The Caulfield Stakes is a Gr 1 Australian weight-for-age horse
race contested over 2000m in October each year at Caulfield
Racecourse in Melbourne. Also known as the Yalumba Stakes, the
Caulfield Stakes offers a purse of AUD$400,000 and is part of the
three-day Melbourne Spring racing carnival.
The Caulfield Stakes is always run on the first day of the Spring
racing carnival, which is known colloquially as 'Guineas Day'. On
the same day two other great Gr 1 races are run - the
1600m Caulfield Guineas and the 1600m Toorak Handicap. All three
races attract top-quality runners.
The Caulfield Stakes was inaugurated in 1886, so it is a much-celebrated
race in Melbourne and one which is steeped in tradition and history.
As such, it has boasted many great fields over the years, and
yielded many worthy winners. These include Isonomy, inaugural race
winner, and 1950s three-time winner, Lord.
Lord won the Caulfield Stakes in 1958, 1959 and in 1960 (when he
shared the top honors with Dhaulagiri) and went on to notch up 80
starts during his career, including 28 victories, 13 second places
and 11 third places. A popular horse of the time, Lord ran in
weight-for-age races until the age of nine.
Far more recently, Lonhro dazzled when he won the Caulfield Stakes in
2002 and 2003, and went on to win many other top-rated Aussie races such
as the Caulfield Guineas, the Australian Cup, the George Ryder Stakes, the George Main
Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. |
