Group 3 race | |
Location | Randwick Racecourse, Sydney |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1841 |
Race type | Thoroughbred – flat |
Sponsor | The Star (2024) |
Race information | |
Distance | 2,600 metres |
Surface | Turf |
Track | Right-handed |
Qualification | Three – years and older |
Weight | Set weights with penalties |
Purse | A$500,000 (2024) |
The AJC St Leger is an historical Australian Turf Club Thoroughbred horse race run over 2,600 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney run under set weights with penalties for stayers three years and older.
The AJC St Leger is the oldest classic race in Australia derived from the English race and first run in 1841 as a 3YO event over 1½ miles at Homebush, Sydney and continued at the new Randwick Racecourse in 1861. Not run in 1854 & 1860 also 1960–1979 and 2002–2016. [1]
The principal race was re-instated by the AJC Committee again in 1980 graded at Group 2 level, encouraged by a direct descendent of Major General Anthony St Leger who instigated the St Leger Stakes, first run at Doncaster Racecourse in Northern England in 1776. [2]
The race ended in 2001 and reappeared as the St Leger Stakes (ATC) in late 2017 with the expanded 15 million Everest carnival in October and since being reinstated has not received graded status. [3]
Notable winners include Sky Heights (2001), Tie The Knot (2000), Linesman (1996), Castletown (1991), Tawrrific (1989), Beau Zam (1988), Handy Proverb (1986), Gurner's Lane (1982),Tulloch (1958), Sailor's Guide (1956), Hydrogen (1952), Playboy (1950), Carbon Copy (1949), Gold Rod (1937), Peter Pan (1933), Phar Lap (1930), Limerick (1927), Windbag (1925), Prince Foote (1910), Poseidon (1907) and Newhaven (1897). [4]
Phar Lap was a New Zealand-born champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse. Achieving great success during his distinguished career, his initial underdog status gave people hope during the early years of the Great Depression. He won the Melbourne Cup, two Cox Plates, the Australian Derby, and 19 other weight-for-age races. He is universally revered as one of the greatest race horses of all time, not just in Australia but in the history of Thoroughbred horse racing.
The Craven Plate is an Australian Turf Club Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race run over 2,000 metres, under Weight for Age conditions for three-year-olds and older, at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia. Total prize money for the race is A$750,000.
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Flight (1940–1953) was an Australian Thoroughbred racemare that was the highest stakes winning mare in Australasia. Her courageous efforts made her a crowd favourite during the post World War II era and she had victories over some of the great horses of the time including Shannon, Bernborough, Royal Gem and Russia.
The Peter Young Stakes, registered as the St George Stakes, is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race held under weight for age conditions over a distance of 1800 metres at Caulfield racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in late February. Total prize money is A$300,000.
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Carbon Copy was an Australian chestnut Thoroughbred horse, who raced from a two-year-old to a five year old recording 14 wins from 1 mile to 2 miles with regular jockey Scobie Breasley winning eight races was a member of a vintage crop of three year olds 1948–1949 including Comic Court, Foxzami, Vagabond and Bernbrook.
The Gimcrack Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race, for two-year-old fillies, held with set weight conditions, over a distance of 1000 metres at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia in early October. Total prize money for the race is A$250,000.
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