2023 PB Lawrence Stakes Results: Cox Plate Hope Mr Brightside Salutes First-Up
Betting | Horse Racing Today | News | Race Results | Spring Racing | Winter Racing |The Ben, Will & JD Hayes-trained Cox...
$2 million The Invitation race is recently created Special Condition (invitation-only) race for fillies and mares held at Randwick in Sydney on the same day as Melbourne's coveted Cox Plate.
The $2 million The Invitation is a special racing event contested at Royal Randwick on Spring Champion Stakes Day in late October as part of the lucrative The Everest Carnival.
Sydney’s marquee race for fillies and mares, The Invitation is contested over 1400m by a 12-starter field of female gallopers that have been exclusively invited to take part.
The inaugural edition of The Invitation ran in 2021 and is a set weights plus penalties race.
Each year Racing NSW convene a panel of racing experts to decide on which fillies and mares from around Australia and New Zealand are invited to take part in the race.
The Invitation runs alongside the Group 1 $2 million Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) and the recently renamed Group 2 $1 million Callander-Presnell (1600m), a race formerly known as the Stan Fox Stakes that has now replaced the defunct Bondi Stakes.
The meeting runs on the same day as Melbourne’s Cox Plate Day card at The Valley.
The 2021 The Invitation form was franked with the inaugural winner Icebath going on to run a next-up second in that year’s Group 1 Kennedy Cantala (1600m) – now known as the Champions Mile. She also returned the following autumn to run third in both the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) and Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m).
The 2021 runner-up Rocha Clock further franked the form also finishing second next-up in the Hot Danish Stakes, while the third-placed Forbidden Love took out the 2022 Group 1 Canterbury Stakes – George Ryder Stakes double next prep.
In 2023 Kerrin McEvoy made it a three-from-three clean-sweep with his win aboard Espiona to be the only The Invitation winning jockey from the race’s opening three editions.
Mares out of The Invitation race may also opt to back-up at Rosehill on The Five Diamonds Day in the Group 2 $500,000 Hot Danish Stakes (1400m). Sheeza Belta (8th in 2022) was the last The Invitation graduate to back-up and win the Group 2.
The third running of the 2023 The Invitation took place at Randwick on Saturday October 28th, 2023 as part of the Spring Champion Stakes Day card in Sydney and was won by Chris Waller’s class mare Espiona ($3.60).
The Invitation 2023 | |
---|---|
Date: | Saturday October 28th, 2023 |
Track: | Royal Randwick Racecourse |
Distance: | 1400m |
Race Type: | Set Weights + Penalties – Fillies & Mares |
Status: | Special Condition (Invitation Only) |
Prize Money: | $2,000,000 |
The Chris Waller-trained Group 1 winner Espiona ($3.60), coming off a lead-up run in The Everest, was made to work for it in The Invitation 2023 results at Royal Randwick but ultimately was able to salute for right on the line off a perfectly-timed ride by now three-time winning hoop Kerrin McEvoy.
Click here to read more on the narrow 2023 The Invitation win by Espiona.
Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | ESPIONA | Chris Waller | Kerrin McEvoy | 8 | 59kg | $3.60 | |||
2 | 4 | RUTHLESS DAME (NZ) | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Sam Clipperton | 0.21L | 12 | 59kg | $18 | ||
3 | 7 | MAGIC TIME | Grahame Begg | Tyler Schiller | 0.3L | 9 | 58kg | $2.80F | ||
4 | 1 | ALCOHOL FREE (IRE) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Adam Hyeronimus | 0.66L | 11 | 59.5kg | $18 | ||
5 | 11 | AUSBRED FLIRT | Brad Widdup | Ms Rachel King | 1.54L | 7 | 57kg | $26 | ||
6 | 3 | ROYAL MERCHANT | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Jason Collett | 2.03L | 4 | 59kg | $21 | ||
7 | 12 | DALCHINI | Lee & Cherie Curtis | Jay Ford | 3.23L | 10 | 57kg | $91 | ||
8 | 8 | PARISAL | James Cummings | Regan Bayliss | 3.72L | 1 | 58kg | $12 | ||
9 | 5 | OPAL RIDGE | Luke Pepper | Dylan Gibbons (a) | 3.73L | 2 | 59kg | $10 | ||
10 | 9 | OLENTIA | Chris Waller | Ms Kathy O’Hara | 3.76L | 5 | 58kg | $26 | ||
11 | 6 | ROOTS | Chris Waller | Tommy Berry | 4.02L | 3 | 58kg | $9 | ||
12 | 10 | BANANA QUEEN | Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | Joshua Parr | 7.96L | 6 | 58kg | $81 | ||
14e | RUSSIAN CONQUEST | Peter & Paul Snowden | 0 | |||||||
13e | RAZETA | Kris Lees | 0 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
The Invitation 2023 racing odds will be available here as soon as The Invitation race betting opens this spring.
There was a notable upset in 2022 with Promise Of Success winning at The Invitation odds of $26.
Stay tuned for our insider The Invitation 2023 betting tips and exotic Randwick spring racing selections on the feature race of the season in Sydney for fillies and mares.
Open third edition of The Invitation race but on class alone have to stick with Espiona for Chris Waller. She’s a Group 1 winner with a great record at the track (7:4-0-1) who has been excellent this prep. Won the Group 2 Golden Pendant two back before a midfield seventh only 2.7 lengths beaten in the $20 million The Everest (1200m). That is a strong form line to follow into this arguably easier assignment back against her own kind. Up to the 1400m suits now, her Group 1 Coolmore victory was at 1500m in the autumn, and even with the 59kg at set weights plus penalties looks the one to beat.
The spring’s The Invitation field features an exclusive line-up of 12 fillies and mares from around Australia and New Zealand invited by a panel convened by Racing NSW to contest the $2 million showdown.
Fillies and mares with a proven Group 1 record in earlier races including the Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) for fillies held earlier in October and the autumn’s Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) will make a good lead-up into The Invitation field.
The Invitation 2023 field will be confirmed the Tuesday of race week at 10am on the 24th of October, 2023 and published below as soon as available.
The 2023 The Invitation final field features a class line-up of mares led in betting by Chris Waller’s Group 1 winner Espiona coming off a run in The Everest.
Click here to read more on the key runners in The Invitation 2023 field and betting markets.
No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Probable Weight | Penalty | Hcp Rating |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 34913x0x40 | ALCOHOL FREE (IRE) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Adam Hyeronimus | 13 | 59.5kg | 114 | ||
2 | 0x6117x217 | ESPIONA | Chris Waller | Kerrin McEvoy | 10 | 59kg | 111 | ||
3 | 44232110×8 | ROYAL MERCHANT | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Jason Collett | 6 | 59kg | 108 | ||
4 | x320150x75 | RUTHLESS DAME (NZ) | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Sam Clipperton | 14 | 59kg | 108 | ||
5 | 1x145125x2 | OPAL RIDGE | Luke Pepper | Dylan Gibbons (a) | 3 | 59kg | 103 | ||
6 | x3410x52x5 | ROOTS | Chris Waller | Tommy Berry | 4 | 58kg | 107 | ||
7 | 11x13x51 | MAGIC TIME | Grahame Begg | Tyler Schiller | 11 | 58kg | 101 | ||
8 | 7x1112x122 | PARISAL | James Cummings | Regan Bayliss | 2 | 58kg | 99 | ||
9 | 14x11x1580 | OLENTIA | Chris Waller | Ms Kathy O’Hara | 7 | 58kg | 94 | ||
10 | 127×574130 | BANANA QUEEN | Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | Joshua Parr | 8 | 58kg | 88 | ||
11 | 112x614x12 | AUSBRED FLIRT | Brad Widdup | Ms Rachel King | 9 | 57kg | 88 | ||
12 | 40x7903x53 | DALCHINI | Lee & Cherie Curtis | Jay Ford | 12 | 57kg | 84 | ||
13e | 909139×408 | RAZETA | Kris Lees | 1 | 58kg | 83 | |||
14e | 47x20x66x9 | RUSSIAN CONQUEST | Peter & Paul Snowden | 5 | 57kg | 80 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
The Invitation ran for the first time during the 2021 Sydney Spring Racing Carnival and was won by the Brad Widdup-trained Sacred Falls five-year-old Icebath.
Icebath returned to defend her title in 2022 but missed the kick and eventually ran ninth with the race won in an upset by Promise Of Success at $26.
In 2023 Espiona became the third The Invitation winner and was ridden by Kerrin McEvoy who also rode the first two winners of the event.
YEAR | WINNER | 2ND | 3RD | TIME |
---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | Espiona | Ruthless Dame | Magic Time | 1:21.74 |
2022 | Promise Of Success | Electric Girl | Nimalee | 1:25.05 |
2021 | Icebath | Rocha Clock | Forbidden Love | 1:22.37 |