Adelaide Autumn Carnival

The Adelaide Autumn Carnival is held at the Morphetville racetrack between March and May each year and is the premier carnival in South Australia.

The Key Races

The Group 2 Adelaide Cup is the richest race staged during the Adelaide Autumn Carnival, while there are four Group 1 races held during the two months of action – the Robert Sangster Stakes and Australasian Oaks, which both take place in late-March, and the Goodwood and SA Derby, staged in early-May.

The Adelaide Autumn Carnival

The Adelaide Autumn Carnival gets underway on the final Saturday in February or the first Saturday in March with the first two group races on the carnival being the Group 3 Lord Reims Stakes (2400m), a set-weights race in which the first three home qualify for a run in the Adelaide Cup, and the Group 3 SA Breeders Stakes (1200, which sees quality two-year-old sprinters clash.

The Group 2 Adelaide Cup (3200m), an open handicap with the biggest prize fund of any race in the carnival, is traditionally held on the Monday of Labour Day Weekend. A second Group 2 race is held on the day with the Yallambee Stud Classic (1200m) limited to three-year-olds only. Two Group 3 races are also staged – the RN Irwin Stakes (1100m), a weight-for-age sprint, and the Auraria Stakes (1800m), a set-weights contest for three-year-old fillies.

Twelve days later, the first two Group 1 races of the carnival are staged – both for the fairer sex. The leading fillies and mares line-up in the Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m), which is a weight-for-age race, while three-year-old fillies will carry set weights as they bid to land the Australasian Oaks. Two-year-olds get their chance to land a group race victory on the same card in the Group 3 The Jansz National Stakes (1200m).

Some of the three-year-old fillies who contested the Australasian Oaks will appear next in the SA Oaks (2400m), held two weeks later. The race is the longest group race for fillies in their classic season. The SA Sires Produce Stakes (1400m), restricted to two-year-olds, is staged on the same afternoon as the SA Oaks.

A week later, the Group 2 Queen of the South Stakes (1600m) is another limited to fillies and mares only, while the same day a prestigious handicap is staged in the shape of the Group 3 DC McKay Stakes (1100m). The final Saturday of April then sees the running of the SA Chairmans Stakes (2000m) for three-year-olds.

The first Sunday in May is when the Group 1 Goodwood (1200m) and WA Derby (2500m) are held. The former is an open sprint with set weights, while the latter gives three-year-old stayers their chance to land a Derby crown. The Group 3 RA Lee Stakes (1600m) is held on the same day, the final day of the Adelaide Autumn Carnival, and is another race open to all horses with set weights.