Ladbrokes Tip: Single-figure fancies have dominated the AJ Moir Stakes in recent history

The AJ Moir Stakes is the feature race of one of Moonee Valley’s spring night racing meetings in late September or early October each season and is a 1200m sprint run under weight-for-age conditions. Worth $1 million in prize money having recently had its stakes doubled by the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC), the race is a nice lead-up for sprinters looking for a Melbourne Cup Carnival win in something like the VRC Classic at Flemington in November.

First run in 1976 it is one of the season’s younger features and has only held Group 1 status since 2013. The Moir is named in honour of former Moonee Valley Racing Club chairman AJ Moir.

Many top sprinters feature in the Moir Stakes honours list including Manikato (1982), Placid Ark (1987), Schillaci (1992), Apache Cat (2009) and dual winner Black Caviar (2010 & 2011). Another notable Moir Stakes winner is triple champion Buffering who won in 2012 before going back-to-back in 2014-15, while in 2017 returning Golden Slipper winning filly She Will Reign stole the show.

The AJ Moir Stakes also now serves as a lead-up into Sydney’s $15 million The Everest – the richest turf race in the world!

This year the AJ Moir Stakes ran on Friday September 25, 2020 and was won by the mare Pippie. 

2020 AJ Moir Stakes Results

The official Moir Stakes 2020 Results & Finishing Order will be available below once the race runs under the lights at Moonee Valley Racecourse on Friday September 25, 2020.

• 1st: #7 Pippie
• 2nd: #1 Trekking
• 3rd: #6 Bella Vella

Pippie ($6.50) secured her second career Group 1 success dominating the 2020 Moir Stakes results first-up. 

Colour	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	7	PIPPIE	John & Chris Meagher	Damian Lane		4	56.5kg		$6.50
	2	1	TREKKING	James Cummings	John Allen	0.75L	2	58.5kg		$8
	3	6	BELLA VELLA	Will Clarken	Jamie Kah	0.95L	1	56.5kg		$7
	4	10	BROOKLYN HUSTLE	Jason Warren & Dean Krongold	Mark Zahra	1.05L	8	56.5kg		$17
	5	8	DIAMOND EFFORT	Clinton McDonald	Ben Melham	2.05L	5	56.5kg		$8.50
	6	5	BOLD STAR	Gordon Richards	Craig Williams	2.25L	12	58.5kg		$21
	7	4	ASHLOR	Dan McCarthy	Daniel Stackhouse	2.75L	3	58.5kg		$41
	8	2	HEY DOC	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Luke Currie	2.85L	10	58.5kg		$20
	9	11	HANSEATIC	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Jye McNeil	3.25L	6	52kg		$7
	10	3	JUNGLE EDGE	Mick Bell	Ms Jade Darose	4L	9	58.5kg		$51
	11	9	FABERGINO	Tiarnna Robertson	Peter Knuckey	5.75L	7	56.5kg		$5.50F
	12	13	BELLA NIPOTINA	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Dean Yendall	7.5L	11	50kg		$20
	SCRATCHED	12	AWAY GAME	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Dean Holland		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

AJ Moir Stakes Race Facts

• Date: Friday September 25, 2020
• Track: Moonee Valley Racecourse
• Distance: 1000m
• Conditions: Weight-for-age
• Status: Group 1
• Prize Money: $1 million
• First Run: 1976

MOIR STAKES PREVIEW

AJ Moir Stakes Betting

AJ Moir Stakes betting favours sprinters coming off a good lead-up run with four winners since 2010 having won their previous starts including She Will Reign (2017). Inside alleys are favourable and those drawn in barriers two or three are usually short in the markets with these two gates producing four winners between 2010 and 2014. The 2019 Moir Stakes winner Nature Strip won from barrier one.

Plenty of horses run first-up in the race, so the Moir Stakes betting odds often favour resuming sprinters with good first-up form and previous Melbourne racing experience. Favourites in Moir Stakes markets have a dominant recent record in the race with Nature Strip ($3.30 in 2019) the latest Moir Stakes favourite to salute.

2020 Moir Stakes Odds

The season’s best AJ Moir Stakes 2020 betting odds will be available below complete with links for you to back your sprint selections at the right price once markets open.

AJ Moir Stakes Field

The AJ Moir Stakes field hardly ever runs at capacity and in recent years has attracted under 10 starters more often than not. In 2014 Buffering beat home just four rivals, while Black Caviar scared off her rivals in the 2011 edition with a final field of just four facing off in the sprint showdown. Despite the diminutive numbers the Moir Stakes acceptances always feature a high class of competitors usually with a short-price favourite dominating the line-up.

The 2019 AJ Moir Stakes field drew one of the largest line-ups in recent times with Nature Strip defeating 14 rivals.

Sprints often kick off their spring racing campaigns first-up in the Moir Stakes field on the back of an earlier autumn – winter start. Alternatively, a lead-up Moonee Valley race like the Group 2 McEwen Stakes (1000m) held at the same track and distance a fortnight prior can make a good lead-up into the AJ Moir Stakes field.

Buffering won his third Moir Stakes in 2015 after success in 2014 and 2012. Photo Credit: Ultimate Racing Photos.

2020 Moir Stakes Field

The official A.J. Moir Stakes 2020 Final Field & Barriers will be released by the Moonee Valley Racing Club on the Wednesday of race week and published in full below so stay tuned to see what sprinters are heading to the night feature.

The 2020 A.J. Moir Stakes field features 13 hopefuls including Godolphin’s returning Group 1 winner Trekking, gun mudlark Jungle Edge and Group 2 McEwen Stakes winner Bella Vella. 

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2020 Moir Stakes Nominations

The Moir Stakes 2020 nominations are drawn on the Monday of race week with the full list of early entries to be listed below as soon as released.

The 2020 A.J. Moir Stakes nominations feature 17 sprinters including undefeated first-up specialist Fabergino leading all-in betting, McEwen Stakes winning mare Bella Vella and Godolphin’s Group 1 champ Trekking. 

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

AJ Moir Stakes Tips

AJ Moir Stakes tips are commonly led by the favourite with the short-priced runners boasting a strong record in the race. Since 2007, six favourites have saluted for the punters, most recently Nature Strip ($3.30 in 2019), and Buffering (2012) who also won again in 2014 when Lankan Rupee (2nd) jumped favourite and 2015 at $7 odds.

Proven short-distance specialists, previous Moonee Valley performers, resuming runners with solid form first-up and those horses drawn in barriers two – four also make good Moir Stakes betting tips each spring.

2020 Moir Stakes Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ exclusive AJ Moir Stakes 2020 betting tips will be detailed below the week of the race so stay tuned for the sprint sprinters to get behind in the Moonee Valley Group 1 this season.

• To Win: #6 Bella Vella ($7 at time of publish) 

Intriguing edition of the Moir with plenty of form lines to consider, but sticking with the in-form mare coming off the Group 2 McEwen Stakes at the track and distance first-up. Will Clarken’s Adelaide raider is already an elite level winner having taken out the Robert Sangster against her own kind at home and chases a fifth win on the trot. Rails run and momentum with fitness edge now. 

AJ Moir Stakes Form Guide

The AJ Moir Stakes form guide details all the basic information like barriers, jockeys and trainers as well as track statistics and win / place rates on the starting line-up. Going over the form guide before placing a bet is a must and things to look out for are classy mares with an inside alley who ran well last time out as well as horses with previous winning form at the tight Moonee Valley circuit.

Moir Stakes Form Facts

• Favourites in Moir Stakes betting won four editions on the trot from 2009 – 2012, before the 2019 success of Nature Strip
• The last Moir Stakes winner to jump at double-figures was Viddora ($12 in 2018)
• Extreme Choice (2016) was the first three-year-old to win the Moir Stakes since 2005 and She Will Reign (2017) saluted as a 3YO the following year
• Buffering (2015) for his third win in the race became the first eight-year-old winner in the past 30 plus years

2020 AJ Moir Stakes Form Guide

A link to our comprehensive AJ Moir Stakes 2020 Form Guide will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

AJ Moir Stakes Results

The AJ Moir Stakes results reveal the winner and finishing order of the other horses in the field as well as the margin between each place, the winning time and sometimes the payouts for the successful quinella, trifecta and first four in the race.

Moir Stakes race results from the past two decades have been dominated by single-figure hopes in betting. Plenty of trainers have enjoyed recent back-to-back Moir Stakes victories including Robert Heathcote with Buffering (2014-15) and Peter Moody with Black Caviar (2010-11).

Other notable Moir Stakes winners include Apache Cat (2009) and Miss Andretti (2007).

Moir Stakes Winners