The BMW Stakes is a Gr 1 Australian Weight for Age horserace
run over 2400m in April every year at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in
Sydney. With a purse of AUD$2,25 million, the BMW Stakes is the
country's richest weight for age race, and is run on the same day as
the prestigious Golden Slipper Stakes.
Inaugurated in 1970, the BMW Stakes has gone by various names
including the H E Tancred Stakes, The Tancred Cup and the Mercedes
Classic. As the wealthiest race in its category in the nation, it is
not surprising that the race regularly attracts many of Australia's
most talented and formidable thoroughbreds.
As such, winners of the BMW Stakes regularly go on to notch up
victories in many of Australia's other big races. In 1973 for
instance, Apollo Eleven won this race (then called The Tancred Cup)
and went on to win the Sydney Cup, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the
Chipping Norton Stakes and the Auckland Cup.
In 1980, Kingston Town won the BMW Stakes (then called the H E
Tancred Stakes) and in the same year won the Rosehill Guineas, the
AJC Derby, the Warwick Stakes (which he also won in 1981 and 1982),
the Expressway Stakes and the Cox Plate (which he also won in 1981
and 1982).
More recently, Makybe Diva won the BMW Stakes in 2005, and then went
on to win the Memsie Stakes, the Turnbull Stakes, the Cox Plate and
the Melbourne Cup (his third consecutive) in the same year. |
