Sydney Spring Racing Carnival

The Sydney Spring Racing Carnival is held annually between August and December with Randwick, Warwick Farm, Rosehill, Newcastle and Hawkesbury all staging action during the near four months of the carnival.

Key Races

The $1million Golden Rose at Rosehill is the first Group 1 of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival on September, while Randwick plays host to the Group 1 George Main Stakes later the same month. The other four Group 1 races staged during the carnival all happen on the same day at Randwick in October with the running of the Epsom Handicap, The Metropolitan, the Flight Stakes and the Spring Champion Stakes, all part of a spectacular day of action.

The Sydney Spring Racing Carnival

The first group race action of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival takes place at Randwick on the first Saturday in August with the running of the Group 3 Missile Stakes (1100m), a weight-for-age race. A week later Rosehill enters the fray when the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes (1000m) is run for three-year-old sprinters.

The following Saturday sees three group races held at Warwick Farm with the most significant of those being the Group 2 Warwick Stakes (1400m), a weight-for-age race. Also taking place on the same afternoon are the Group 3 Up And Coming Stakes (1200m), a quality handicap for three-year-old colts and geldings only, and the Group 3 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) in which three-year-old fillies carry set weights.

A week later, on the final Saturday in August, the Run To The Rose (1200m), a race for three-year-olds carrying set weights, takes place at Rosehill.

The Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m), a weight-for-age race, and the Group 2 Furious Stakes (1400m), a sprint for three-year-old fillies, are the headline acts on Chelmsford Stakes Day at Randwick on the first Saturday in September. The Group 3 Concorde Stakes (1100m) and the Group 3 Tramway Quality Handicap (1400m), both quality handicaps for horses aged three-years-old and upwards, take place on the same day.

The first Group 1 race of the carnival is staged the following Saturday at Rosehill, which hosts the Golden Rose (1400m) for three-year-olds carrying set weights. The race, the richest taking place during the carnival, usually includes some of the horses who contested the Run To The Rose earlier in the carnival. The Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes (1300m), a quality handicap for horses aged three-years-old and upwards, is an able back-up to the feature race, while the same handicap and age restrictions apply to another of the day’s races, the Group 3 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m).

Midweek action takes place on the Wednesday and Thursday at Newcastle, which stages the Group 3 Cameron Handicap (1500m), an open handicap, and the Group 3 Spring Stakes (1600m), for three-year-olds carrying set weights, on the first day of the double-header and the Group 3 Newcastle Gold Cup (2300m), another open handicap, staged on the second day of action.

On the Saturday afterwards, Randwick’s George Main Stakes Day includes six group races. The biggest of those is the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m), a weight-for-age contest won in consecutive years by champion horse Kingston Town in 1981 and 1982. Three Group 2 races on the card include The Shorts (1200m), a set weights race for three-year-old horses and upwards, the Tea Rose Stakes (1500m) for three-year-old fillies, and the Hill Stakes (1900m), a weight-for-age contest. Also on the same afternoon, the Group 3 Gloaming Stakes (1800m) for three-year-old carries a decent purse, while the Group 3 Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m) is a handicap for horses three or older.

Rosehill stages Stan Fox Stakes Day the following Saturday with the feature race being the Group 2 Stan Fox Stakes (1400m) for three-year-olds. The Shannon Stakes (1500m), a quality handicap for horses three-years-old and upwards, is another Group 2 race taking place that day, as does the Group 3 Colin Stephen Quality (2400m), another handicap for horses three and older, and the Group 3 Research Stakes (1200m), a sprint handicap for three-year-old fillies and mares.

One of the most prestigious days of the carnival is Epsom Handicap Day at Randwick on the first Saturday of October, with four Group 1 races scheduled. The Epsom Handicap (1600m), won amongst others by Super Impose who recorded back-to-back successes in 1990 and 1991, is the biggest of the quartet and, like The Metropolitan (2400m), is a handicap for horses aged three-years-old and upwards. The Flight Stakes (1600m) is a Group 1 for three-year-old fillies carrying set weights, while the Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) is limited to three-year-olds who will also have to carry set weights. The Group 2 Roman Consul Stakes (1200m) is another set weights contest for three-year-olds. Two weight-for-age races are also part of the mouthwatering racecard with the Group 2 Premiere Stakes being held over 1200m and the Group 3 Craven Plate staged over 2000m.

After a month without action, Hawkesbury stages the Hawkesbury Gold Cup (1600m), an open handicap, on the first Thursday in November, while the final group race action of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival takes place at Randwick on the final Saturday before Christmas with the running of the Group 2 Villiers Stakes (1600m), an open handicap, and at the same track on Boxing Day when another open handicap the Group 3 Summer Cup (2400m) is run.