The Verry Elleegant Stakes is a Group 1 race conducted by the Australian Turf Club as a feature of the Sydney Autumn racing carnival.

It was first run as the Chipping Norton Stakes was first run in 1925 at Warwick Farm and is named after the suburb that borders that racecourse in western Sydney.

The Verry Elleegant Stakes is run under weight-for-age conditions for horses three years and older over 1600m and draws top class performers preparing for other Group One races at the Sydney Autumn Carnival.

The Verry Elleegant Stakes was originally run over 10 furlongs (2000m) from 1925 until 1972. It was then extended to 2100m until 1979 before shortened to its current distance of 1600m in 1980.

Warwick Farm was the traditional home of the Chipping Norton Stakes but the race was run at Randwick from 1939 until 1952 due to the Second World War and the later use of Warwick Farm for military purposes.

In recent years due to changes to the autumn carnival agenda the Chipping Norton Stakes has been run at Randwick in 1992, 2001, 2008, 2009, 2016 - onwards.

The Chipping Norton Stakes attained Group 2 status in 1980 and became a Group 1 race in 1986. It is traditionally the first Group 1 race of the Sydney Autumn.

It was renamed as the Verry Elleegant Stakes from 2024 after the 11 time G1 winner and multiple winner of this very race. Sadly she passed away giving birth two weeks before the renamed race.

The late TJ (Tommy) Smith trained ten winners of the Chipping Norton Stakes between 1957 and 1982. His daughter Gai Waterhouse has trained 6 Chipping Norton Stakes winners and now Chris Waller has won the race 10 times (from the last 14 runnings as well).

The 2024 Verry Elleegant Stakes was worth $1,000,000.

The Verry Elleegant Stakes is a major prep for the G1 Doncaster Mile, G1 Ranvet Stakes, G1 Tancred Stakes, G1 Sydney Cup and numerous other G1 races during the carnival.

Few G1s have horses capable of winning four in a row but Tie The Knot and Winx have both done it in this race.

The last 3YO to win the Chipping Norton Stakes was He's No Pie Eater in 2007. The last 3YO filly to win the Chipping Norton Stakes was Heat Of The Moment in 1986.

Winx in 2016 became the first mare to win the Chipping Norton Stakes since Emancipation in 1984. She backed it up three times.

Winx became the first Cox Plate winner to win the Chipping Norton in the same season since 1949 (Carbon Copy was that only other horse to do it). Anamoe joined them in 2023.

Before Winx in 2016, the previous winner of the Chipping Norton to go on to win the Doncaster Mile was Pharaoh in 1995.

Starcraft (2004) is the last non-Sydney trained winner prior to Te Akau Shark.

Before Te Akau Shark, the last winner from a Kiwi based trainer – Kingston Bay (1993) for Bruce Wallace.

In 2022, Verry Elleegant leapt to fourth all time prizemoney earner with her 11th G1 victory. Anamoe would begin his chase up that ladder with his 8th G1 in 2023.

There have been 11 multiple winners of the Verry Elleegant Stakes - three-time winner Lough Neagh, Katanga, Carbon Copy, Carioca, Tulloch, Apollo Eleven, Super Impose, four-time winner Tie The Knot, Shoot Out and now Winx with four. Verry Elleegant joined the list in 2022.

Other notable winners of the Verry Elleegant Stakes include Amounis, Phar Lap, Tranquil Star, Bernborough, Comic Court, Delta, Sky High, Prince Grant, General Command, Rain Lover, Gay Icarus, Igloo, Taras Bulba, Dalmacia, Rising Prince, Our Waverley Star, Dr Grace, Pharaoh, Juggler, Octagonal, Lonhro, Starcraft, Grand Armee, Desert War, Tuesday Joy, Boban, Te Akau Shark, Anamoe and Think It Over.

The 2024 Verry Elleegant Stakes was won by Think It Over from Fangirl and Lindermann.