The Vinery Stud Stakes: History and Background

The Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes is an important lead up to The Australian Oaks, the premier classic race for 3YO fillies over the Sydney Autumn Carnival. The $500,000 Vinery Stud Stakes is run over a distance of 2,000 metres at Rosehill Gardens, on the final day of the Rosehill carnival. The distance of 2000m is a perfect stepping stone for the 2400m Classic run at Randwick a fortnight later.

The Vinery Stud Stakes is organised by the Australian Turf Club and held every year at the Rosehill Gardens racecourse. Winners of this prestigious 2,000 metre race receive a prize purse of $500,000 – half of the possible earnings a winner can expect from the Australian Oaks.

The race itself was originally named the Storm Queen Stakes in honour of the winner of the 1966 Golden Slipper Stakes. It’s still officially registered under this name but due to different sponsorship over the years it’s been called the Ansett Australia Stakes, the Arrowfield Stud Stakes and the Vinery Stud Storm Queen Stakes, before taking on it’s current name as simply the Vinery Stud Stakes.

Previous winners

The race was first held in 1979, where the winning horse was Impede. In the years since, the winner of the Vinery Stud Stakes has gone on to win the Australian Oaks a total of seven times with the most recent being this year’s Verry Elleegant. Other past horses that have gone on to win a Vinery Stud/ ATC Oaks double are:

• Sheraco (1982)
• Research (1989)
• Alcove (1994)
• Danendri (1997)
• Seranade Rose (2006)
• Heavenly Glow (2008)

Mick Dittman has been the most successful jockey in the history of the Vinery Stud Stakes, taking three wins during his tenure – riding Centaurea in 1985, Research in 1989 and A Little Kiss in 1990.

For the most successful trainers we have a draw between Bart Cummings and Lee Freedman who have both secured three wins each. Lee Freedman is a hall of famer and prolific winner of multiple championships over the past 20 years, both in Australia and the UK. Bart Cummings on the other hand is a legend in the horse-racing world and during his lifetime was known as an Australian national treasure and cultural icon. Cummings was also known as the Cups King due to his spectacular record of winning the Melbourne Cup twelve times, more than any other trainer in history. Cummings sadly passed away in 2015 at the age of 87.

Vinery Stud Stakes in 2019

Of course this year’s Vinery Stud Stakes was won by Verry Elleegant, her first Group 1 race win. All the more surprising after the filly came up short at $2.60* on the most of the odds sites and race previews. The race was held recently, on the 20th March, and Verry Elleegant was ridden by jockey J B McDonald and trained by Chris Waller. Waller is also known for training the now-retired Winx, widely considered among the best horses in Australian racing history, who recently took the win at the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in her last race on April 13th. This was her 33rd consecutive win in a legendary racing career. Winx’s last win before retiring fittingly set a world record as the first 25th Group 1 race by a mare.

Verry Elleegant herself is also regarded as an elite racehorse, going from one impressive win to the next, amassing no less than $1,163,619 in career earnings. Elleegant has also proven to be a profitable horse for punters with statistics showing that backing her throughout her career would have provided an impressive 26% return on investment. As we mentioned earlier, the mare has proven to be another double winner, going from the win at the Vinery Stud Stakes to an impressive win at the 2400m Australian Oaks on the 13th of April.

So that’s a bit of background on the Vinery Stud Stakes for those new to the event. The Stud Stakes are without a doubt one of the best annual events in Australian horse-racing and well worth attending. The race will be returning again in March of next year, and as usual it will be held at the Rosehill Gardens. Don’t forget to save the date.

Category: Racing