The Southern Cross Stakes is a Group 3 race currently run at Rosehill Gardens in early February during the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival.

2025 Southern Cross Stakes Results

• 1st: #5 Willaidow ($4.40)
• 2nd: #3 Iowna Merc
• 3rd: #2 Brudenell

Willaidow ($4.40), trained by Marc Conners and ridden by Tyler Schiller, showcased remarkable tenacity to win the 2025 Southern Cross Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday. In a thrilling finish, Willaidow edged out Iowna Merc by a head, with Brudenell finishing third. The race was a true test of grit, as Willaidow fought off multiple challenges down the straight, displaying incredible resilience. Post-race, Conners praised Willaidow’s fighting spirit, noting how the gelding always finds another gear on race day despite his lackluster track work. Schiller echoed these sentiments, calling Willaidow a “bulldog” for his relentless drive to win. Looking ahead, Conners mentioned there are plenty of options for Willaidow, with a focus on races around 1,400 to 1,500 metres.

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 $250,000 in prize money as of 2024 and has been moved from Apollo Stakes Day at Randwick to run as part of a three-Group 3 meeting at Rosehill that also features the Widden Stakes and Canonbury Stakes.

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.

The Southern Cross Stakes – Canterbury Stakes double was last completed by Lady Laguna (2024).

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 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 2025 ran on Saturday February 1, 2025 at Rosehill as a lead-up to the middle-distance Group 1 events of the autumn and was won in a fighting finish by Willaidow ($4.40). 

2025 Southern Cross Stakes Finishing Order

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2025 Southern Cross Stakes Betting

The latest Southern Cross Stakes 2025 betting odds will be open at Ladbrokes.com.au and also published here at Races.com.au the week of the race.

Special Reward ($3 in 2020), Masked Crusader ($2.25 in 2021), Lost And Running ($2.20 in 2022), and Lady Laguna ($2.25 in 2024) are the latest favourites in Southern Cross Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

2025 Southern Cross Stakes Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2025 SOUTHERN CROSS STAKES FORM GUIDE

2025 Southern Cross Stakes Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Southern Cross Stakes 2025 betting tips. 

• To Win: #7 Disneck ($6 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Small but class field in the Southern Cross with a few coming off a string of wins including this Bjorn Baker trained Trapeze Artist four-year-old who looks the value chasing win number four on the trot. Up in grade but at the right track (5:2-1-0) and distance with four previous 1200m wins. Carried 57kg last time out on January 25 to win by 1.5 lengths at Randwick. On the quick back-up but will be airborne down to just 53kg with Zac Lloyd riding. Big chance.

2025 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 2025 Southern Cross Stakes Field & Barriers are set for release on the Wednesday of race week and will be published in full below.

The Southern Cross Stakes 2025 final field features a smart line-up of autumn bound hopefuls led by Joe Pride’s All Too Hard five-year-old Accredited coming off a hat-trick.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2025 Southern Cross Stakes Nominations

The Southern Cross Stakes nominations are a first look at the possible sprinters to run in the Sydney sprint close on the Monday before race day.

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), Lost And Running (2022), and Lady Laguna (2024).

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.

The race moved back to Rosehill earlier in the autumn ahead of the 2024 edition.

Recent Southern Cross Stakes Winners

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

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