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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 $150,000 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 2018 ran on Saturday February 17, 2018 and was won narrowly by the John O’Shea-trained Kaepernick.

2018 Southern Cross Stakes
Date:	Saturday February 17, 2018
Track:	Royal Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	1200m
Race Type:	3YO&Up / Open / Qlty Hcp.
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$150,000

2018 Southern Cross Stakes Results

• 1st: #6 Kaepernick
• 2nd: #3 Dothraki
• 3rd: #4 Boss Lane

Check out the full Southern Cross Stakes 2018 Results & Finishing Order below, the sprint race won by the John O’Shea-trained six-year-old Kaepernick ($7.50) who narrowly held out Dothraki ($6) o his inside while the Ron Quinton-trained roughie Boss Lane ($21) ran on well for third. Hot favourite and Randwick track record holder Deploy ($2.05) meanwhile dropped right out to finish last.

Place	#	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Br.	Weight	SP
1	6	KAEPERNICK	John O’Shea	Brenton Avdulla	–	7	55.5kg	$7.50
2	3	DOTHRAKI	Peter & Paul Snowden	Joshua Parr	0.2L	4	57.5kg	$6
3	4	BOSS LANE	Ron Quinton	Andrew Adkins	0.6L	6	57kg	$21
4	8	OXFORD POET	Kim Waugh	Tim Clark	1.1L	8	53kg (cd 53.5kg)	$9.50
5	5	DUCA VALENTINOIS (IRE)	James Cummings	Glyn Schofield	1.6L	5	57kg	$21
6	1	CLEARLY INNOCENT	Kris Lees	Jason Collett	2.4L	3	60.5kg	$9
7	7	BIG MONEY	Rodney Northam	Jay Ford	2.9L	1	54kg	$31
8	2	DEPLOY	Gerald Ryan	Tye Angland	4.9L	2	59.5kg	$2.05F
–	9	SUPREME EFFORT	Kim Waugh	–	–	0	–	–

2018 Southern Cross Stakes Tips

• 1st: #2 Deploy
• 2nd: #4 Boss Lane
• 3rd: #6 Kaepernick

DEPLOY ($2.80) is the firming and hard-to-beat favourite in Southern Cross Stakes betting drawn well in barrier three, the field down to just eight runners. Gerald Ryan’s five-year-old has a notable weight to overcome first-up (59.5kg) but has good form fresh (4:1-2-1) and is a genuine Randwick specialist (5:3-1-0). Won back-to-back Group races here in the spring, including the Theo Marks Stakes by four lengths over Chris Waller’s dual Group 1 winner Egg Tart, before a very tough run against Redzel in The Everest. Much easier assignment here.

2018 Southern Cross Stakes Betting Odds

The latest Southern Cross Stakes 2018 odds and betting market links courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au will be available right here once announced the week of Apollo Stakes Day.

2018 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 2018 Southern Cross Stakes Field & Barriers are set for release on Wednesday February 14, 2018 and will be published in full below.

The Southern Cross Stakes 2018 Final Field features nine sprinters including dual Group 2 winner Deploy who is favourite to win his autumn kick-off on way to a possible Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes bid in April. Clearly Innocent carries the 60.5kg top weight but is also being kept safe in betting, while the rails run belongs to roughie hope Big Money.

Read more on the Deploy-led 2018 Southern Cross Stakes Field.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Hcp. Rating
1	x9113x385x	CLEARLY INNOCENT	Kris Lees	Jason Collett	4	60.5kg	111
2	11x214119x	DEPLOY	Gerald Ryan	Tye Angland	3	59.5kg	109
3	42x326x927	DOTHRAKI	Peter & Paul Snowden	Joshua Parr	5	57.5kg	105
4	0x7101Dx02	BOSS LANE	Ron Quinton	Andrew Adkins	7	57kg	104
5	x2012x631x	DUCA VALENTINOIS (IRE)	James Cummings	Glyn Schofield	6	57kg	104
6	5390x160x4	KAEPERNICK	John O’Shea	Brenton Avdulla	8	55.5kg	101
7	42000x376x	BIG MONEY	Rodney Northam	Jay Ford	1	54kg	98
8	7019184×35	OXFORD POET	Kim Waugh	Tim Clark	9	53kg	96
9	7x3412x429	SUPREME EFFORT	Kim Waugh	–	2	53kg	95

2018 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 2018 nominations close on Monday February 12, 2018 and will be released below as soon as available.

The official 2018 Southern Cross Stakes Nominations attracted just 10 early entries and are extended until 11am (AEDT) 13/02/2018. Of the current entries standouts include the Gerald Ryan-trained Randwick specialist (5:3-1-0) racing for the first time since his ninth in The Everest results last October and the John O’Shea-trained Kaepernick coming off a lead-up fourth in the Gold Coast’s Magic Millions Sprint from mid-January.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp. Rating
1	121x22027x	AIDE MEMOIRE (NZ)	M	6	Kris Lees	102
2	42000x376x	BIG MONEY	G	8	Rodney Northam	98
3	0x7101Dx02	BOSS LANE	G	7	Ron Quinton	104
4	x9113x385x	CLEARLY INNOCENT	G	6	Kris Lees	111
5	11x214119x	DEPLOY	G	5	Gerald Ryan	109
6	42x326x927	DOTHRAKI	G	7	Peter & Paul Snowden	105
7	x2012x631x	DUCA VALENTINOIS (IRE)	G	6	James Cummings	104
8	5390x160x4	KAEPERNICK	G	6	John O’Shea	101
9	7019184×35	OXFORD POET	G	7	Kim Waugh	96
10	7x3412x429	SUPREME EFFORT	G	7	Kim Waugh	95

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
2019 Southern Cross Stakes	1st	TBD	TBD
	2nd	TBD
	3rd	TBD
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