The AJC Oaks is a Gr 1 Australian horserace contested by
three-year-old fillies at set weights in April each year at Sydney's
historical Randwick Racecourse over 2400m. The AJC Oaks currently
offers a purse of AUD$500,000 and, since its inauguration, has
yielded many top Australian fillies as winners.
The first time the AJC Oaks was run was in 1885, and then only had
two entrants, Uralla and Percussion, both owned by a well-known
racehorse owner of the time, James White. It was won by Uralla and,
since that first running, the AJC Oak has undergone many changes.
For instance, the AJC was run up until 1884, when a disagreement
amongst the committee that governed horseracing at the time resulted
in the race being put on hold indefinitely. It was only in 1922 that
the race was restarted, only now under a different name - the Adrian
Knox Stakes, run over 1600m.
Although its distances were altered over the next few years, the
Adrian Knox Stakes remained a popular Sydney race. In 1956, it's
race distance was changed to 2400m, which has not changed up until
now. And then in 1963, the race was returned to its former glory
when it was renamed the AJC Oaks.
That year it was won by Arctic Star, who also went on to win the VRC
Oaks (now called the Crown Oaks), making her one of only a few
fillies to win the Oaks Double. The most recent Oaks Double winner
is Research in 1989. |
