The Futurity Stakes is one of the three Group One races contested on Blue Diamond Stakes day. Along with the Oakleigh Plate and the Blue Diamond itself, the Futurity contributes to a cracker day of racing that would have to be the highlight card during the Melbourne Autumn Carnival.
Like the C F Orr a fortnight earlier, the Futurity Stakes is run over a distance of 1,400 metres at Caulfield Racecourse under WFA conditions.
Therefore, it is not surprising to see similar fields contest both races in what is a lucrative double to start the Autumn Carnival. The last horse to do the double was Black Heart Bart, as recently as 2017.
However, the Futurity was not always run over 1,400 metres. The race was inaugurated in the late 19th Century, and for almost 75 years, was run at a distance of 7 furlongs (1408 metres). But since then the distance has been chopped and changed, going up to 1800 metres in 1979, before spending five year period between 2006 and 2010 at 1600m.
With a desire to return the race to its origins, the distance was changed back to 1,400 metres in 2011, where it has remained since.
You can usually tell the quality of a race by its past champions and the Futurity Stakes is no exception. Ajax made the race his own, winning three consecutive editions in 1938, 1939 and 1940.
Manikato also completed the treble from 1979 to 1981. Besides these greats, Phar Lap, Amounis and most recently More Joyous have all greeted the judge in the Futurity.
The Futurity Stakes is also a race where the favourites have an outstanding record. In the past ten years, seven favourites have won, three of which started odds-on.
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