CAULFIELD STAKES News Stories

Considered one of the highlights of the Caulfield Cup Carnival, the Caulfield Stakes is run over 2000 metres or a mile and a quarter. A useful betting guide for the Cox Plate two weeks later, the Caulfield Stakes is held on Caulfield Guineas day, and is one of the four Group Ones run on the day.

Contested under WFA conditions and run over roughly the same distance as the Cox Plate, the Caulfield Stakes almost serves as a practise run for Australia's weight-for-age championship. This is because a significant number of the Caulfield Stakes field typically back up for the Cox Plate a fortnight later.

But there's no doubt the Caulfield Stakes is a fantastic race in its own right. You need only to look at the honour roll of past winners to understand the calibre of horse needed to win. Kingston Town, Bonecrusher, Might and Power, Lonhro, Mummify and Atlantic Jewel all triumphed in the race.

The first winner of the Caulfield Stakes was Isonomy all the way back in 1886. In the long history of the race, there have been three dead-heats, which occurred in 1960, 1970 and 1975.

In recent editions, the race has struggled to attract a capacity field, due to the presence of so many other high-quality middle-distance races during this time of year. This was never more true in 2016, when Winx won what was only a three-horse race.

The mighty mare scared off rivals, with only Black Hart Bart and He Or She game enough to take Winx on. They both picked up handy cheques for their connections just by turning up on the day.