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The 2020 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes – formerly the Queen’s Cup – is a 2600m quality handicap held at Flemington Racecourse on the first Saturday of November as part of Mackinnon Stakes Day.

A Group 3 event, the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes – not to be confused with the Group 1 ATC Queen Elizabeth Stakes held at Randwick in the autumn – pays $200,000 total prize money. It is one of the more lucrative Group 3 events held during the Melbourne Cup Carnival and also offers an additional bonus to any horse that was paid up for at final acceptances stage but was ballot out of the Melbourne Cup field. Irish-trained mare True Self (2019) was the last Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner to collect on the bonus. True Self returned in 2020 and successfully defended her VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes title.

The Queen Elizabeth Stakes is held on the fourth and final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, and runs alongside a host of other black-type events. These include the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m), the Group 1 Darley Classic (1200m), the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) and Group 3 Chatham Stakes (1400m).

Heading into the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes, horses might contest a variety of different races inlcuding the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) and the Group 2 Moonee Valley Cup (2500m), both popular lead up races. Some horses also back up from the Melbourne Cup to contest this event looking for a consolation prize just four days after the ‘Race That Stops A Nation’ is run and won.

Following the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Group 2 Zipping Classic (2400m) is a fairly common target a week later. Some horses choose to rest prior to the Summer Racing Carnival or even until the autumn.

The 2020 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes ran on Saturday November 7, 2020 and saw the Irish-trained mare True Self go back-to-back in the event.

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2020
Date:	Saturday November 7, 2020
Track:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	2600m
Race Type:	Open Quality Handicap
Status:	Group 3
Prize money:	$200,000

2020 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Results

• 1st: #6 True Self
• 2nd: #2 Pondus
• 3rd: #4 Chapada

It was an upset in the 2020 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes results with Willie Mullins’ Irish-trained mare True Self ($14) returning to successfully defend her title with a victory over fellow raider, the Joseph O’Brien-trained Pondus ($1.95) who ran second as the beaten odds-on favourite.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	6	TRUE SELF (IRE)	Willie Mullins	Hugh Bowman		2	57.5kg		$14
	2	2	PONDUS (GB)	Joseph O’Brien	Damien Oliver	1L	8	58.5kg		$1.95F
	3	4	CHAPADA	Michael Moroney	Daniel Stackhouse	2L	4	58kg		$16
	4	8	CREEDENCE	Matt Cumani	Michael Poy (a)	3.5L	3	56kg		$31
	5	1	LE DON DE VIE (GB)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Ben Melham	4.75L	10	59kg		$5
	6	11	SCARLET DREAM	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Luke Currie	4.85L	1	55kg		$26
	7	3	SHARED AMBITION (IRE)	Chris Waller	Craig Williams	4.95L	9	58.5kg		$8.50
	8	12	LUNAR FLARE	Grahame Begg	Jordan Childs	5.7L	5	55kg		$91
	9	5	HAKY (IRE)	Archie Alexander	Jamie Kah	6.45L	6	57.5kg		$18
	10	9	GALLIC CHIEFTAIN (FR)	Archie Alexander	John Allen	6.75L	7	56kg		$18
		10	ATTORNEY (FR)	Matthew Smith	Jye McNeil		0
		7	FUTURE SCORE (IRE)	Matt Cumani	Craig Williams		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2020 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Betting Odds

See below for the latest VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2020 odds, betting provided by Ladbrokes.com.au with links to the market to back your VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes tips in at the right price.

2020 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Field

The VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes field attracts a fairly handy selection of horses. As it is raced over a relatively lengthy staying distance of 2600m, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes field tends to fill out with experienced staying types who can handle the longer distances and have a few Group wins under their belt.

Good lead-up races into the Queen Elizabeth Stakes field include the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m), the Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m) and even the Group 3 Lexus Stakes (2500m) a week before at the track on Derby Day. In 2017 the Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Vengeur Masque previous won the Geelong Cup and came off a second in the Lexus Stakes. True Self (2019) meanwhile improved on a first-up Geelong Cup second before her VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes win.

The 2020 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes field and barriers are released by Racing Victoria on the Wednesday before Mackinnon Stakes Day and will be published in full below once announced.

Twelve stayers make-up the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2020 final field with the Geelong Cup runner-up and top-weight Le Don De Vie drawn the outside alley taking on the Irish raider Pondus who comes off a Bendigo Cup second.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	x410x44312	LE DON DE VIE (GB)	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Ben Melham	12	59kg		104
2	239x2140x2	PONDUS (GB)	Joseph O’Brien	Damien Oliver	9	58.5kg		103
3	3103×09252	SHARED AMBITION (IRE)	Chris Waller	(late alt)	10	58.5kg		103
4	953125×219	CHAPADA	Michael Moroney	Daniel Stackhouse	4	58kg		102
5	6x051x9003	HAKY (IRE)	Archie Alexander	Jamie Kah	7	57.5kg		101
6	217x6x4600	TRUE SELF (IRE)	Willie Mullins	Hugh Bowman	2	57.5kg		105
7	1x1253x613	FUTURE SCORE (IRE)	Matt Cumani	Craig Williams	6	56.5kg		99
8	18×0161166	CREEDENCE	Matt Cumani	Michael Poy (a)	3	56kg		98
9	x9748x0045	GALLIC CHIEFTAIN (FR)	Archie Alexander	John Allen	8	56kg		98
10	x6804x2414	ATTORNEY (FR)	Matthew Smith	Jye McNeil	11	55.5kg		97
11	20064×4844	SCARLET DREAM	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Luke Currie	1	55kg		88
12	x631123143	LUNAR FLARE	Grahame Begg	Jordan Childs	5	55kg		74

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes History

The VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a very old race. Inaugurated in 1854, it is seven years older than the Melbourne Cup and almost as prestigious. Originally known as the Queen’s Plate and until recently the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, it was first run over 24 furlongs, which is the equivalent of around 4800m.

In its long history, there have been only two dead heats. The first was in 1895, between Wallace and Auraria. The second was more recently in 1997, between Vita Man and Bright Spot.

Throughout its history, the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes has not been held on a total of eight years.

The 2019 and 2020 editions saw Irish-trained mare True Self post back-to-back wins.

The VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes has been through many name changes since its inception, which are documented below.

Period	Name
2016 – present	VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes
2015	Queen’s Cup
2011-2014	Queen Elizabeth Stakes
2010	Queen’s Cup
1986-2009	Queen Elizabeth Stakes
1985	Queen’s Cup
1979-1984	Queen Elizabeth Stakes
1975-1978	C.B. Fisher Plate
1974	Queen’s Cup
1970-1973	C.B. Fisher Plate
1969	Queen’s Cup
1895-1968	C.B. Fisher Plate
1875-1894	Canterbury Plate
1873-1874	Flemington Plate
1854-1872	Queen’s Plate

Along with multiple name changes, the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes has also changed distance multiple times. The various distances of the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes / Queen’s Cup are documented below.

Period	Distance
2010-now	2600m
1973-2009	2500m
1972	2400m
1895-1971	12 furlongs
1890-1894	16 furlongs
1889	18 furlongs
1888	24 furlongs
1886-1887	16 furlongs
1885	20 furlongs
1881-1884	16 furlongs
1880	18 furlongs
1879	16 furlongs
1877-1878	18 furlongs
1875-1876	16 furlongs
1854-1874	24 furlongs

*A furlong is approximately 200 metres.

A number of very impressive horses have taken out the honours in the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes / Queen’s Cup. Winners include Tim Whiffler (1867), Wakeful (1902), Alawa (1908, 09, 10), Eurythmic (1920), Phar Lap (1930), Ajax (1938), High Caste (1939, 40, 41), Rising Fast (1954, 55), Even Stevens (1962), Hyperno (1979) and Makybe Diva (2002) amongst many others. Queen’s Cup / VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes results, winners and winning times since 2000 are provided below.

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2020 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	True Self	2 minutes 44.99 seconds
	2nd	Pondus
	3rd	Chapada
2019 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	True Self	2 minutes 45.42 seconds
	2nd	Carif
	3rd	Maurus
2018 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Jaameh	2 minutes 45.09 seconds
	2nd	Sully
	3rd	Libran
2017 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Vengeur Masque	2 minutes 42.9 seconds
	2nd	Grey Lion
	3rd	Wheal Leisure
2016 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Francis Of Assisi	2 minutes 41.1 seconds
	2nd	Vengeur Masque
	3rd	Tom Melbourne
2015 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Dandino	2 minutes 46.93 seconds
	2nd	Secret Number
	3rd	Don Doremo
2014 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Le Roi	2 minutes 43.1 seconds
	2nd	Prince Of Penzance
	3rd	Big Memory
2013 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Precedence	2 minutes 46.4 seconds
	2nd	Sertorius
	3rd	Let’s Make Adeal
2012 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Puissance De Lune	2 minutes 44.2 seconds
	2nd	Ironstein
	3rd	Tanby
2011 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Ironstein	2 minutes 44.8 seconds
	2nd	Shootoff
	3rd	Paddy O’Reilly
2010 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Moudre	2 minutes 45.2 seconds
	2nd	Capecover
	3rd	Persian Star
2009 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Sterling Prince	2 minutes 34.5 seconds
	2nd	Crossthestart
	3rd	Naval Escort
2008 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Capecover	2 minutes 38.8 seconds
	2nd	Light Vision
	3rd	Baughurst
2007 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Zavite	2 minutes 38.5 seconds
	2nd	Cefalu
	3rd	Completion
2006 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Gallant Guru	2 minutes 40.6 seconds
	2nd	Magic Instinct
	3rd	Fooram
2005 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Our Smoking Joe	2 minutes 33.8 seconds
	2nd	Coalesce
	3rd	Grey Song
2004 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Fantastic Love	2 minutes 44.8 seconds
	2nd	Manawa King
	3rd	Da Capo
2003 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Zazzman	2 minutes 37.5 seconds
	2nd	Lord Erin
	3rd	Delvecchio
2002 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Makybe Diva	2 minutes 35.7 seconds
	2nd	Spirit Of Westbury
	3rd	Time Off
2001 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Hatha Anna	2 minutes 40.9 seconds
	2nd	Ascana
	3rd	Tiger’s Eye
2000 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes	1st	Savrocca	2 minutes 37.8 seconds
	2nd	Ultra Smug
	3rd	Mayshiel