---

---

The Sky High Stakes is a Group 3 race held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse on Coolmore Classic Day in March during the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival.

Contested over 2000m the set weights plus penalties race is open to horses aged three-years-old and above and offers a lucrative $350,000 in total prize money. Coolmore Classic Day is headlined by the fillies and mares facing off in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) and the meeting is host to a number of other Group status races. Other highlights on the card including the Group 2 Phar Lap Stakes (1500m), Group 2 Ajax Stakes (1500m), Group 3 Magic Night Stakes (1200m) and the Group 3 Pago Pago Stakes (1200m) for Golden Slipper Stakes hopefuls.

A nice lead-up into the Sky High Stakes is the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) over a mile in late February. In 2015 Hartnell ran second in the Chipping Norton Stakes before winning the Sky High Stakes. The 2017 Sky High Stakes winner Tavago also backed-up off a Chipping Norton Stakes run (5th). More recently, Chris Waller’s mare Toffee Tongue improved on an eighth in the Chipping Norton to win the Sky High at $14.

The stayers that face off in the Sky High Stakes field are traditionally heading towards longer distance features over the autumn including the Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m) run at Royal Randwick in April. Country Tyrone (2006) was the last horse to complete the Sky High Stakes – Sydney Cup double.

The Group 1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) – formerly The BMW – is another elite level option for Sky High Stakes graduates and in 2015 Who Shot Thebarman ran fourth in both races before a second in the Sydney Cup. That year Hartnell (2015) completed the Sky High Stakes – The BMW double. In 2016 Who Shot Thebarman returned to finish third in the Sky High Stakes, second in The BMW and fourth in the Sydney Cup.

The Sky High Stakes 2021 ran on Saturday March 13, 2021 and saw Toffee Tongue return to form third-up. 

2021 Sky High Stakes
Date:	Saturday March 13, 2021
Track:	Rosehill Racecourse
Distance:	2000m
Race Type:	Set Weights + Penalties
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$350,000

2021 Sky High Stakes Results

• 1st: #5 Toffee Tongue
• 2nd: #6 Spirit Ridge
• 3rd: #1 Mirage Dancer

Chris Waller’s 2020 Schweppes Oaks winner Toffee Tongue returned to winning form third-up defeating the front-runner Spirit Ridge in a narrow lunge on the line ahead of a potential Group 1 Tancred Stakes assignment.

Click here to read more on the thrilling late win in the Sky High Stakes 2021 results by Toffee Tongue.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	5	TOFFEE TONGUE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Tom Marquand		2	56kg		$14
	2	6	SPIRIT RIDGE (GB)	Mark Newnham	Robbie Dolan	0.1L	5	55.5kg		$6.50
	3	1	MIRAGE DANCER (GB)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Nash Rawiller	0.9L	3	58kg		$21
	4	4	COLETTE	James Cummings	Ms Rachel King	1L	7	56kg		$1.85F
	5	2	SHRAAOH (IRE)	Chris Waller	Brenton Avdulla	1.4L	1	58kg		$71
	6	3	THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ)	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Kerrin McEvoy	1.8L	8	56.5kg		$5.50
	7	8	AVION FURY	Glen Thompson	Sam Clipperton	3.6L	6	55kg		$81
	8	7	MUSTAJEER (GB)	Kris Lees	James McDonald	8.5L	4	55kg		$9

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2021 Sky High Stakes Odds

The autumn’s latest Sky High Stakes 2021 betting odds and market links to Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below the week of the race.

Master Of Wine ($2.20 in 2020) was the last favourite in Sky High Stakes betting to salute.

2021 Sky High Stakes Field

The Sky High Stakes field attracts a class line-up of stayers each autumn and many of the runners are heading towards the Sydney Cup over two miles at Royal Randwick.

The official 2021 Sky High Stakes field and barriers are set for release on Wednesday March 10, 2021 and will be published in full below.

The Sky High Stakes 2021 field features small but class line-up of runners including a number of former Group 1 winners led in betting by Godolphin-raced Colette who is odds-on to go one better than her Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes second last time out.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	43x74108x9	MIRAGE DANCER (GB)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Nash Rawiller	3	58kg			110
2	x0006x063x	SHRAAOH (IRE)	Chris Waller	Brenton Avdulla	1	58kg			102
3	72x18734x2	THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ)	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Kerrin McEvoy	8	56.5kg			110
4	11x0561x12	COLETTE	James Cummings	Ms Rachel King	7	56kg			115
5	1x58203x68	TOFFEE TONGUE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Tom Marquand	2	56kg			102
6	24x1x2211x	SPIRIT RIDGE (GB)	Mark Newnham	Robbie Dolan	5	55.5kg			101
7	25x00980x4	MUSTAJEER (GB)	Kris Lees	James McDonald	4	55kg			106
8	31229×7361	AVION FURY	Glen Thompson	Sam Clipperton	6	55kg			60

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Sky High Stakes History

The Sky High Stakes has been run and won since 1989 and the first edition of the race was won by Eye Of The Sky. Since then plenty of star stayers have won the event including Hartnel (2015) and Sir John Hawkwood (2016).

The race is named in honour of Sky High who won the Golden Slipper Stakes as a two-year-old in 1960 and the next year’s Epsom Handicap. It was first run as an unlisted race until 1992 when it gained Listed status and then Group 3 status later in 2014. Before 2014 it took place over 1900m and the distance was increased to the current 2000m in 2015. For one year in 2008 it took place at Canterbury Park and in 2016 the Sky High Stakes was changed from a quality handicap clash to a set weights plus penalties event.

Recent Sky High Stakes Winners

See below for the full Sky High Stakes results and winners dating back to the year 2000.

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2021 Sky High Stakes	1st	Toffee Tongue	2 minutes 01.03 seconds
	2nd	Spirit Ridge
	3rd	Mirage Dancer
2020 Sky High Stakes	1st	Master Of Wine	2 minutes 11.45 seconds
	2nd	Mustajeer
	3rd	Carif
2019 Sky High Stakes	1st	Red Cardinal	2 minutes 8.37 seconds
	2nd	Rodrico
	3rd	Goathland
2018 Sky High Stakes	1st	Auvray	2 minutes 3.72 seconds
	2nd	Libran
	3rd	Mackintosh
2017 Sky High Stakes	1st	Tavago	2 minutes 3.8 seconds
	2nd	Antonio Giuseppe
	3rd	Allergic
2016 Sky High Stakes	1st	Sir John Hawkwood	2 minutes 3.2 seconds
	2nd	Messene
	3rd	Who Shot Thebarman
2015 Sky High Stakes	1st	Hartnell	2 minutes 2.6 seconds
	2nd	Opinion
	3rd	Hawkspur
2014 Sky High Stakes	1st	Entirely Platinum	1 minute 55.7 seconds
	2nd	Midsummer Sun
	3rd	Desert Jeuney
2013 Sky High Stakes	1st	Julienas	1 minute 56 seconds
	2nd	Lunayir
	3rd	Le Roi
2012 Sky High Stakes	1st	Single	1 minute 56 seconds
	2nd	Southern Skye
	3rd	Flumicino
2011 Sky High Stakes	1st	Older Than Time	1 minute 59.10 seconds
	2nd	Luen Yat Forever
	3rd	Syreon
2010 Sky High Stakes	1st	Bellagio Wynn	1 minute 56.94 seconds
	2nd	Hadaaf
	3rd	Cousin Wal
2009 Sky High Stakes	1st	Kettledrum	1 minute 56.76 seconds
	2nd	Brave Lancer
	3rd	Twin Wing
2008 Sky High Stakes	1st	Nuclear Sky	1 minute 56.23 seconds
	2nd	Musket
	3rd	Bundoran Breeze
2007 Sky High Stakes	1st	Coalesce	1 minute 57. 22 seconds
	2nd	Grand Zulu
	3rd	Prince Of Midnight
2006 Sky High Stakes	1st	County Tyrone	1 minute 58.93 seconds
	2nd	No Wine No Song
	3rd	October Son
2005 Sky High Stakes	1st	Seul Amour	1 minute 57.31 seconds
	2nd	Sunday Service
	3rd	Havana Wind
2004 Sky High Stakes	1st	Daniel’s The Man	1 minute 56.12 seconds
	2nd	County Tyrone
	3rd	Striking Victory
2003 Sky High Stakes	1st	National Treasure	1 minute 55.7 seconds
	2nd	Natural Blitz
	3rd	County Tyrone
2002 Sky High Stakes	1st	Restless	1 minute 56.09 seconds
	2nd	Grampians
	3rd	Spirit Of Westbury
2001 Sky High Stakes	1st	Bello Signor	1 minute 54.05 seconds
	2nd	The Druidess
	3rd	Cheverny
2000 Sky High Stakes	1st	Spysept	1 minute 59.13 seconds
	2nd	Bombast
	3rd	Yippyio