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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 $160,000 in prize money and is run on the same day as the Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) and the Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes (1200m), as well as the Group 3 Triscay Stakes (1200m).

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).

The Southern Cross Stakes 2020 ran on Saturday February 15, 2020 and was won by the Kris Lees-trained favourite Special Reward. 

2020 Southern Cross Stakes
Date:	Saturday February 15, 2020
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	1200m
Race Type:	3YO&Up / Open / Qlty Hcp.
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$160,000

2020 Southern Cross Stakes Results

• 1st: #6 Special Reward
• 2nd: #2 Cascadian
• 3rd: #1 Jungle Edge

The Kris Lees-trained Special Reward ($3) may not have wanted to go into the gates pre-race, but once there the horse was too good for his rivals charging home for a quarter-length win over the well-backed market mover Cascadian ($3.30) who flew home late down the outside but just couldn’t get there in time. Veteran wet tracker Jungle Edge ($7) led early before being run down to eventually finish a brave third.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Barrier	Weight	SP
1	6	SPECIAL REWARD	Kris Lees	Brenton Avdulla	–	4	53kg (cd 54kg)	$3F
2	2	CASCADIAN (GB)	James Cummings	Glen Boss	0.4L	6	57.5kg	$3.30
3	1	JUNGLE EDGE	Mick Bell	Ms Jade Darose	1.4L	5	59kg	$7
4	4	ASHLOR	Dan McCarthy	Zac Spain	1.5L	7	53kg	$10
5	5	DESERT LORD	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Tommy Berry	3.2L	2	53kg (cd 54kg)	$4
6	8	REIBY’S REGENT	Jason Attard & Lucy Keegan-Attard	Ms Kathy O’Hara	4.5L	3	53kg	$101
7	7	PRESS BOX	Dean Mirfin	Jay Ford	7.1L	1	53kg	$101
–	3	LANCIATO (NZ)	Mark Newnham	Ms Rachel King	–	0	–	–

2020 Southern Cross Stakes Betting Odds

The latest Southern Cross Stakes 2020 odds and betting market links courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au will be available right here once announced the week of Apollo Stakes Day.

2020 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 2020 Southern Cross Stakes Field & Barriers are set for release on Wednesday February 12, 2020 and will be published in full below.

The Southern Cross Stakes 2020 final field features just the eight sprinters with Mick Bell’s evergreen veteran Jungle Edge favourite to continue his excellent form after the WJ Adams Stakes win first-up in the wet.

Update: There are just seven remaining runners in the 2020 Southern Cross Stakes field after top horseman Mark Newnham withdrew his runner #3 Lanciato (4).

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	413226x7x1	JUNGLE EDGE	Mick Bell	Ms Jade Darose	6	59kg	107
2	128x54713x	CASCADIAN (GB)	James Cummings	Glen Boss	7	57.5kg	104
3	4805x5409x	LANCIATO (NZ)	Mark Newnham	Ms Rachel King	4	54kg	97
4	74x4560x65	ASHLOR	Dan McCarthy	Zac Spain	8	53kg	94
5	31x1x4399x	DESERT LORD	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Tommy Berry	2	53kg (Probable weight 54kg)	90
6	x1111x56x2	SPECIAL REWARD	Kris Lees	Brenton Avdulla	5	53kg (Probable weight 54kg)	90
7	111x316x56	PRESS BOX	Dean Mirfin	Jay Ford	1	53kg	71
8	7x53418x52	REIBY’S REGENT	Jason Attard & Lucy Keegan-Attard	Ms Kathy O’Hara	3	53kg	60

2020 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 2020 nominations close on Monday February 10, 2020 and will be released below as soon as available.

The 2020 Southern Cross Stakes nominations attracted a dozen gallopers led by veteran nine-year-old mudlark Jungle Edge coming off a first-up upset in the Listed WJ Healy Stakes.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Ballot	Weight	True Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	x11x12714x	DEPRIVE	G	5	James Cummings	1=	59kg	59kg	107
2	413226x7x1	JUNGLE EDGE	G	9	Mick Bell	1=	59kg	59kg	107
3	368105x77x	I AM EXCITED	M	5	David Pfieffer	3	56.5kg	56.5kg	106
4	128x54713x	CASCADIAN (GB)	G	5	James Cummings	4	57.5kg	57.5kg	104
5	2x85403x71	CRADLE MOUNTAIN	G	6	Clare Cunningham	5	54.5kg	54.5kg	98
6	4805x5409x	LANCIATO (NZ)	G	7	Mark Newnham	6	54kg	54kg	97
7	74x4560x65	ASHLOR	G	6	Dan McCarthy	7	53kg	53kg	94
8	31x1x4399x	DESERT LORD	G	5	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	8=	53kg	53kg	90
9	x11127420x	NOTATION	M	4	Matthew Dale	8=	53kg	53kg	90
10	x1111x56x2	SPECIAL REWARD	G	4	Kris Lees	8=	53kg	53kg	90
11	111x316x56	PRESS BOX	M	4	Dean Mirfin	11	53kg	53kg	71
12	7x53418x52	REIBY’S REGENT	G	4	Jason Attard & Lucy Keegan-Attard	12	53kg	53kg

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) and the previous year’s Randwick Guineas champ Le Romain (2017).

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
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