg	99
15	31x073x000	BERISHA	G	6	Robert Smerdon	15	55.5kg	98
16	x166214x27	SECOND BULLET	G	7	Danny O’Brien	16	54kg	95
17	x830x33x24	FOUNDRY (IRE)	G	8	Robert Hickmott	17	54kg	95
18	2x34340x46	HARLOW GOLD (NZ)	M	4	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	18	54kg	93
19	2482x542x9	VENGEUR MASQUE (IRE)	G	6	Michael Moroney	19	54kg	93
20	0184260×50	FANATIC (NZ)	M	5	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	20	54kg	90
21	05900×3901	MAGNAPAL	G	8	Daniel Bowman	21	54kg	90
22	41231x2x21	SAMOVARE	M	4	David & B Hayes & T Dabernig	22	54kg	82
23	5336433×70	SETTLER’S STONE	G	6	Troy Blacker	23	54kg	82
24	532×21122	SPANISH REEF	M	4	Ken Keys	24	54kg	72
25	00×4026112	EUREKA STREET	G	4	Robert Smerdon	25	54kg	71

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. Prize money was increased from $125,000 to $150,000 in 2014 and there is every indication that the race will remain at Group 3 level or receive an upgrade over the next few years.

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
2018 Naturalism Stakes	1st	TBD	TBD
	2nd	TBD
	3rd	TBD
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