TJ Smith Stakes

THE Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes is held at Royal Randwick under weight for age conditions over the 1200m journey as part of a massive day one of The Championships.

Originally entitled the Endeavour Stakes, the race name was changed to honour famous Sydney horse trainer Thomas John Smith.

Notable winners of the TJ Smith are three-time winner Chautauqua (2015-2017), Lankan Rupee (2014), Nature Strip (2020,2021), Santa Ana Lane (2019) and the queen of the turf Black Caviar (2011).

2024 TJ Smith Stakes betting odds

Markets for the 2024 TJ Smith Stakes are currently unavailable.

Best TJ Smith Stakes bookmakers

The TJ Smith Stakes is one of the showpiece events of The Championships and as such the bookmakers come early with the markets surrounding the group one race.

Bookmakers such as Ladbrokes install their markets up months in advance of the start date, showing their dedication to the $2,500,000 race.

The online agencies we put our trust in are listed below, and we recommend anyone interested in placing a bet on the TJ Smith Stakes journey over to any of these sites:

TJ Smith Stakes Betting

Latest TJ Smith News

I Wish I Win produces breathtaking display in TJ Smith Stakes

Australia horse racing news

8 months ago

I Wish I Win has produced a powerful turn-of-foot to claim his first-ever Group 1 win on Saturday afternoon in ...

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Today’s horse racing tips & best bets | April 1, 2023

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8 months ago

12 horse racing meetings are scheduled around Australia today. See the top tips and quaddie selections for free here at ...

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Newmarket Park Owner: Mariamia needs Lady Luck in TJ Smith Stakes

Australia horse racing news, Horse Racing News

8 months ago

Lady Luck smiled on Mariamia last start and she took her good fortune, but the mare’s circumstances will be different ...

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Randwick race-by-race preview & quaddie | The Championships Day 1

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9 months ago

Day 1 of The Championships is upon us and HB's Nathan Keven has gone through each race on Saturday's 10-race ...

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2023 TJ Smith Stakes preview & best bets | Saturday, April 1

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9 months ago

The 2023 TJ Smith Stakes is one of the four Group 1 features on Day 1 of The Championships. HB's ...

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In Secret proves her doubters wrong in Group 1 Newmarket Handicap

Australia horse racing news

9 months ago

Dean Holland and James Cummings have combined with In Secret to take out the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington ...

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Betting on the TJ Smith Stakes

The TJ Smith Stakes is not a race for the young brigade.

In its relatively infantile history, only five three-year-olds have taken out the group one event.

The race has been a favourite backers paradise in recent years. Six of the last 10 winners of the TJ Smith Stakes have jumped as clear cut favourites.

Alongside that, only three horses in the race’s history have won the race more than once. Superstar sprinter Black Caviar (2011, 2013), Chautauqua (2015, 2016 & 2017) and Nature Strip (2020, 2021 & 2022) are the only multiple winners of the TJ Smith Stakes.

2024 TJ Smith Stakes Final Field

Horsebetting.com.au will update this page when the 2024 TJ Smith Stakes field is released.

Previous TJ Smith Stakes Fields

Many a Group 1 sprinting superstar have won the TJ Smith Stakes. Check out the previous fields here.

• 2023 TJ Smith Stakes field

  No.	Silks	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
  1		Nature Strip	Chris Waller	James McDonald	7	58.5kg
  2		Lost And Running	John O’Shea	Hugh Bowman	15	58.5kg
  3		Private Eye	Joseph Pride	Brenton Avdulla	2	58.5kg
  4		Mazu	Peter & Paul Snowden	Sam Clipperton	1	58.5kg
  5		Paulele	James Cummings	Joao Moreira	3	58.5kg
  6		I Wish I Win	Peter Moody	Luke Nolen	14	58.5kg
  7		Overpass	Bjorn Baker	Joshua Parr	4	58.5kg
  8		Rocketing By	David Pfieffer	Kerrin McEvoy	8	58.5kg
  9		Shelby Sixtysix	Danny Williams	Tim Clark	5	58.5kg
  10		Giga Kick	Clayton Douglas	Zac Purton	9	56.5kg
  11		Lofty Strike	Julius Sandhu	Craig Newitt	10	56.5kg
  12		Mariamia	Joseph Pride	Tyler Schiller	13	56.5kg
  13		Passive Aggressive	Grahame Begg	Jordan Childs	6	56.5kg
  14		Shades Of Rose	Bjorn Baker	Rachel King	11	56.5kg
  15		In Secret	James Cummings	Ben Melham	12	54.5kg

• 2022 TJ Smith Stakes field

  No.	Silks	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
  1		Nature Strip	Chris Waller	James McDonald	11	58.5kg
  2		Eduardo	Joseph Pride	Nash Rawiller	3	58.5kg
  3		Masked Crusader	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	William Pike	1	58.5kg
  4		Zoutori	Mathew Ellerton	Damian Lane	7	58.5kg
  5		Count De Rupee	Robert & Luke Price	Brock Ryan	4	58.5kg
  6		Shelby Sixtysix	Danny Williams	Tommy Berry	10	58.5kg
  7		Rule Of Law	Bjorn Baker	Brenton Avdulla	5	58.5kg
  8		Roch ‘N’ Horse	Mike Moroney	Hugh Bowman	8	56.5kg
  9		Overpass	Bjorn Baker	Tim Clark	2	56.5kg
  10		Belluci Babe	Bjorn Baker	Joshua Parr	9	56.5kg
  11		Paulele	James Cummings	Jamie Kah	6	56.5kg

2023 TJ Smith Stakes result

Recent TJ Smith winners

• 2023: I Wish I Win hands Moody/Nolen another TJ
  From last to first. I Wish I Win produced a powerful turn-of-foot to claim his first-ever Group 1 win in the TJ Smith Stakes. It’s had been an expertly planned out preparation by trainer Peter Moody, who elected to keep him back to the sprinting trips, rather than look for middle-distance targets such as the All-Star Mile. Paying dividends for the connections with their share of the $3,000,000 in prizemoney heading their way to go along with Group 1 glory. Jockey Luke Nolen had no choice but to go back from the wide draw and on a day where it’s been difficult to make up inroads from the rear of the field, I Wish I Win defied any perceived bias by thundering down the middle of the Royal Randwick circuit. It was a race that changed complexion turning for home as Nature Strip kicked clear in search of his fourth TJ Smith Stakes in a row, before drifting commodity Giga Kick made his way to the lead with 100m to go. It was all for the placings however, as I Wish I Win proved too good for his rivals on the day.
• 2022: Nature Strip creates history
  The Chris Waller-trained Nature Strip created history when becoming just the second sprinter alongside Chautauqua to claim three straight TJ Smith Stakes victory. Despite drawing out wide, James McDonald use the first 300m to have Nature Strip amble across to the front of the field where he managed to head market rival Eduardo and control the speed throughout. When asked for an effort from JMac, the Strip put three lengths on Eduardo back in second and in doing so, Nature Strip etched his name further into Australian racing folklore.
• 2021: Nature Strip goes back-to-back
  Straight from the start, Nature Strip found himself sitting behind Joe Pride’s Eduardo who took off bolting in a fast start. The positions barely changed throughout the race until the final stretch where Eduardo tried to break from the pack but Nature Strip was ready to go with him setting up for an exciting finish. The race was decided before the posts when Eduardo gassed out and Nature Strip still had a bunch left in the tank to give passing the rival and clearing the group by two lengths to win.
• 2020: Nature Strip Blows Them Away
  On his day, there is no doubt that Nature Strip is the best sprinter in the country, and on rain affected grown he clearly relishes the going. Nature Strip ran his rivals ragged and gave nothing else a chance when sustaining a genuine sprint over the 1200m and despite peaking over the last 100m the result was never in doubt. One of the market movers on the day Bivouac threw away any chance he had when jumping in the air when the field was released and could do no better than a fouth placed finish.
• 2019: Santa Ana Lane rubberstamps sprinting star status
  It was again Santa Ana Lane that saluted in a Group 1 sprint event, this time on day one of The Championships. Settling towards the back of the field, Santa Ana Lane was unleashed in the straight and absolutely destroyed the field, finishing several lengths in front of the hot favourite Osbourne Bulls and the Tony McEvoy-trained
• 2018: Trapeze Artist upsets red-hot favourite Redzel
  No one wanted to oppose Redzel heading into the TJ Smith Stakes, and the big push looked a good thing as The Everest winner pulled away from the field. It wasn’t to be however, as Trapeze Artist leveled up and eventually flashed past the star sprinter to record a memorable victory.
• 2017: Chautauqua completes the three-peat
  Champion sprinter Chautauqua wowed the world when producing one of the highlight runs of the season. The popular grey was last coming around the turn and looked to be going nowhere, but Tommy Berry found a path through the field and the champion did the rest. It gunned down English over the concluding stages to set up what was truly an amazing last-to-first comeback win. Read report here.
• 2016: Chautauqua goes back-to-back
  Chautauqua went back-to-back in stunning fashion in the 2016 edition of the TJ Smith. Spotting the leaders an enormous margin, Tommy Berry took the grey to the outside and the horse did the rest.
• 2015: Chautauqua records his first TJ Smith Stakes
  In what would become a predictable racing pattern for star runner Chautauqua, the horse settled at the rear of the field, leaving itself a mountain of work to get the job done, but it did exactly that as it ran down Lord Of The Sky in the shadows of the post to win its maiden group one title.
• 2014: Lankan Rupee dominates in the wet
  A rain-soaked Randwick greeted horses for the 2014 Doncaster Mile and Lankan Rupee was a drifting favourite. Jumping at $3.50 the Rupee torched the field from the front to record one of the most dominant wins in the race’s history.

TJ Smith Stakes Past Winners List

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