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The Standish Handicap is a 1200m sprint that takes place at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne in early January each summer.

It is held under handicap conditions and pays $250,000 in prize money as of 2022 when it also moved to mid-January from its traditional spot on the New Year’s Day race card at HQ. As a Group 3 event, it attracts some fairly decent talent looking for an off-season Black-Type to either round out their summer or kick off their autumn.

The Standish Handicap is considered an important event for some horses who are gearing up for some of the few January races or the early Autumn Racing Carnival. However, many of the top sprinters in Melbourne are usually in the paddock around this time.

In 2019 the Standish Handicap winner Whispering Brook franked the form winning the Group 2 Australia Stakes (1200m) next start at The Valley.

The Standish Handicap is held down the “straight six”, which is the Flemington straight (six furlongs long).

Horses that do well in the Standish Handicap may target the Group 1 sprints of the Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival including Caulfield’s Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) in February.

The 2022 Standish Handicap ran on Saturday January 15, 2021 and was won by the in-form Halvorsen ($7.50) won also won the event back in 2020. 

Standish Handicap 2022
Date:	Saturday January 15, 2021
Track:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	1200m
Race Type:	Open Handicap
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$250,000

2022 Standish Handicap Results

• 1st: #2 Halvorsen ($7.50)
• 2nd: #10 It’sourtime
• 3rd: #1 The Astrologist

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	2	HALVORSEN	Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock	Ms Jamie Kah		11	56kg		$7.50
	2	10	IT’SOURTIME	Danny O’Brien	Fred Kersley	0.2L	7	54kg		$3.40F
	3	1	THE ASTROLOGIST	Leon & Troy Corstens	Damien Oliver	0.95L	6	59kg		$5
	4	5	MILEVA	Phillip Stokes	Zac Spain	1.45L	9	55kg		$8
	5	3	TURAATH (GB)	Maddie Raymond	Damian Lane	1.65L	3	56kg		$6.50
	6	12	CAPRICCIO	Daniel Bowman	Harry Coffey	2.65L	8	54kg		$41
	7	9	OUTLAWS REVENGE	Ryan Balfour	Dom Tourneur	6.4L	12	54kg		$11
	8	11	ROCK PROPHET	Ray Besanko	Lewis German (a)	6.6L	10	54kg		$91
	9	7	HIGHTAIL	Peter & Paul Snowden	Will Price (a)	9.35L	2	54kg		$41
	10	8	MUNITIONS (USA)	James Cummings	Jye McNeil	11.1L	1	54kg		$17
	11	4	DEEP IMAGE	Rhys Archard	Jordan Childs	12.85L	4	55kg (cd 55.5kg)		$101
	12	6	GAME KEEPER	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Blaike McDougall	13.6L	5	54kg		$31

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2022 Standish Handicap Betting Odds

The latest available Standish Handicap 2022 odds will be listed below, pricing open at Ladbrokes.com.au where you can lock in your Standish Handicap betting tips on New Year’s Day at the hottest summer racing prices.

Sirius Suspect ($2.90 in 2021) was the last favourite in Standish Handicap betting to salute for the punters.

2022 Standish Handicap Field

The Standish Handicap field attracts a quality line-up of summer sprinters each January, many coming off a lead-up run at the Flemington track and the bulk of which progress onto the Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival sprint races later in the year.

The 2022 Standish Handicap field and barriers are set for release the week before the race and will be provided in full below  as soon as made available by Racing Victoria. The announcement date for the Standish Handicap final acceptances changes from year to year, due to the fact that the race runs on New Years Day rather than a specific week day.

The 2022 Standish Handicap final field features a dozen summer sprinters including resuming Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes winning mare Turaath chasing a fifth win on the trot first-up.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	5x5411313x	THE ASTROLOGIST	Leon & Troy Corstens	Damien Oliver	6	59kg		104
2	5702980×13	HALVORSEN	Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock	Ms Jamie Kah	11	56kg		98
3	10x321111x	TURAATH (GB)	Maddie Raymond	Damian Lane	3	56kg		102
4	2305x2500x	DEEP IMAGE	Rhys Archard	Jordan Childs	4	55kg		96
5	3x2159x131	MILEVA	Phillip Stokes	Zac Spain	9	55kg		100
6	11x336063x	GAME KEEPER	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Blaike McDougall	5	54kg		94
7	673x86905x	HIGHTAIL	Peter & Paul Snowden	Will Price (a)	2	54kg		89
8	6x4408x426	MUNITIONS (USA)	James Cummings	Jye McNeil	1	54kg		89
9	12881×2115	OUTLAWS REVENGE	Ryan Balfour	Dom Tourneur	12	54kg		89
10	11320×123	IT’SOURTIME	Danny O’Brien	Fred Kersley	7	54kg		83
11	x451978x67	ROCK PROPHET	Ray Besanko	Lewis German (a)	10	54kg		77
12	7x19363x55	CAPRICCIO	Daniel Bowman	Harry Coffey	8	54kg		75

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Standish Handicap History

The Standish Handicap was inaugurated in 1884. This makes it one of the older races in Australia.

It is named after Captain Frederick Standish. He was a former VRC Chairman and also held the position of Victorian Chief Commissioner of police during the period that Ned Kelly was galloping around the scrub bushrangering. Fred Standish passed away in 1883.

Between 1884 and 1972 the Standish Handicap was held over six furlongs. Following the conversion to metric, it was held over 1200m, right up until 2006. In that year it was held over 1100m. Since 2007 it has been raced over 1200m.

In 1997 for a year the race was held at Moonee Valley. Caulfield Racecourse hosted it in 2006.

Prior to 1979, it was a Principal race, and since then it has held Group 3 status.

Notable Standish Handicap winners include Barefoot (1892), Miss Bobby (1907, 08), Press Gang (1935), Ungar (1950, 51), Scarborough Fair (1972), Redelva (1988), Iglesia (2001), Super Impressive (2003, 05) and Flamberge (2014). Standish Handicap results, place getters and winning times since 2000 are provided below.

In 2022 Halvorsen emulated Super Impressive (2003, 2005)  winning the Standish Handicap for the second time in three years.

Standish Handicap Winners

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2022 Standish Handicap	1st	Halvorsen	1 minute 8.66 seconds
	2nd	It’sourtime
	3rd	The Astrologist
2021 Standish Handicap	1st	Sirius Suspect	1 minute 9.27 seconds
	2nd	Albumin
	3rd	Defiant Dancer
2020 Standish Handicap	1st	Halvorsen	1 minute 10.24 seconds
	2nd	Bold Star
	3rd	Superhard
2019 Standish Handicap	1st	Whispering Brook	1 minute 9.18 seconds
	2nd	Smart Coupe
	3rd	True Excelsior
2018 Standish Handicap	1st	Lord Of The Sky	1 minute 8.98 seconds
	2nd	Flippant
	3rd	Chamois Road
2017 Standish Handicap	1st	Odyssey Moon	1 minute 10.54 seconds
	2nd	Cavaloce
	3rd	Inspector
2016 Standish Handicap	1st	Durendal	1 minute 9.4 seconds
	2nd	Zupacharged
	3rd	Churchill Dancer
2015 Standish Handicap	1st	Decircles	1 minute 9.1 seconds
	2nd	Lord Of The Sky
	3rd	Reparations
2014 Standish Handicap	1st	Flamberge	1 minute 9.9 seconds
	2nd	Essay Raider
	3rd	Decircles
2013 Standish Handicap	1st	Adamantium	1 minute 8.2 seconds
	2nd	Catapulted
	3rd	Goldstone
2012 Standish Handicap	1st	Catapulted	1 minute 7.6 seconds
	=2nd	Rocking Force
	=2nd	Cascabel
2011 Standish Handicap	1st	Ahdashim	1 minute 9.1 seconds
	2nd	Chasm
	3rd	Eclair Mystic
2010 Standish Handicap	1st	Royal Ida	1 minute 11.1 seconds
	2nd	Beltrois
	3rd	Juggle The Books
2009 Standish Handicap	1st	King Hoaks	1 minute 10.3 seconds
	2nd	Bowhunter
	3rd	Orbit Express
2008 Standish Handicap	1st	Publishing	1 minute 9.3 seconds
	2nd	Eskaw
	3rd	Pencelaron
2007 Standish Handicap	1st	Watchyerback	1 minute 9.0 seconds
	2nd	Murray Downs
	3rd	Cocinero
2006 Standish Handicap	1st	Honalee	1 minute 3.4 seconds
	2nd	Gold Wells
	3rd	Starhere
2005 Standish Handicap	1st	Super Impressive	1 minute 9.8 seconds
	2nd	Blessum
	3rd	Savage Attack
2004 Standish Handicap	1st	Blessum	1 minute 9.2 seconds
	2nd	Monahan Tweed
	3rd	Super Impressive
2003 Standish Handicap	1st	Super Impressive	1 minute 10.3 seconds
	2nd	Confederate Kid
	3rd	The Expat
2002 Standish Handicap	1st	Lets Planet	1 minute 9.7 seconds
	2nd	Chattanooga
	3rd	Generalissimo
2001 Standish Handicap	1st	Iglesia	1 minute 7.1 seconds
	2nd	Sedation
	3rd	Major
2000 Standish Handicap	1st	Upright	1 minute 9.6 seconds
	2nd	Rain Dance Lady
	3rd	Bush Outlaw