Canterbury Stakes

THE Group 1 Canterbury Stakes is a weight-for-age sprint over 1300 metres at Randwick as part of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival, which is run for a purse of $500,000.

The race is run at the beginning of March and routinely draws the best sprinters from around the nation with recent past winners including Pierro and dual champion More Joyous.

The Canterbury Stakes has been hosted by three different tracks throughout the history of the event. Kicking off at the spiritual home of Canterbury in 1929, the race was moved to Rosehill in 1997. From 2014 onwards the race has been run at Royal Randwick.

The race gained group one status back in 2013 and is an important race in Sydney given the winner gets an exemption for the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes, which is run just two weeks later as part of Golden Slipper day.

Fields are invariably small for the Canterbury Stakes and the winners often come from the head of the market. The last winner of the race was Holler on March 5, 2016.

The next running of the Canterbury Stakes will be on March 10, 2018.

2018 Canterbury Stakes odds

Best Canterbury Stakes bookmakers

The bookmakers will open all-in betting in February for the March feature and fixed odds betting will be available during the week of the race.

All of our bookmakers offer markets on the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes so follow these links and keep an eye out as the race draws closer.

Betfair Australia

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Recent Canterbury Stakes winners

• 2017: Le Romain holds off fast-finishing Chautauqua
  In a fantastic contest, Le Romain edged out popular elect Chautauqua to win the 2017 Canterbury Stakes. The Kris Lees-trained fought off the challenge in the rain-soaked conditions at Randwick and score its biggest career win. It was first thought that Chautauqua had edged past it on the line, but Le Romain got the chocolates. Read the full report here.
• 2016: Godolphin’s Holler delivers at odds
  Godolphin star Holler was a $7.50 outsider behind First Seal in the market, but after getting the jump and surging to the front of the field it looked like James McDonald had gotten to the perfect position on his galloper. First Seal got pocked in the latter stages of the race and could only manage second as J-Mac recorded back-to-back group Canterbury Stakes wins.
• 2015: Cosmic Endeavour salutes at short odds
  James McDonald had the ride on the $2.70 elect Cosmic Endeavour, and the Kiwi looked to have the race at his mercy as the horse booted up along the rails to take the lead in the early stages of the race. The horse was rated beautifully in front and handed Gai Waterhouse yet another group one win in Sydney.
• 2014: Appearance wins another group event
  Multiple group race winning horse Appearance was one of the main chances in the 2014 Canterbury Stakes market, but the bookies would have been licking their lips mid-race as the horse settled last. Kerrin McEvoy was patient at the back of the field however, and unleashed the mare at the perfect moment to take out the race.
• 2013: Godolphin’s Holler delivers at odds
  Godolphin star Holler was a $7.50 outsider behind First Seal in the market, but after getting the jump and surging to the front of the field it looked like James McDonald had gotten to the perfect position on his galloper. First Seal got pocked in the latter stages of the race and could only manage second as J-Mac recorded back-to-back group Canterbury Stakes wins.
• 2012: Pierro wins the first-ever Group 1 running of the Canterbury Stakes
  The first time a race is upgraded to a group one event it always draws out the cream of the crop and that was no truer than in 2013 when Pierro won the race as an even money favourite.

Canterbury Stakes betting guide

Make no mistake – the Canterbury Stakes is a favourites’ race, and the class more often than not prevails over the sprint distance at Royal Randwick

Since 1983 the Canterbury Stakes favourite has won 19 times and been placed five times, but peculiarly, only three last start winners in the race’s history – Appearance (2014), Pierro (2013) and More Joyous (2011) – have gone on to take out the Canterbury Stakes.

Given it is one of the first group races of the Sydney autumn carnival, there are no specific races that punters can look at as an indicator heading into the Canterbury Stakes, but group success in the past and market support are two great signs of a strong upcoming performance.

Previous winners of the Canterbury Stakes

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