Caulfield Cup 2023

Ladbrokes Tip: Caulfield Cup winners often back-up in the Melbourne Cup over the two miles at Flemington

One of the two major Cups held in Melbourne each Spring Carnival, the Caulfield Cup takes place annually at Caulfield Racecourse in mid – late October and is Australia’s leading mile and a half handicap. Run over 2400m it attracts the season’s top stayers, many of which will progress onto a shot at the ‘race that stops a nation’ in the Melbourne Cup at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November.

2022 Caulfield Cup winner Durston. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

The Caulfield Cup – Melbourne Cup double has been achieved by 11 horses in the same year, most recently the gun mare Ethereal (2001).

The Caulfield Cup is currently a handicap event, although there is discussions to turn the classic into a weight-for-age event. The current Caulfield Cup prize money is set at a lucrative $5 million making it one of the richest races on the Australian racing calendar.

Internationally-trained stayers (outside of Australia and New Zealand) have been competing in the Caulfield Cup race since 1998 with six successful to date: Taufan’s Melody (1998), All The Good (2008), Dunaden (2012), the ill-fated Japanese raider Admire Rakti (2014), Best Solution (2018), and most recently Mer De Glace (2019) who became the second for Japan.

The Caulfield Cup training record is held by the late, great Bart Cummings who prepared seven Caulfield Cup winners including the dual champion Ming Dynasty who won on non-successive years (1977 and 1980).

There are currently three races that offer the winner a Caulfield Cup ballot exemption with punters keeping a keen eye on the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) and Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) both run at Caulfield the week prior, and the Listed Mornington Cup (2400m) held in March.

Caulfield Cup Day in Melbourne was recently challenged for the punters’ attention by Sydney’s richest race day – The Everest Day – which was held on the same date at Royal Randwick and featuring the world’s richest turf race – the $20 million The Everest – as well as the $2 million The Kosciuszko for NSW country-trained horses.

In 2023 the Caulfield Cup ran a week later and no longer clashes with The Everest Day.

The Caulfield Cup is also one of the ‘Big 3’ races of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival followed by the Cox Plate in October and the Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday of November.

The latest edition of the Caulfield Cup ran on Saturday October 21, 2023 as the first of the ‘Big 3’ Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival majors and was won in a thriller by the Anthony & Sam Freedman-trained import Without A Fight ($8.50) who defeated the better-fancied UK raider West Wind Blows ($5.50F) with Gold Trip ($6.50) third. 

2023 Caulfield Cup Results

The official Caulfield Cup 2023 Results & Finishing Order will be available below once the race takes place on Saturday October 21, 2023 and the latest Caulfield Cup winner is revealed.

2023 Caulfield Cup winner Without A Fight saluted off a gun ride by Mark Zahra. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

• 1st: #2 Without A Fight
• 2nd: #6 West Wind Blows
• 3rd: #1 Gold Trip
• 4th: #16 Bois D’argent

It was a thrilling 2023 Caulfield Cup result and one that will go down in the history books as the Anthony & Sam Freedman-trained Without A Fight ($8.50), ridden by Mark Zahra, was given a perfectly-timed ride to hold out the beaten favourite crossing a long neck ahead of his former stablemate, UK raider West Wind Blows ($5.50F). Gold Trip ($6.50) was second last year and brave for third with the top-weight in 2023, while Bois D’argent ran out of his skin for fourth at 100/1.

2023 Caulfield Cup Odds

The season’s Caulfield Cup betting odds will be available below right up till the event takes place in October so you can get behind your early Caulfield Cup betting selections at the best price.

Caulfield Cup Race Info

• Date: Saturday October 21, 2023
• Track: Caulfield Racecourse
• Distance: 2400m
• Conditions: Open Handicap
• Status: Group 1
• Prize Money: $5 million
• First Run: 1879

Caulfield Cup Betting

Futures Caulfield Cup betting is open nearly all year round with generous all-in prices on offer for a host of stayers that could possibly feature in the final Caulfield Cup field. The Caulfield Cup odds firm as race day approaches and often the best time to place a bet is on the day when it is confirmed who is in and who is out of the classic.

Double figure hopes in Caulfield Cup betting markets have a strong recent record in the race including the big $41 price for the 2008 winner All The Good, but in recent years Caulfield Cup favourites have saluted with Mongolian Khan ($5 in 2015), Jameka ($4.25 in 2016),  Verry Elleegant ($5 in 2020) and Incentivise ($2.70 in 2021). 

Roughies were in favour in the shock 2017 Caulfield Cup results with the winner Boom Time winning at a blowout price of $51!

There was another upset in 2022 with Durston winning at Caulfield Cup odds of $18.

In 2023 West Wind Blows jumped the $5.50 favourite in Caulfield Cup betting, but would go down by a long-neck to Without A Fight ($8.50).

Caulfield Cup Tips

Caulfield Cup tips can be found everywhere during the week leading up to the race but it is a notoriously tough event to pick the winner of as usually there’s a host of livewire chances competing for top spot in the markets and predictions.

The best Caulfield Cup tip historically is to look at horses coming out of the Turnbull Stakes as it produced seven Caulfield Cup winners from 2009 – 2023 including Jameka (2nd in 2016), fellow mare Verry Elleegant (1st in 2020) who did the double and Incentivise (1st of 2021) who also won both races.

Other Caulfield Cup betting tips include looking for in-form four-year-old horses as this age group saluted four times from 2010 – 2023, while Caulfield Cup barriers seven and nine have produced the most winners since 1983.

Barrier 7 most recently produced Caulfield Cup winner Without A Fight in 2023.

2023 Caulfield Cup Tips

Our Ladbrokes exclusive Caulfield Cup 2023 betting tips will be detailed below the week of the race with the spring stayers to back and sack in the mile and a half classic so stay tuned.

To Win: #8 Soulcombe ($6 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Soulcombe is the Ladbrokes’ tip to win the 2023 Caulfield Cup on Saturday. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Happy to stick with the one-time favourite Soulcombe who drew last year’s winning barrier (6) and is from last year’s winning stable (Chris Waller). Waller has prepared two of the past three Caulfield Cup champions and this import is building momentum at exactly the right time. He picked up a cheeky win fresh in a Black-Type here and has been trialling well for the Cups’ since with two solid efforts. He was fourth in the Underwood 1.4 lengths off Alligator Blood (form franked by the winner who took out the Might And Power) then third to Gold Trip in the Turnbull. Has winning form over 2700m so the 2400m now fourth-up and fit is ideal. Meets Gold Trip better again in the weights down to 53.5kg, one of the best with Craig Williams in the saddle. This looks his right distance, Waller has had him set for this so you know he’ll present perfectly. Big hope.

The Danger: #1 Gold Trip ($6 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Gold Trip is favourite in 2023 Caulfield Cup betting for Saturday. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

You cannot bet on the Caulfield Cup this year and leave Gold Trip out, you just can’t. He won the Melbourne Cup for Maher & Eustace last spring after having run second in the Caulfield Cup and ninth in the Cox Plate. Has the 58.5kg topweight but deserves it. Already a champion, he can go a long way to securing super stardom over the coming weeks starting on Saturday. Returned to his best form last start with a demolition job in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m). Improving each start this prep, the 2400m trip looks spot-on now and Ben Melham has plenty of big race experience. Watch him late, he’ll be flashing home in a high-pressure thriller. Confident he can be right in the finish again and handle the hefty kilos without a worry.

Each Way: #4 Montefilia ($10 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Montefilia presents as a danger in the 2023 Caulfield Cup field this weekend. Photo: Steve Hart.

Some queries about the quality she beat home in the Group 2 $2 million Hill Stakes (2000m) last time out, but zero queries about this mare’s class. She is now with the Waller camp and is the only other proven Group 1 winner in the mix along with Gold Trip with four elite level wins on the record. She presents rock-hard fit here fifth-up and ready to fire again. She will eat-up the 2400m and her fourth in the race last year was excellent. Montefilia gets the run of the race from barrier nine and is well-weighted with 54.5kg. Blake Shinn in the saddle and he is going great guns. Needs to add her name to a pretty incredible list of female gallopers to win the Caulfield Cup, but she has beaten the boys before and can come close again.

The Roughie: #17 Spirit Ridge ($35 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Spirit Ridge looks the best 2023 Caulfield Guineas roughie to include in your bets this season. Photo: Steve Hart.

The price on this Annabel Neasham-trained veteran is very attractive for a bit of a flutter. A 41-start gelding who at nine years old continues to show an incredible zest for racing. Coming out of the Sydney lead-ups with nice runs narrowly beaten in the Wyong Cup (34d), Newcastle Gold Cup (2^nd) and the Group 1 The Metropolitan (2^nd) at this distance a nostril flare off Just Fine on September 30. Kept fresh since, fourth-up now and fit as he’s ever been. Always overs in the markets and thereabouts. Will be airborne with only 50.5kg, on pace leading (or thereabouts) giving them something to run down. This is tougher, Just Fine didn’t frank the form with a dead last finish last week at Caulfield, but at the price happy to have something on him in for a top four run.

Caulfield Cup Field

The Caulfield Cup race field is released on the Tuesday before the race runs on a Saturday in mid-October each year and has a capacity of 18 starters plus four emergencies. Aside from the Melbourne Cup and partially the Cox Plate, the Caulfield Cup Field earns some of the most attention during the whole calendar year of racing.

Incentivise ($2.30 in 2021) saluted for the punters in the 2021 Caulfield Cup results. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Run under handicap conditions the Caulfield Cup race is open to horses aged three years and older and now attracts a truly international line-up with many imports and international raiders in the mix each season. The first hint of the final field happens when Caulfield Cup nominations are taken at the start of August, early entries often exceeding 200 horses.

Spring stayers may come into the Caulfield Cup field via a number of various lead-up races including the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) run a fortnight prior at Flemington, the Group 3 Coongy Cup (2000m) run the Wednesday prior and the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m). Incentivise (2021) was the latest horse to complete the Turnbull Stakes – Caulfield Cup double following on from Verry Elleegant (2020) who also won both races the year before.

The Herbert Power Stakes runs over the same track / distance as the Caulfield Cup the weekend before and Boom Time (4th in 2017) was the last Caulfield Cup winner to come out of that lead-up.

The Group 3 Naturalism Stakes (2000m) run at the track in late September is also a key lead-up into the Caulfield Cup field offering the winner a ballot exemption into the mile and a half classic, and Jameka (2016) was the last to do the double. More recently in 2021 the Naturalism Stakes winner Nonconformist went on to run a brave second in that year’s Caulfield Cup quinella.

One of the very early lead-up races into the Caulfield Cup field is the Group 3 JRA Cup (2040m) run at Moonee Valley under the lights on Moir Stakes Night.

In 2023 the Caulfield Cup winner Without A Fight won the race second-up off a lead-up sixth the month before in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) at the track.

2023 Caulfield Cup Acceptance Dates

• 2023 Caulfield Cup Nominations closed at 12pm (local time) on Tuesday August 8, 2023 – Attracted 175 early entries.
• 2023 Caulfield Cup First Acceptances were released on Tuesday September 12, 2023 – Attracted 103 first acceptors. 
• 2023 Caulfield Cup Second Acceptances closed at 12pm (local time) on Tuesday September 26, 2023 – Attracted 67 second acceptors.
• 2023 Caulfield Cup Third Acceptances closed at 12pm (local time) on Tuesday October 10, 2023 – Attracted 31 third acceptors. 
• 2023 Caulfield Cup Final Acceptances closed at 3:30pm (local time) on Wednesday October 18, 2023 – Capacity field of 18 plus one emergency led by No. 1 Gold Trip (58.5kg) in barrier 11. 

2023 Caulfield Cup Field

The official Caulfield Cup 2023 Final Field and Barriers are announced on the Wednesday of race week with final acceptances open until 4:30pm (local time).

The 2023 Caulfield Cup field will be published in full below as soon as released by Racing Victoria.

The Caulfield Cup 2023 field is now out with last year’s runner-up Gold Trip drawn the same barrier (11) with the 58.5kg top-weight. Chris Waller chases a third win in four years saddling-up three runners led by Soulcombe (6) from last year’s winning gate, while five international raiders make a bid for the trophy led by the Simon & Ed Crisford-trained European West Wind Blows (2).

• 2023 Caulfield Cup Field Update: No. 7 Nonconformist (19) has been scratched after failing his final vet check. First emergency No. 19 United Nations gets a start from out wide in barrier 17.

2023 Caulfield Cup Nominations

Early Caulfield Cup 2023 Nominations are first taken in late August, nearly two months before the $5 million feature.

The Caulfield Cup nominations often attract in excess of 200 hopeful stayers and are slowly narrowed down by a number of acceptance stages before the final field is revealed.

The 2023 Caulfield Cup nominations will be published below once confirmed on Tuesday the 8th of August, 2023.

The 2023 Caulfield Cup nominations closed on Tuesday August 8, 2023 and drew 175 early entries led in all-in betting by the Simon & Ed Crisford-trained British raider West Wind Blows, Anthony & Sam Freedman’s The Q22 winning import Without A Fight, Japanese galloper Breakup, and last year’s Melbourne Cup fourth place-getter Deauville Legend from the UK stables of trainer James Ferguson.

 Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Caulfield Cup First Acceptances

The Caulfield Cup first acceptances close on a Tuesday in early September and are the first round of declarations cutting down the list of nominated gallopers.

The 2023 Caulfield Cup first acceptances will be published below once confirmed on Tuesday the 12th of September, 2023.

The Caulfield Cup 2023 first acceptances drew 103 entries with updated all-in betting led by the Chris Waller-trained duo of Soulcombe and Francesco Guardi.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Caulfield Cup Weights

The Caulfield Cup 2023 Weights are announced on a Tuesday in early September and will be published in full below once released by Racing Victoria’s chief handicapper Greg Carpenter.

The 2023 Caulfield Cup weights are released in September and will be published below once confirmed.

Incentivise (55.5kg in 2021) was the last Caulfield Cup top-weight to win.

Subsequent Melbourne Cup champion Gold Trip (57.5kg) was the 2022 Caulfield Cup top-weight and ran a brave second behind 51.5kg light weight Durston in the race.

Gold Trip also carried the 2023 Caulfield Cup top-weight of 58.5kg and finished a brave third.

The 2023 Caulfield Cup weights were declared on Tuesday the 19th of September with last year’s Melbourne Cup champion Gold Trip allocated the 58.5kg top-weight.

2023 Caulfield Cup Second Acceptances

The Caulfield Cup second acceptances take place on a Tuesday in late September and further narrow down the list of stayers eyeing a run in the $5 million classic.

The 2023 Caulfield Cup second acceptances will be published below once confirmed on Tuesday the 26th of September, 2023.

The 2023 Caulfield Cup second acceptances were taken on Tuesday September 26, 2023 with 67 stayers left in the mix including the now outright favourite Francesco Guardi from the Waller stable with recent form around spring star Mr Brightside.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Caulfield Cup Third Acceptances

The Caulfield Cup third acceptances take place on a Tuesday in early October and are the final round of declarations before the official field is announced the following week.

The 2023 Caulfield Cup second acceptances will be published below once confirmed on Tuesday the 10th of October, 2023.

The Caulfield Cup 2023 third acceptances drew 31 stayers including last year’s Melbourne Cup hero Gold Trip who won the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes in an impressive upset last start over fellow Caulfield Cup third acceptors – UK raider West Wind Blows and the Chris Waller-trained all-in Caulfield Cup favourite Soulcombe.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Caulfield Cup Form Guide

The Caulfield Cup form guide features all the information you need to place a winning wager on the handicap showdown including the basics such as the saddlecloth and barrier numbers of the horses in the field. You can also find information like the lead-up starts of the hopefuls and their allocated weights.

Heavily weighted horses aren’t statistically at any disadvantage either with Admire Rakti (2014) and Dunaden (2012) both carrying 58kg to victory in recent years.

The 2022 Caulfield Cup form was franked with the runner-up Gold Trip going on to win that year’s Melbourne Cup race two starts later.

The 2022 Caulfield Cup third place-getter Knights Order further franked the form returning the following autumn to finish third in the Sydney Cup trifecta.

Caulfield Cup Form Facts

• The Turnbull Stakes has produced the most Caulfield Cup winners over the past 30 years.
• Favourites in Caulfield Cup betting saluted five times from 2007 – 2023.
• Since 1996 only five mares have won the Caulfield Cup with Verry Elleegant, Jameka, Southern Speed, Ethereal, and Arctic Scent.
• From 2010 – 2023 four four-year-olds have won.

2023 Caulfield Cup Form Guide

A link to our detailed Caulfield Cup 2023 Form Guide and betting preview will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

Caulfield Cup Records

Caulfield Cup Race Record: Diatribe in 2000 set the Caulfield Cup race record winning in a time of 2 minutes 23.32 seconds

Caulfield Cup Training Record: Bart Cummings holds the Caulfield Cup training record have prepared seven winners.

Caulfield Cup Results

The Caulfield Cup results and finishing order are known as soon as the race runs late on the Caulfield card at the October spring meeting and most punters are looking for which three horses ran the trifecta.

The results also show the starting price, weight carried and margin between each of the runners as well as any scratched horses from the field.

Newminster was the inaugural Caulfield Cup winner back in 1879.

Seven horses throughout history have won two editions of the Caulfield Cup.

Durston made Caulfield Cup history in 2022 as the first ever emergency to win.

Without A Fight is the most recent Caulfield Cup winner from 2023.

The current dual Caulfield Cup winners are Paris (1892, 1894), Hymettus (1898, 1901), Poseidon (1906, 1907), Uncle Sam (1912, 1914), Whittier (1922, 1925), Rising Fast (1954, 1955), and most recently Ming Dynasty (1977, 1980).

Past Caulfield Cup Winners

Recent Caulfield Cup winners and place-getters dating back to the year 2000 are detailed in the below table.