Sapphire Stakes
Australia | FEATURE RACE GUIDE
History
The Sapphire Stakes is Group 2 race for fillies and mares conducted by the Australian Turf Club at Royal Randwick as part of The Championships.
The Sapphire Stakes was first run in 1998 over 1200m and has remained at that distance.
The Sapphire Stakes is run under set weights and penalty conditions and has been a Group 2 race since 2007. It was a Listed Race from 1998-2001 and Group 3 from 2002-2006.
In 2010 the race was named the Lady Sonia McMahon Memorial Stakes in honour of the wife of Sir William McMahon, a former Prime Minister of Australia. Lady McMahon died in April of 2010.
Even only with a short history, several G1 mares have had success like Spinning Hill, Glamour Puss, Hurtle Myrtle, Atlantic Jewel, Cosmic Endeavour, Secret Agenda and Bella Nipotina. That substantially helped their post-race careers.
The 2024 Sapphire Stakes was run at Royal Randwick for prizemoney of $300,000.
Notable winners of the Sapphire Stakes include What Can I Say, Spinning Hill twice, Fair Embrace, Fatoon, Glamour Puss, Coolroom Candidate, Belong To Many, Hurtle Myrtle, Atlantic Jewel, Avoid Lightning, Arinosa, Cosmic Endeavour, Secret Agenda, Bella Nipotina and Zapateo.
The 2024 Sapphire Stakes was won by Wee Nessy from Ballroom Bella and Miss Hellfire.
Previous Sapphire Stakes Winners
| Date | Horse | Jockey | WT | Trainer | BP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEE NESSY (AUS) 4M SNITZEL (AUS) - LATER GATOR (NZ) MORE THAN READY (USA) | JAMIE KAH | 54.0 | M PRICE & M KENT | 3 | |
| ZAPATEO (AUS) 4M BRAZEN BEAU (AUS) - JEREZANA (AUS) LONHRO (AUS) | JAMES MCDONALD | 55.5 | JAMES CUMMINGS | 13 | |
| BELLA NIPOTINA (AUS) 4M PRIDE OF DUBAI (AUS) - BELLA ORFANA (AUS) STAR WITNESS (AUS) | JAMES MCDONALD | 55.5 | C MAHER & D EUSTACE | 7 | |
| FASIKA (AUS) 5M SO YOU THINK (NZ) - JARADA (AUS) REDOUTE'S CHOICE (AUS) | B AVDULLA | 55.0 | JOSEPH PRIDE | 9 | |
| WHITE MOSS (AUS) 6M MOSSMAN (AUS) - PAY MY BAIL (NZ) JUSTICE PREVAILS (AUS) | N RAWILLER | 58.0 | JASON COYLE | 15 | |
| WHITE MOSS (AUS) 5M MOSSMAN (AUS) - PAY MY BAIL (NZ) JUSTICE PREVAILS (AUS) | MS K O'HARA | 56.0 | JASON COYLE | 5 | |
| QUILISTA (AUS) 4M SCANDAL KEEPER (USA) - BROCKY'S ACE (AUS) SURTEE (AUS) | DAMIAN LANE | 55.0 | DARREN WEIR | 13 | |
| SECRET AGENDA (AUS) 4M NOT A SINGLE DOUBT (AUS) - NEGOTIATE (AUS) RED RANSOM (USA) | DAMIEN OLIVER | 55.5 | MICK PRICE | 11 | |
| TWO BLUE (AUS) 7M DUBLEO (USA) - BLUE BOOTY (AUS) PERSONAL FLAG (USA) | P KING | 54.0 | KRISTEN BUCHANAN | 9 | |
| AVOID LIGHTNING (AUS) 6M BLEVIC (AUS) - YA MICHELLE (AUS) SUCCESS EXPRESS (USA) | TIM CLARK | 55.5 | L J BRIDGE | 7 | |
| COSMIC ENDEAVOUR (AUS) 3F NORTHERN METEOR (AUS) - CREVETTE (AUS) DANEHILL (USA) | TOMMY BERRY | 53.0 | MS G WATERHOUSE | 9 | |
| ARINOSA (AUS) 5M DASH FOR CASH (AUS) - AMOROSO (AUS) REVOQUE (IRE) | B AVDULLA | 57.0 | CHRIS WALLER | 9 | |
| ATLANTIC JEWEL (AUS) 3F FASTNET ROCK (AUS) - REGARD (AUS) ZABEEL (NZ) | M RODD | 57.5 | MARK KAVANAGH | 9 | |
| HURTLE MYRTLE (AUS) 4M DANE SHADOW (AUS) - RAVENSWOOD (AUS) WOODMAN (USA) | DAMIEN OLIVER | 54.0 | MATTHEW SMITH | 14 | |
| RENAISSANCE (AUS) 4M LONHRO (AUS) - SEANCES (AUS) CANNY LAD (AUS) | J PARR | 54.0 | PETER SNOWDEN | 7 | |
| COURT (AUS) 3F ANABAA (USA) - SPLISH (AUS) ZEDITAVE (AUS) | G SCHOFIELD | 55.0 | CLARRY CONNERS | 1 | |
| BELONG TO MANY (AUS) 4M BELONG TO ME (USA) - FOIL (AUS) SNIPPETS (AUS) | J WINKS | 55.0 | BARBARA JOSEPH | 12 | |
| FIRE SONG (NZ) 5M SENOR PETE (USA) - DANCE ON FIRE (NZ) VOLKSRAAD (GB) | M RODD | 54.0 | GRAEME ROGERSON | 4 | |
| COOLROOM CANDIDATE (AUS) 4M MISTER C (USA) - SWALK (AUS) GODSWALK (USA) | Z PURTON | 54.0 | KEITH DRYDEN | 12 | |
| GLAMOUR PUSS (NZ) 4M TALE OF THE CAT (USA) - ESCADA (NZ) CENTAINE (AUS) | STEVEN KING | 58.0 | DANNY O'BRIEN | 8 | |
| RECURRING (NZ) 4M PENTIRE (GB) - DONNA'S HABIT (NZ) ASHABIT (GB) | K MCEVOY | 58.0 | GERALD RYAN | 7 | |
| FATOON (AUS) 3F SNAADEE (USA) - ELATED LADY (AUS) VAIN (AUS) | G CHILDS | 57.0 | CLARRY CONNERS | 6 | |
| FAIR EMBRACE (AUS) 3F STRATEGIC (AUS) - JANELLE AGAIN (NZ) INDIAN ORE (USA) | DAMIEN OLIVER | 57.0 | GRAEME ROGERSON | 4 | |
| SPINNING HILL (AUS) 4M DOLPHIN STREET (FR) - INCLINE (AUS) CENTURY (AUS) | P PAYNE | 57.5 | G H WALTER | 2 | |
| SPINNING HILL (AUS) 3F DOLPHIN STREET (FR) - INCLINE (AUS) CENTURY (AUS) | R S DYE | 54.5 | G H WALTER | 14 |
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