Canterbury Stakes

Canterbury Stakes

Group One Betting Guide
Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025
Location: Royal Randwick – Sydney, Australia
Prize Money: $750,000
Distance: 1300m

The Group 1 Canterbury Stakes is a weight-for-age sprint over 1300m at Randwick and boasts a prize purse of $500,000.

The race is run at the beginning of March as part of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival and routinely draws the best sprinters from around the nation, with recent winners including Pierro and dual champion More Joyous.

Three different Australian racetracks have hosted the Canterbury Stakes down the years. The race was run at Canterbury from 1929 until 1997, when it was moved to Rosehill Gardens. From 2014 onwards, the race has been run at Royal Randwick.

The Canterbury Stakes gained Group 1 status back in 2013 and is an important event 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.


2025 Canterbury Stakes odds

Betting odds for the 2025 Canterbury Stakes are currently unavailable.


Best Canterbury Stakes bookmakers

Online 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.


Latest Canterbury Stakes news

Lady Laguna
Annabel Neasham and Tyler Schiller have combined with Lady Laguna to take out the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes at Randwick ...
Randwick full racing tips
The Group 1 Randwick Guineas (1600m) headlines a bumper 10-race card at Randwick this Saturday. See our free betting tips ...
Canterbury Stakes headlined by Think About It
The Group 1 Canterbury Stakes will headline the 10-race program at Randwick on Saturday afternoon, with eight runners accepting for ...
Imperatriz denied perfect Australian start
Backers of New Zealand sprinter Imperatriz were almost counting their winnings with 100m to go in the Group 1 Canterbury ...
Artorius returns a winner in Canterbury Stakes
It’s taken a superb ride from leading Hong Kong hoop Zac Purton, but Artorius is a winner again for the ...
Today's horse racing tips & best bets | March 4, 2023
Horse Racing on Saturday, March 4 will feature 13 meetings in Australia. Our racing analysts here at horsebetting.com.au have found ...

Canterbury Stakes betting guide

Gai Waterhouse won the first-ever Group 1 running of the Canterbury Stakes with Pierro.

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 2002 the Canterbury Stakes favourite has won 10 times and been placed eight times, but peculiarly, only four last-start winners in the race’s history – Forbidden Love (2022), Appearance (2014), Pierro (2013) and More Joyous (2011) – have gone on to take out the Canterbury Stakes.

The winner has come via 11 different avenues in the last 20 runnings – Handicap, WFA, 3yo Set Weights, Mares and even First up.

The first lady of racing, Gai Waterhouse, has trained the winner of the Canterbury Stakes on seven occasions.

Happy Clapper (2018) became the oldest horse to win the race, he did so as a seven-year-old.

In 2021 Savatiano was the first past the post, but 12-months later was stripped of the victory following a prohibited substance verdict. Mizzy was promoted to a Group 1 winner in the process following her narrow defeat in the race.


2025 Canterbury Stakes Final Field

HorseBetting will update this page when the 2025 Canterbury Stakes field is released.


Previous Canterbury Stakes Fields

Plenty of Group 1 Superstars have won the Canterbury Stakes. Check out some of the previous fields here.

  • Think About It Silks

    1. Think About It (8)

    • T: Joseph Pride
    • J: Sam Clipperton
    • W: 59kg
    • F: x3111
    • Age: 5YO
    • Color: Bay
    • Sex: Gelding
    • Sire: So You Think (NZ)
    • Dam: Tiare
    Pericles Silks

    2. Pericles (1)

    • T: James Cummings
    • J: Tom Marquand
    • W: 59kg
    • F: 26×23
    • Age: 4YO
    • Color: Brown
    • Sex: Gelding
    • Sire: Street Boss (USA)
    • Dam: Accessories (GB)
    Coal Crusher Silks

    3. Coal Crusher (5)

    • T: Joseph Pride
    • J: Adam Hyeronimus
    • W: 59kg
    • F: 52×14
    • Age: 6YO
    • Color: Chestnut
    • Sex: Gelding
    • Sire: Turffontein
    • Dam: Media Academy
    Bandersnatch Silks

    4. Bandersnatch (3)

    • T: Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes
    • J: Jordan Childs
    • W: 59kg
    • F: x4285
    • Age: 7YO
    • Color: Bay
    • Sex: Gelding
    • Sire: Casino Prince
    • Dam: Divine Faith
    Malkovich Silks

    5. Malkovich (4)

    • T: Bjorn Baker
    • J: Joshua Parr
    • W: 59kg
    • F: 3363x
    • Age: 6YO
    • Color: Bay
    • Sex: Gelding
    • Sire: Choisir
    • Dam: Mabkhara
    Espiona Silks

    6. Espiona (2)

    • T: Chris Waller
    • J: James McDonald
    • W: 57kg
    • F: 3×417
    • Age: 5YO
    • Color: Bay
    • Sex: Mare
    • Sire: Extreme Choice
    • Dam: Dahooil (NZ)
    Lady Laguna Silks

    7. Lady Laguna (6)

    • T: Annabel Neasham
    • J: Tyler Schiller
    • W: 57kg
    • F: 21112
    • Age: 4YO
    • Color: Bay
    • Sex: Mare
    • Sire: Overshare
    • Dam: Catalina de Lago (NZ)
    Call Di Silks

    8. Call Di (7)

    • T: Joseph Pride
    • J: Nash Rawiller
    • W: 57kg
    • F: x2352
    • Age: 4YO
    • Color: Bay
    • Sex: Mare
    • Sire: Frankel (GB)
    • Dam: Samantha Miss
  • No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight
    1 Silks
    Cascadian
    James Cummings
    Brenton Avdulla
    5
    59kg
    2 Silks
    Artorius
    Anthony & Sam Freedman
    Zac Purton
    8
    59kg
    3 Silks
    Kirwan’s Lane
    John O’Shea
    Chad Schofield
    9
    59kg
    4 Silks
    Lombardo
    Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)
    Brett Prebble
    3
    59kg
    5 Silks
    Converge
    Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott
    Tim Clark
    4
    59kg
    6 Silks
    Old Flame
    Peter & Paul Snowden
    Sam Clipperton
    6
    59kg
    7 Silks
    Quantico
    John O’Shea
    Kerrin McEvoy
    10
    59kg
    8 Silks
    Imperatriz
    Mark Walker
    James McDonald
    7
    57kg
    9 Silks
    Electric Girl
    Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes
    Zac Lloyd
    1
    57kg
    10 Silks
    Argentia
    Anthony & Sam Freedman
    TBC
    11
    57kg
    11 Silks
    Golden Mile
    James Cummings
    Nash Rawiller
    2
    56kg
  • No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight
    1 Silks
    Zaaki
    Annabel Neasham
    James McDonald
    1
    59kg
    2 Silks
    Kolding
    Chris Waller
    Jason Collett
    2
    59kg
    3 Silks
    Private Eye
    Joseph Pride
    Regan Bayliss
    7
    59kg
    4 Silks
    Dalasan
    Leon Macdonald & Andrew Gluyas
    Chad Schofield
    6
    59kg
    5 Silks
    Special Reward
    Kris Lees
    Glyn Schofield
    4
    59kg
    6 Silks
    Wild Planet
    Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes
    William Pike
    10
    59kg
    7 Silks
    Dice Roll
    Nick Ryan
    Rhys McLeod
    9
    59kg
    8 Silks
    Laws Of Indices
    Annabel Neasham
    Tommy Berry
    5
    58.5kg
    9 Silks
    Forbidden Love
    Richard & Michael Freedman
    Hugh Bowman
    8
    57kg
    10 Silks
    Lighthouse
    Ciaron Maher & David Eustace
    James McDonald
    3
    57kg
  • No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight
    1 Silks
    Bivouac
    James Cummings
    Glen Boss
    8
    59kg
    2 Silks
    Dreamforce
    John Thompson
    Nash Rawiller
    5
    59kg
    3 Silks
    Samadoubt
    Bjorn Baker
    Joshua Parr
    6
    59kg
    4 Silks
    Kementari
    James Cummings
    Rachel King
    9
    59kg
    5 Silks
    Victorem
    Jenny Graham
    Kerrin McEvoy
    11
    59kg
    6 Silks
    Dawn Passage
    Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott
    Tim Clark
    7
    59kg
    7 Silks
    Masked Crusader
    Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes
    Tommy Berry
    2
    59kg
    8 Silks
    Savatiano
    James Cummings
    Hugh Bowman
    3
    57kg
    9 Silks
    Madam Rouge
    Chris Waller
    James McDonald
    4
    57kg
    10 Silks
    Mizzy
    Anthony Cummings
    Regan Bayliss
    1
    57kg
    11 Silks
    Prague
    Annabel Neasham
    Tom Marquand
    10
    56kg

2024 Canterbury Stakes result


1stLady Laguna (+1000)
2ndThink About It (-250)
3rdEspiona (NTD)

Recent Canterbury Stakes winners

  • Lady Laguna ($11.00) has produced a boil over to claim victory in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes, storming over the top to claim the $750,000 prize. She had put the writing on the wall throughout the campaign, with a hat-trick of victories holding the Annabel Neasham-trained mare in good stead heading into the event but suffered a minor hiccup last start, finishing second behind Zougotcha in the Group 2 Millie Fox Stakes (1300m) a fortnight ago. A faster run 1300m seemed to do the trick for the daughter of Overshare, who continues her rise through the grades, culminating in Group 1 success for the first time on Saturday. All the talk was surrounding the return of the Joesph Pride-trained Think About It ($2.40) heading into the weekend, along with Espiona ($2.40) hopping on the float back to Sydney after an impressive first-up performance in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) at Flemington first-up. Both ended up jumping towards the rear of the field, with Think About It making a mid-race move with 600m to travel, it gave jockey Tyler Schiller the perfect opportunity to check off the back of the Everest winner with 400m to go, putting them away stylishly in the concluding stages. Think About It lost no admirers holding onto the runner-up position, while a fast-finishing Espiona would have to settle for a third-place finish.
  • It’s taken a superb ride from leading Hong Kong hoop Zac Purton, but Artorius is a winner again for the first time since the 2021 Blue Diamond Stakes, having claimed the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes. It was a weaving effort between horses from Artorius to nail the well fancied New Zealand raider, Imperatriz, who drifted slightly before the race. The amazing training performance by Anthony & Sam Freedman can’t be overstated, who elected to take the four-year-old overseas for a world tour of sorts lining up in Group 1 features such as the Platinum Jubilee Stakes and July Cup finishing third respectively in both events. His return on Saturday after a 209-day spell was just his third career win, but second at Group 1 level as Zac Purton unlocked the best of this son of Flying Artie. Favourite backers would’ve felt like they were on the winner with 200m to go and was brave to the line, but simply no match for the winner. Electric Girl was as honest as ever and Golden Mile looks to have taken improvement from the first-up run.
  • Coming off a dominant win in the Group 2 Guy Walter Stakes the week prior, the Anthony & Sam Freedman-trained Forbidden Love was too good for her rivals in the Canterbury Stakes. Having waltzed in on a Heavy 10 the week prior, the wet track was never going to be an issue for the mare and considering Hugh Bowman was cuddling the mare 300m out from home, she was always going to take some running down. The official margin was 1.75 lengths on the ever-improving Lighthouse, but the result felt much more comfortable than that for favourite punters. The win handed Hugh Bowman his 100th Group 1 winner, having been stripped of the 2021 Canterbury Stakes during the lead-up to the 2022 edition.
  • Having had six runs in Group 1 company, it was seventh time lucky for the Godolphin-trained Savatiano who gripped on and held out the fast finishing Mizzy to claim the Canterbury Stakes.Having sat just off the leaders heels on the rails, Savatiano had no excuses when cornering and got the job done by the barest of margins. Surprisingly the win in the Canterbury Stakes aboard Savatiano was the first time superstar jockey Hugh Bowman had tasted success in the race. Savatiano was stripped of the race win 12 months later following a positive substance result. Mizzy is now the 2021 winner of the Canterbury Stakes.
  • The heat was on early in the 2020 Canterbury Stakes when Begood Toya Mother took on Savatiano for the early lead with the pair scorching the turf early on. It set up perfectly for The Bostonian to take a sit off the leaders and was in the slipstream of Savatiano up until the 250m mark when asked for an effort. Nash Rawiller eased the Tony Pike-trained gelding off the fence and managed to find his way past the Godolphin runner to as The Bostonian went on to take out the 2021 Canterbury Stakes.
  • Trapeze Artist was disappointing in a resuming run in the Expressway Stakes on February 2 as a favourite but the champ didn’t make the same mistake at G1 level. Spearing out to an early lead the Gerald Ryan runner was never headed, pinching a lengthy margin at the turn that Shoals ate into late but never threatened.
  • It didn’t take long for Happy Clapper to add another Group 1 title to his trophy cabinet in 2018, winning the Canterbury Stakes first-up following a second placing in the Mackinnon Stakes. Settling towards the back of the field Happy Clapper looked to be hard pressed to win after Global Glamour pinched a break on the field. Despite entering a bumping duel at the 400m mark Happy Clapper eventually found clean air and stormed home to beat the long-time leader in the shadows of the post.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Previous winners of the Canterbury Stakes

Canterbury StakesPast Winners
Year Horse Jockey Trainer
2024 Lady Laguna Tyler Schiller Annabel Neasham
2023 Artorius Zac Purton Anthony & Sam Freedman
2022 Forbidden Love Hugh Bowman Richard & Michael Freedman
2021 Mizzy Regan Bayliss Anthony Cummings
2020 The Bostonian Nash Rawiller Tony Pike
2019 Trapeze Artist Blake Shinn Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou
2018 Happy Clapper Blake Shinn Patrick Webster
2017 Le Romain Glyn Schofield Kris Lees
2016 Holler James McDonald John O’Shea
2015 Cosmic Endeavour James McDonald Gai Waterhouse
2014 Appearance Kerrin McEvoy Guy Walter
2013 Pierro Jim Cassidy Gai Waterhouse
2012 More Joyous Nash Rawiller Gai Waterhouse
2011 More Joyous Nash Rawiller Gai Waterhouse
2010 Hot Danish Tim Clark Les Bridge
2009 All Silent Damien Oliver Grahame Begg
2008 Mentality Darren Beadman John Hawkes
2007 Malcolm Darren Beadman John Hawkes
2006 Paratroopers Darren Beadman John Hawkes
2005 Dance Hero Chris Munce Gai Waterhouse
2004 Yell Darren Beadman John Hawkes
2003 Defier Chris Munce Guy Walter
2002 Empire Jim Cassidy Max Lees
2001 Shogun Lodge Glen Boss Bob Thomsen
2000 Easy Rocking Darren Beadman Ron Quinton

Canterbury Stakes Past Winners Pre 2000

Canterbury StakesPast Winners Pre 2000
Year Horse
1999 Kidman’s Cove
1998 Quick Flick
1997 All Our Mob
1996 Sprint By
1995 Miss Kariba
1994 Al Akbar
1993 Big Dreams
1992 Alishan
1991 Show County
1990 Straussbrook
1989 At Sea
1988 At Sea
1987 Placid Ark
1986 Avon Angel
1985 Chimes Square
1984 Sir Dapper
1983 Emancipation
1982 Manikato
1981 Turf Ruler
1980 Stage Hit
1979 Bernard
1978 Race Not Held
1977 Romantic Dream
1976 Hartshill
1975 Leica Show
1974 Favoured
1973 I’m Scarlet
1972 Playbill
1971 Baguette
1970 Broker’s Tip
1969 Fair Law
1968 Cabochon
1967 Prince Max
1966 Academy Star
1965 Aureo
1964 Eskimo Prince
1963 Kevejon
1962 Sky High
1961 Sky High
1960 Wanton Lass
1959 Up and Coming
1958 Race Not Held
1957 Prince Jambo
1956 Starover
1955 Star Realm
1954 Iroquois
1953 Regoli
1952 Joy Lad
1951 San Domenico
1950 San Domenico
1949 Bernbrook
1948 Gay Monarch
1947 Shannon
1946 Good Idea
1945 Sleepy Fox
1944 Tea Rose
1943 Katanga
1942 Yaralla
1941 Reading
1940 Beaulivre
1939 Beau Vite
1938 Gold Rod
1937 The Marne
1936 Arachne
1935 Bulldozer
1934 Lough Neagh
1933 Chatham
1932 Holdfast
1931 Holdfast
1930 Holdfast
1929 Amounis

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