---

---

The Southern Cross Stakes is a Group 3 race run at Royal Randwick on Apollo Stakes Day in February during the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival.

The race is open to horses aged three-years-old and over and the open quality handicap is run over a 1200m sprint distance. The event offers $200,000 in prize money as of 2023 and is run on the same day as the Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m), Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes (1200m), Group 3 Triscay Stakes (1200m) and the Restricted Listed $2 million Inglis Millennium (1100m).

Sprinters may come into the Southern Cross Stakes field via an earlier autumn run in the Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill a fortnight before. Many Southern Cross Stakes graduates will go on to run in the Group 3 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) at Warwick Farm two weeks later.

Some of the better sprinters may head south for a shot at the Group 1 sprints of the Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival such as the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Blue Diamond Stakes Day or the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington in March.

Later in Sydney the top horses could shoot for a run in April’s Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick during ‘The Championships’.

The Southern Cross Stakes also provides a nice first-up autumn run for horses eyeing a start in the following month’s Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) on Randwick Guineas Day, a double last completed by Le Romain (2017).

In 2021 Masked Crusader won the Southern Cross Stakes before a next-up third in the Canterbury Stakes. He went on to win the Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) after that at Moonee Valley and place second in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) during that year’s ‘The Championships’. Masked Crusader further franked the autumn’s Southern Cross Stakes form over the spring, his campaign headlined by a second in the $15 million The Everest behind Nature Strip.

The 2022 Southern Cross Stakes form was franked with the runner-up Overpass winning the $750,000 Inglis Sprint next start (1200m).

The Southern Cross Stakes 2023 ran on Saturday February 11, 2023 and was won by John O’Shea’s Group 1 performer Quantico ($8).  

2023 Southern Cross Stakes
Date:	Saturday February 11, 2023
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	1200m
Race Type:	3YO&Up / Open / Qlty Hcp.
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$200,000

2023 Southern Cross Stakes Results

• 1st: #5 Quantico ($8)
• 2nd: #7 titanium Power
• 3rd: #3 Gravina

The John O’Shea-trained Quantico ($8) showed plenty of tenacity first-up to fend off the challengers and hold on for a gutsy win fresh in the 2023 Southern Cross Stakes results in Sydney.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	5	QUANTICO	John O’Shea	Kerrin McEvoy		2	55kg		$8
	2	7	TITANIUM POWER	Joseph Pride	Tim Clark	0.28L	7	54.5kg		$4.60
	3	3	GRAVINA	James Cummings	James McDonald	0.34L	3	56.5kg		$4.60
	4	2	MR MOZART	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jason Collett	0.53L	5	59kg		$7
	5	1	HARD EMPIRE	Toby & Trent Edmonds	Ms Rachel King	0.79L	9	59kg		$21
	6	10	ESPIONA	Chris Waller	William Pike	1.19L	1	53kg		$4.20F
	7	11	TESTATOR SILENS	Luke Clarke	Tyler Schiller (a)	1.97L	4	53kg		$20
	8	6	STAMPE	Chris Munce	Brock Ryan	2.53L	8	54.5kg		$31
	9	8	RANCH HAND	Chris Waller	Regan Bayliss	3.35L	6	53kg		$10
		9	WRITTEN BEAUTY	Chris Waller	Jay Ford		0
		4	SWATS THAT	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Brenton Avdulla		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Southern Cross Stakes Betting Odds

The latest Southern Cross Stakes 2023 odds and betting market links courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au will be available right here once announced the week of Apollo Stakes Day.

Special Reward ($3 in 2020), Masked Crusader ($2.25 in 2021) and Lost And Running ($2.20 in 2022) are the latest favourites in Southern Cross Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

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

2023 Southern Cross Stakes Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 SOUTHERN CROSS STAKES FORM GUIDE

2023 Southern Cross Stakes Field

The Southern Cross Stakes field attracts a quality line-up of usually local Sydney sprinters at the start of their autumn racing campaigns and is released by Racing NSW on the Wednesday before the race.

The official 2023 Southern Cross Stakes Field & Barriers are set for release on Wednesday February 8, 2023 and will be published in full below.

The Southern Cross Stakes 2023 final field features a quality line-up of autumn-bound sprinters led in betting by the returning Chris Waller-trained Group 1 place-getter Espiona drawn the rails.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	4607x010x7	HARD EMPIRE	Toby & Trent Edmonds	Ms Rachel King	11	59kg			103
2	78111x220x	MR MOZART	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jason Collett	7	59kg			103
3	349x94153x	GRAVINA	James Cummings	James McDonald	4	56.5kg			98
4	455x36008x	SWATS THAT	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Brenton Avdulla	3	56.5kg			102
5	x0x4111x0x	QUANTICO	John O’Shea	Kerrin McEvoy	2	55kg			95
6	52317x9x03	STAMPE	Chris Munce	Brock Ryan	10	54.5kg			94
7	1242×10913	TITANIUM POWER	Joseph Pride	Tim Clark	9	54.5kg			94
8	40914x058x	RANCH HAND	Chris Waller	Regan Bayliss	8	53kg			91
9	71559x720x	WRITTEN BEAUTY	Chris Waller	Jay Ford	6	53kg			95
10	x2381x640x	ESPIONA	Chris Waller	William Pike	1	53kg			94
11	1x117x047x	TESTATOR SILENS	Luke Clarke	Tyler Schiller (a)	5	53kg			73

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Southern Cross Stakes Nominations

The Southern Cross Stakes nominations are a first look at the possible sprinters to run in the Apollo Stakes Day support act and close on the Monday before race day.

The Southern Cross Stakes 2023 nominations close on Monday February 6, 2023 and will be released below as soon as available.

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	4607x010x7	HARD EMPIRE	G	9	Toby & Trent Edmonds	1=	59kg	59kg		103
2	78111x220x	MR MOZART	H	4	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	1=	59kg	59kg		103
3	349x94153x	GRAVINA	G	5	James Cummings	3	56.5kg	56.5kg		98
4	03x24880x7	JAMAEA	M	4	Robert & Luke Price	4	54kg	53.5kg		96
5	x0x4111x0x	QUANTICO	G	6	John O’Shea	5	55kg	55kg		95
6	52317x9x03	STAMPE	G	6	Chris Munce	6=	54.5kg	54.5kg		94
7	1242×10913	TITANIUM POWER	G	5	Joseph Pride	6=	54.5kg	54.5kg		94
8	40914x058x	RANCH HAND	G	4	Chris Waller	8	54kg	53kg		91
9	x140x0692x	JUMP THE BROOM	M	5	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	9	54kg	53kg		85
10	455x36008x	SWATS THAT	M	5	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	10	56.5kg	56.5kg		102
11	71559x720x	WRITTEN BEAUTY	M	5	Chris Waller	11	54kg	53kg		95
12	x2381x640x	ESPIONA	M	4	Chris Waller	12	54kg	53kg		94
13	1x117x047x	TESTATOR SILENS	G	5	Luke Clarke	13	54kg	53kg		73

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Southern Cross Stakes History

The Southern Cross Stakes was first run in 1940 and won by Gold Rod. A number of genuine turf sprint stars have added their names to the Southern Cross Stakes winners’ list since then including Gunsynd (1972), Terravista (2014), the previous year’s Randwick Guineas champ Le Romain (2017) and Lost And Running (2022).

The race started out as a Principal race, gained Listed status in 1980 and has been run as a Group 3 event since 1989. It has gone by a number of different race names over the years including the Frederick Clissold Handicap, Anniversary Cup and has been known as the Southern Cross Stakes since 2009. The race has also been conducted at a number of Sydney’s racecourses including Canterbury Park and Rosehill Gardens.

Recent Southern Cross Stakes Winners

See below for a full list of Southern Cross Stakes winners and results going back to the year 2000.

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Southern Cross Stakes	1st	Quantico	1 minute 9.57 seconds
	2nd	Titanium Power
	3rd	Gravina
2022 Southern Cross Stakes	1st	Lost And Running	1 minute 9.54 seconds
	2nd	Overpass
	3rd	Standout
2021 Southern Cross Stakes	1st	Masked Crusader	1 minute 10.62 seconds
	2nd	Southern Lad
	3rd	Victorem
2020 Southern Cross Stakes	1st	Special Reward	1 minute 10.02 seconds
	2nd	Cascadian
	3rd	Jungle Edge
2019 Southern Cross Stakes	1st	Eckstein	1 minute 9.16 seconds
	2nd	Dothraki
	3rd	Brutal
2018 Southern Cross Stakes	1st	Kaepernick	1 minute 10.53 seconds
	2nd	Dothraki
	3rd	Boss Lane
2017 Southern Cross Stakes	1st	Le Romain	1 minute 10.39 seconds
	2nd	Big Money
	3rd	Snippets Land
2016 Southern CrossStakes	1st	Big Money	1 minute 9.4 seconds
	2nd	Decision Time
	3rd	Rich Enuff
2015 Southern CrossStakes	1st	Heart Testa	1 minute 9.6 seconds
	2nd	Driefontein
	3rd	Territory
2014 Southern CrossStakes	1st	Terravista	1 minute 8.6 seconds
	2nd	Albrecht
	3rd	My Destiny
2013 Southern CrossStakes	1st	Skytrain	1 minute 13.5 seconds
	2nd	Streama
	3rd	Onthelookout
2012 Southern CrossStakes	1st	No Evidence Needed	1 minute 10.0 seconds
	2nd	Neeson
	3rd	Secret Admirer
2011 Southern CrossStakes	1st	Sister Madly	1 minute 8.5 seconds
	2nd	Pinwheel
	3rd	Cardinal Virtue
2010 Southern Cross Stakes	1st	Kenny’s World	1 minute 11.0 seconds
	2nd	Dreamscape
	3rd	Geared Up
2009 Southern CrossStakes	1st	Marchinski	1 minute 10.1 seconds
	2nd	Kenny’s World
	3rd	Raise
2008 Frederick Clissold Stakes	1st	Hoystar	1 minute 10.0 seconds
	2nd	Friday Creek
	3rd	Danleigh
2007 Frederick Clissold Stakes	1st	The Free Stater	1 minute 8.7 seconds
	2nd	The Jackal
	3rd	Century Serb
2006 Frederick Clissold Stakes	1st	Collate	1 minute 9.5 seconds
	2nd	Utzon
	3rd	Damigos
2005 Frederick Clissold Stakes	1st	Cool Front	1 minute 10.2 seconds
	2nd	Utzon
	3rd	Patezza
2004 Frederick Clissold Stakes	1st	Britt’s Best	1 minute 10.0 seconds
	2nd	Fiery Venture
	3rd	Shags
2003 Premier Express Freight Stakes	1st	Gordo	1 minute 10.2 seconds
	2nd	Presently
	3rd	Salgado
2002 Frederick Clissold Stakes	1st	Lord Essex	1 minute 10.3 seconds
	2nd	Crawl
	3rd	Dottoressa
2001 Frederick Clissold Stakes	1st	Ab Initio	1 minute 9.0 seconds
	2nd	Strabane
	3rd	Pittance
2000 Frederick Clissold Stakes	1st	Pimpala Prince	1 minute 9.8 seconds
	2nd	Spying
	3rd	Iglesia