Winterbottom Stakes

The Winterbottom Stakes, one of only three Group 1 races in Western Australia, is held under weight-for-age conditions and is considered Perth’s premier sprint event.

The showpiece event of the middle weekend of the Perth Summer Carnival, the Winterbottom Stakes is worth $1.5 million and is ran over the 1200m distance at the iconic Ascot racetrack.

The race only achieved Group 1 status in 2011, but was first run in 1952, when Raconteur took it out.

2016 was the first time in the race’s history it was run as a stand-alone group 1 race, after being on the same card as the Railway Stakes for many years.

The move of the Winterbottom Stakes to a standalone feature means Ascot will be the first racecourse in the world to hold three group 1 races worth $1 million or more over three consecutive Saturdays. The third one being the closing event of the Perth Summer Carnival, the Northerly Stakes (formerly Kingston Town Classic).

2023 Winterbottom Stakes betting odds

The 2023 Winterbottom Stakes odds as of December 1 look like this:

• Overpass – +200
• Ripcord – +550
• Oscar’s Fortune – +750
• Triple Missile – +750
• Hot Zed – +1000
• Snowdome – +1300

Complete Winterbottom Stakes odds available at Bet365.

Best Winterbottom Stakes bookmakers

Markets for the Winterbottom Stakes do not typically emerge months and weeks prior to the race being run given the Group 1 calibre horses are pre-occupied on the other side of the country in Melbourne.

Once confirmation of the fields begins to filter in the bookmakers start to open their markets, and once the first Group 1 race of the Ascot season concludes – the Railway Stakes – most bookies will make the Winterbottom Stakes a feature event.

Sportsbet.com.au has made a commitment to group 1 racing in this country, and they had the Winterbottom Stakes as a feature event on their front page before any of the other bookies.

The bookies we trust the most are listed below and we recommend anyone interested in betting on the Winterbottom Stakes to visit any of these sites:

Sport Table

Betting on the Winterbottom Stakes

The Winterbottom Stakes is a group 1 race so invariably the top sprinting prospects in the country are going to make the journey west to compete at Ascot.

Since its first running, just three horses have managed to go back-to-back.

La Trice (1970-71), Belinda’s Star (1975-76) and Hardrada (2002-03) achieving the three-peat at Ascot.

Only a further three horses have managed to record more than one win in the race.

Mare Ortensia managed to win two Winterbottom Stakes twice back in 2009 and 2011, Asteroid managed the feat back in 1953 and 1955 and more recently superstar sprinter Buffering saluted in both 2013 and 2015.

No horse has ever won the race more than twice.

A number of lead-up races have been used by successful runners in the Winterbottom Stakes. They include the Birthday Stakes, R.S. Crawford Stakes, Prince of Wales Stakes and Colonel Reeves Stakes

In recent times, Buffering tackled the Group 1 VRC Sprint Classic (formerly the Darley Classic) at Flemington on both occasions prior to his Winterbottom Stakes triumphs.

2023 Winterbottom Stakes Final Field

No.	Silks	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1		Overpass	Bjorn Baker	Joshua Parr	11	58.5kg
2		Red Can Man	Steve Wolfe	Paul Harvey	10	58.5kg
3		Savatoxl	Will Savage	Holly Watson	8	58.5kg
4		Hot Zed	Lou Luciani	Jason Whiting	2	58.5kg
5		Resortman	Michael Lane	Brad Rawiller	9	58.5kg
6		Laverrod	Sean & Jake Casey	Jordan Turner	15	58.5kg
7		Snowdome	Neville Parnham	Chris Parnham	18	58.5kg
8		Triple Missile	Lindsey Smith	Damien Oliver	1	58.5kg
9		Phanta	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Brad Parnham	17	58.5kg
10		Clemenceau	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Jarrad Noske	14	58.5kg
11		Man Crush	Luke Fernie	Michael Poy	12	58.5kg
12		Go Forward	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Laqdar Ramoly	6	58.5kg
13		My Bella Mae	Dion Luciani	Patrick Carbery	5	56.5kg
14		Flying Missile	Neville Parnham	Steven Parnham	3	56.5kg
15		Ripcord	Luke Fernie	Clint Johnston-Porter	7	54.5kg
16		Oscar’s Fortune	Dion Luciani	William Pike	13	54.5kg
17		Corn Cob (1E)	Julia Martin	Austin Galati	16	58.5kg
18		Valency (2E)	Robyn Lockwood	TBC	4	56.5kg

Previous Winterbottom Stakes Fields

Plenty of Group 1 superstars of the West have won the Winterbottom Stakes. Here is what the field look like for the 2022 edition.

• 2022 Winterbottom Stakes field

  No.	Silks	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
  1		Rothfire	Robert Heathcote	Damien Oliver	3	58.5kg
  2		Vilana	James Cummings	Jamie Kah	12	58.5kg
  3		Paulele	James Cummings	Ben Melham	16	58.5kg
  4		Elite Street	Daniel Morton	Brad Rawiller	7	58.5kg
  5		The Astrologist	Leon & Troy Corstens	William Pike	2	58.5kg
  6		Massimo	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Brad Parnham	11	58.5kg
  7		Red Can Man	Steve Wolfe	Shaun McGruddy	17	58.5kg
  8		Stageman	Adam Durrant	Clint Johnston-Porter	5	58.5kg
  9		Indian Pacific	Neville Parnham	Paul Harvey	15	58.5kg
  10		Beau Rossa	Will Clarken	Todd Pannell	8	58.5kg
  11		Hot Zed	Lou Luciani	Jason Whiting	6	58.5kg
  12		Kissonallforcheeks	Daniel Morton	Chris Parnham	14	56.5kg
  13		Miss Conteki	Simon Miller	Patrick Carbery	13	56.5kg
  14		This’ll Testya	Mitchell Pateman	Lucy Warwick	9	56.5kg
  15		Sniparoochy	Stephen Miller	Jason Brown	1	56.5kg
  16		My Bella Mae	Dion Luciani	Steven Parnham	10	51.5kg
  17		Titan Blinders (1E)	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Shaun O’Donnell	4	58.5kg

• 2021 Winterbottom Stakes field

  No.	Silks	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
  1		Rock Magic	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Jarrad Noske	7	58.5kg
  2		Elite Street	Daniel Morton	Brad Rawiller	10	58.5kg
  3		Red Can Man	Steve Wolfe	Shaun McGruddy	11	58.5kg
  4		Laverrod	Sean & Jake Casey	Jordan Turner	8	58.5kg
  5		Money Matters	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Craig Staples	6	58.5kg
  6		Indian Pacific	Neville Parnham	Brad Parnham	12	58.5kg
  7		Outrageous	Luke Fernie	Lucy Warwick	14	58.5kg
  8		Cup Night	Bernie Miller	Patrick Carbery	13	58.5kg
  9		Stageman	Adam Durrant	Clint Johnston-Porter	15	58.5kg
  10		Carocapo	Jim Taylor	Jason Brown	3	58.5kg
  11		Iseered Iseered	Luke Fernie	Mitchell Pateman	5	58.5kg
  12		Long Beach	Chris & Michael Gangemi	Shaun O’Donnell	9	58.5kg
  13		River Beau	Bruce Watkins	Jason Whiting	17	58.5kg
  14		Flirtini	Simon Miller	Troy Turner	4	56.5kg
  15		Graceful Girl	Grant & Alana Williams	William Pike	18	56.5kg
  16		Wilchino	Daniel Morton	Chris Parnham	1	56.5kg
  17		Triple Missile (1E)	Lindsey Smith	N/A	16	58.5kg
  18		All Day Session (2E)	Ashley Maley	N/A	2	58.5kg

2022 Winterbottom Stakes result

Recent Winterbottom Stakes winners

• 2022: Paulele jumps out of the ground to claim maiden Group 1
  Having had eight previous starts at Group 1 level, the James Cummings-trained Paulele broke his Group 1 maiden at his ninth start at the highest level. Aided by a breakneck speed out in front throughout the Winterbottom, the entire was aided by an inch-perfect steer from Ben Melham who brought up his first Group 1 win as a hoop since 2020 when partnering Streets Of Avalon to Futurity Stakes success. Paulele unleashed a devastating turn of foot inside the final furlong and managed to pip Kissonallforcheeks on the line in a thrilling finish to the 2022 Winterbottom.
• 2021: Graceful Girl steals the show
  Pike was up to his old tricks again at Ascot, steering the Grant & Alana Williams-trained mare to a dominant last-to-first win. Having to overcome barrier 16 in the $1 million sprint, Pike did not waste any time in looking for a position and opted to settle at the tail of the field, saving his mount for one final shot at them. Starting as a $9 chance, the Peters Investments-owned four-year-old quickly put paid to her rivals, winning by three lengths over stablemate Stageman and race favourite Elite Street, who bled during the run and will spend the next three months on the sidelines.
• 2020: Elite Street Defies The Odds
  With all eyes on the Willie Pike and Trekking to win after making the long trip over just for this race and sitting at $1.75 at time of jumping there were a few stunned faces when Trekking didn’t make the top three but instead it was eighth start ‘Elite Street’ that stole the show jumping at $31 odds and taking out the his first group one race.
• 2019: Hey Doc Winds Back The Clock
  In a near perfect front-running ride from Luke Currie, Hey Doc wound back the clock and absolutely bolted in the 2019 Winterbottom Stakes by nearly two and a half lengths. He stacked the field up entering the home straight and when asked for an effort by Currie he showed a quick turn of foot, and never looked in danger of getting run down. The Group 1 success was the first for Tony & Calvin McEvoy as a father/son partnership.
• 2018: Voodoo Lad causes Weir-sized boilover
  All the pre-race chatter was about Viddora heading into the 2018 Winterbottom Stakes, but when the champ failed to present a winning threat at any stage the race was wide open. Coming into the straight there was a number of chances but it was Malaguerra, Enticing Star and Voodoo Lad that broke away from the pack. Voodoo Lad stormed over the top of them in the shadows of the post to record a famous win for Darren Wier and Damien Oliver.
• 2017: Viddora breaks big race curse
  In 2017 there were few horses that exemplified the “always a bridesmaid” tag more than Viddora in G1 events. Prior to taking part in the Winterbottom Viddora had two G1 second placings and a fourth placed finish in the Manikato Stakes. That all changed in December. Getting a beautiful run in transit in the mid-division the South Australian native shot to the front at the 200m mark and strode clear to record a powerful win. It proved to be a penny drop moment for Viddora, which has since gone on to win G1 events in both South Australia and Victoria.
• 2016: Moore takes out maiden G1 with Takedown
  What a marvelous victory for Takedown and a jubilant trainer Gary Moore, who trained his first Australian group one winner in this race. Takedown, paying $9, won by a neck from Sheidel ($8.50) and Rock Magic ($13). Pre-race favourite Terravista, as short as $3.50 on the TAB, was well back in the field after failing to run on despite being in a good position. Read a full report.
• 2015: Brilliant Buffering does it again
  Buffering came across to Perth harbouring ambitions of becoming just the six horse to win the Winterbottom Stakes more than once and he did exactly that. Under the urgings of Damian Browne, Buffering surged to the front and held the entire field at bay to record his second Winterbottom win as the $2.50 favourite.
  
• 2014: WA native Magnifisio holds off interstate invaders
  Home town hero Magnifisio repelled the interstate imports as a $7.50 outsider to register her first and only Group 1 win in a tightly contested finish to the race. The WA star held off Waterman’s Bay both in the run to the line and in the Stewards Room after. While second place is now trained in Melbourne, the top four in the Winterbottom Stakes are all regarded as WA horses.
  
• 2013: Photo finish sees Buffering win narrow Winterbottom
  It was that star Buffering again, this time recording his first Winterbottom Stakes win. Fresh off a Darley Classic success in Melbourne, Buffering made the trip across the Nullarbor looking to win a second Group 1 title in a month but the Queenslander faced a battle from Victorian Moment Of Change who sprouted wings late in the race. Buffering eventually got the win in a photo finish.

Winterbottom Stakes past winners list

Winterbottom Stakes Past Winners Pre 2000

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