Skyline Stakes

Each year from early February until late April, racing fans and punters are put in a frenzy of excitement as the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival takes place. The carnival is made up of a series of elite race days that are host to a plethora of quality group races, including the Randwick Guineas Day in March. The highlight event of this meeting at the renowned Royal Randwick racecourse is the Gr.1 Randwick Guineas, which sees some of the autumn’s biggest names in racing compete. However, the thrilling betting opportunities and enthralling track runs don’t end there. Other great races held on the day include the Gr. 2 Challenge Stakes, the Gr. 3 Sweet Embrace Stakes and the Gr. 3 Skyline Stakes.

The $125, 000 Skyline Stakes is a gripping and speed fuelled race down a 1200 metre track contested by a field of very competitive two-year-old colts and geldings at set weights.

The race is named after the 1958 winner of the esteemed Golden Slipper Stakes “Skyline”.

Leading up to the race is a number of other quality events for two-year-olds that can serve as an excellent guide for the Skyline Stakes; including the first group race for two-year-olds at the Sydney Carnival the Gr.2 Silver Slipper Stakes (1100m) held at Rosehill, and the Gr.3 Kindergarten Stakes also 1100m the week before the Skyline.

The Skyline Stakes is also the first opportunity in autumn trainers have to see how their horses perform at a 1200m distance.

Young horses contesting the Skyline Stakes will often be aimed at some of the more lucrative high status events later in the Autumn Carnival, including the Gr. 2 Todman Slipper Trial raced under the same conditions but worth $300, 000 in prizemoney and the coveted Gr.1 Golden Slipper Stakes worth $3.5 million considered the premier two-year-old event.

The runners’ performance in the Skyline Stakes will go a long way in determining their odds for these future races, as the stronger gallopers will be considered as a good chance for the Golden Slipper. The Gai Waterhouse-trained Dance Hero in 2004 was the last two-year-old to take out the Skyline Stakes and the Golden Slipper in the same year, and this is a favourite doubles betting opportunity for punters looking for a great paying wager!

History:

Since the race was first run in 1979 some great champion horses have won the Skyline Stakes as two-year-olds at the start of their careers. Well-known winners include Viscount (2001) who went on to claim victory in group one races including the AJC Sires and Champagne Stakes, the George Main Stakes, and a third place in the Cox Plate. And Shogun Lodge (1999) who placed third in the Golden Slipper and won group one races including the George Main Stakes, who went down as a legend when he met his untimely death on the track from a heart attack at Flemington in 2008.

Top Hat Joe was the first winner, when it was registered under the name the STC Skyline Stakes as a principal race. The following year in 1989 the event became a listed race through until 1987 when it reached group three status. The race has been conducted by the Australian Jockey Club since 2007 and was then renamed the AJC Skyline Stakes.

The Skyline Stakes is a great opportunity for punters to bet on young horses at the start of their careers, and by placing a wager on one of the entries with an online bookmaker you could be one of the first to earn some nice winnings off a future racing hero!