The Adelaide Autumn Racing Carnival is host to all of South Australia’s premier thoroughbred races each March through to May with gallopers often coming off runs in Sydney from earlier in the season or looking to head to Brisbane for winter events shortly after.
2022 Robert Sangster Stakes winner Snapdancer. Photo: Jenny Barnes.
Early on, lead-up races into the South Australian Racing Carnival’s major events take place including the Group 3 RN Irwin Stakes (1100m) for The Goodwood types and the Group 3 Chairman’s Stakes (2000m) for South Australian Derby hopefuls.
Officially the Adelaide Festival of Racing runs across three weekends with the Group 1 meetings kicking off in late April or early May with Robert Sangster Stakes / Australasian Oaks Day.
That is one of three elite level race days held at Morphettville Racecourse, across which four Group 1 races take place, the last of which is the Group 1 The Goodwood (1200m) for the sprinters.
The Adelaide Racing Carnival attracts not only the top local hopefuls but also plenty of interstate talent as proven in 2012 when the world’s best mare Black Caviar took out the Robert Sangster Stakes – The Goodwood double.
Plenty of top betting opportunities exist for punters across the Adelaide Autumn Racing Carnival race days, a breakdown of the major Group 1 Morphettville meetings found below.
Adelaide Racing Carnival Key Races
Australasian Oaks
Formerly known as the Schweppes Oaks due to sponsorship, this Group 1 feature for three-year-old staying fillies now offers $1 million in prize money kicking off Group 1 racing in Adelaide for the autumn on Robert Sangster Stakes Day.
- Track: Morphettville
- Distance: 2000m
- Conditions: 3YO Fillies – Set Weights
- Status: Group 1
- Prize Money: $1,000,000
- First Prize: $547,250
- First Run: 1982
- Reigning Champion: Vibrant Sun (2024)
Robert Sangster Stakes
The Robert Sangster Stakes is the key sprint race for fillies and mares held in Adelaide each year, the weight-for-age feature offering $1 million in prize money and boasting a winners’ list featuring the likes of Black Caviar (2012) and Miracles Of Life (2015).
- Track: Morphettville
- Distance: 1200m
- Conditions: Fillies & Mares – Weight-for-age
- Status: Group 1
- Prize Money: $1,000,000
- First Prize: $547,250
- First Run: 1983
- Reigning Champion: Climbing Star (2024)
South Australian Derby
The South Australian Derby attracts the season’s top three-year-old stayers including some fillies taking on the colts and geldings on the back of an Australasian Oaks run. Local and interstate raiders make-up the capacity 16-starter field including graduates out of the ATC Derby from April and those looking at heading to Brisbane a fortnight later for the Queensland Derby.
- Track: Morphettville
- Distance: 2500m
- Conditions: 3YOs – Set Weights
- Status: Group 1
- Prize Money: $1,000,000
- First Prize: $547,250
- First Run: 1860
- Reigning Champion: Coco Sun (2024)
The Goodwood
The Goodwood rounds out Group 1 racing in Adelaide for the festival and runs in mid to late May. Sprinters may come off a lead-up at Morphettville in a race like the Robert Sangster Stakes for the female gallopers – a double achieved by Black Caviar (2012) and Platelet (2013) in recent years, or be first-up off a Sydney lead-up during ‘The Championships’.
- Track: Morphettville
- Distance: 1200m
- Conditions: Set Weights + Penalties
- Status: Group 1
- Prize Money: $1,000,000
- First Prize: $547,250
- First Run: 1881
- Reigning Champion: Benedetta (2024)
2024 ROBERT SANGSTER STAKES DAY
Date: Saturday April 27, 2024
Racecourse: Morphettville Racecourse
Feature Races –
The opening Group 1 Adelaide races run on a Saturday in late April or early May with the fillies and mares facing off in the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m), while the three-year-old staying fillies do battle in the million-dollar Australasian Oaks.
Four-year-old mares have dominated the Robert Sangster Stakes over the past few decades and Black Caviar (2012) is the most notable winner. For female gallopers suited to further the Group 2 Queen Of The South Stakes over the mile is another good race on the card that also features the Tobin Bronze Stakes (formerly the Euclase Stakes) for The Goodwood-bound sprinters.
2024 SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DERBY DAY
Date: Saturday May 4, 2024
Racecourse: Morphettville Racecourse
Feature Races:
- Group 1 $1,000,000 South Australian Derby (2500m)
- Group 3 $150,000 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2500m) – formerly the Port Adelaide Cup
- Listed $120,000 Adelaide Guineas (1600m)
The only Group 1 race on the SA Derby Day card is the staying feature for three-year-olds worth $1 million in stakes. Locals have a top strike-rate in the South Australian Derby, while the last filly to beat home the boys in the 2500m showdown wince the Grant Williams-trained Perth raider Delicacy (2015) who came off an Australian Oaks win was Qafila in 2019.
2024 THE GOODWOOD DAY
Date: Saturday May 11, 2024
Track: Morphettville Racecourse
Feature Races:
The Goodwood is the fourth and final Group 1 race of Adelaide’s Autumn Racing Carnival and is a set weights plus penalties sprint open to horses aged three-years-old and above. It was originally run as a handicap and known as The Goodwood Handicap. Mares have a dominant record in the race over the past decade and the Robert Sangster Stakes – The Goodwood double has been recently achieved by Platelet (2013) and Black Caviar (2012).