Ladbrokes Tip: The George Ryder Stakes is the best lead-up form going into the Doncaster Mile

The Doncaster Mile is one of the premier Group 1 races held on Day 1 of The Championships on the first Saturday in April during the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival.

Held at Royal Randwick Racecourse it is one of four elite level features on Doncaster Mile Day and is supported by the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m), Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) and Group 1 ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m).

Offering a lucrative $3 million in total prize money including $1.8 million to the winner the event is contested over 1600m under handicap conditions and is open to horses aged three-years-old and over.

The prizemoney for the 2020 edition of the Doncaster Mile was cut to $1.5 million including $870,000 to the winner with Racing NSW making cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each year the winners of the Flight Stakes, Villiers Stakes, Chipping Norton Stakes, Randwick Guineas, Canterbury Stakes, Coolmore Classic and George Ryder Stakes are exempt from Doncaster Mile ballot.

Of those the traditional lead-up is the George Ryder Stakes (1500m) held at Rosehill a fortnight before. The George Ryder Stakes – Doncaster Mile is a popular betting double and the latest horses to enjoy wins in both races during the same season are Vision And Power (2009) and Winx (2016).

Non-Group 1 races offering a Doncaster Mile ballot and penalty exemption are the Ajax Stakes and Doncaster Prelude. Horses coming out of the Doncaster Mile can back-up on the seven day turnaround into the autumn’s richest race – the  Group 1 $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes the following Saturday.

The latest edition of the Doncaster Mile took place on Saturday April 4, 2020 and was won in an upset by the proven Randwick miler Nettoyer ($41).

Doncaster Mile Race Info

• Date: Saturday April 4, 2020
• Track: Royal Randwick Racecourse
• Distance: 1600m
• Conditions: Open Handicap
• Status: Group 1
• Prize Money: $3 million ($1.5 million for 2020 due to Coronavirus)
• First Run: 1866

2020 Doncaster Mile Results

The full 2020 Doncaster Mile results and finishing order will be published below once the classic is run and won on Saturday April 4, 2020.

• 1st: #18 Nettoyer
• 2nd: #14 Star Of The Seas
• 3rd: #19 Brandenburg

Trainer Wendy Roche and young hoop James Innes Jnr celebrated their first career Group 1 wins with classy but underrated mare Nettoyer ($41) charging down the outside late to score a boilover Doncaster Mile 2020 result.

Doncaster Mile Betting

Doncaster Mile betting markets are led by horses with proven Sydney form over the distance that ran well last time out in Group 1 company.

From 2004 – 2020 just two Doncaster Mile winners didn’t run in Group 1 company last start when Triple Honour (2008)  improved on a Group 2 Hobartville Stakes sixth to win and It’s Somewhat (2017) came off a Group 2 Ajax Stakes victory.

Because of the handicap conditions of the race three-year-olds have a strong record and often feature strongly in the Doncaster Mile odds. From 2006 – 2020 five three-year-olds won the Doncaster Mile including Kermadec (2015) and Brutal (2019) with plenty more running in the trifecta.

Chris Waller-trained horses are always popular in Doncaster Mile betting as the Sydney horseman prepared six of the 13 winners from 2008 – 2020 including four straight thanks to a double by Sacred Falls (2013-14) followed by Kermadec (2015) and Winx (2016).

2020 Doncaster Mile Odds

Our early, all-in Doncaster Mile betting odds and futures prices on the hopeful milers heading towards the April classic are listed below.

Doncaster Mile Field

The Doncaster Mile field has a field limit of 20 starters and was recently run at capacity in 2020, 2019, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

Winx (2016) was the last horse to complete the George Ryder Stakes – Doncaster Mile double. Photo Credit: Steve Hart.

Gallopers come into the Doncaster Mile via a number of different autumn lead-ups but the most popular is the George Ryder Stakes run over just 100m shorter two weeks earlier at Rosehill.

The George Ryder Stakes produced nine of the Doncaster Mile winners from 2004 – 2020  including the star mare Winx (2016) who won the double.

The other race producing many runners in the Doncaster Mile field is the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) on Golden Slipper Day, horses dropping back in distance for the lucrative Randwick feature. Nettoyer (4th in 2020) was the last Doncaster Mile winner to improve off a Ranvet Stakes run.

Doncaster Mile nominations close in early February followed by first acceptances at the start of March. The final field of Doncaster Mile acceptances and barrier draw are released on the Tuesday before the race.

2020 Doncaster Mile Field

The official Doncaster Mile 2020 final field of acceptances is due for release on the Tuesday leading-up to Day 1 of ‘The Championships’ and will be available below.

A capacity line-up of 20 horses plus four emergencies make-up the 2020 Doncaster Mile field including star Kiwi mare Melody Belle (14) and Gai Waterhouse’s Coolmore Classic winning mare Con Te Partiro (13) drawn alongside each other.

2020 Doncaster Mile First Acceptances

The Doncaster Mile 2020 first acceptances closed on March 10, 2020 and featured 88 gallopers led in early betting by 10-time Group 1 winning New Zealand-trained mare Melody Belle.

Doncaster Mile Tips

Doncaster Mile tips favour proven milers with good autumn form throughout the carnival.

All 21 Doncaster Mile winners from 2000 – 2020 had their final lead-up at Rosehill Gardens so watching for gallopers that ran well in races including the George Ryder Stakes is always a good tip.

From 2004 – 2020 five favourites saluted for the punters with the latest being Winx (4/5 in 2016).

Three-year-olds have a good record and are feature in Doncaster Mile tips along with Chris Waller-trained runners and well-weighted chances with just three horses carrying more than 55.5kg to victory in the race since 2003, Happy Clapper (57kg in 2018) the most recent.

2020 Doncaster Mile Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ insider Doncaster Mile 2020 betting tips on the Group 1 1600m classic will be detailed below with the milers to back and sack this autumn so stay tuned.

• The Value: #18 Nettoyer ($26) 

Tipping a potential blowout in the Doncaster this year and love the juicy odds on offer for in-form mare Nettoyer. She was excellent first-up in easier grade winning the Group 3 Aspiration Quality over a mile before her fourth in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes behind three very talented gallopers including Verry Elleegant (2nd) who franked the form winning the Tancred last weekend. While she’s been well-beaten by the likes of Melody Belle before, the difference here is the weight. She sneaks in with just 51.5kg and will be absolutely flying with those kilos. Drawn midfield, likely to settle back and charge home relishing the drop in weight and distance. Huge top three potential at a price.

Doncaster Mile Form Guide

The Doncaster Mile form guide shows punters the barriers, jockeys, trainers, weights and lead-up runs of the horses in the field. Looking for Rosehill graduates that come out of autumn Group 1 races is important when doing the Doncaster Mile form.

The Doncaster Mile barrier draw hasn’t been of huge significance in the race with an even spread of winners from across all of the gates, but the most successful since 1983 producing five winners is barrier 12.

The most successful Doncaster Mile jockey with six wins since 1996 including Kermadec (2015) is Glen Boss who also rode three winners on the trot from 2006 – 2008.

Doncaster Mile Form Facts

• Only three favourites in Doncaster Mile betting from 2007 – 2020 saluted for the punters including two mares: More Joyous (2012) and Winx (2016)
• Chris Waller has dominated the Doncaster Mile results in the past decade producing all four winners from 2013 – 2016
• Eight of the 12 Doncaster Mile winners from 2009 – 2020 jumped from barrier 10 or wider including Brutal (18 of 20 in 2019)
• A Group 1 run at Rosehill Gardens in either the Ranvet Stakes or George Ryder Stakes is the key Doncaster Mile form line to follow into the race

2020 Doncaster Mile Form Guide

A link to our comprehensive Doncaster Mile Handicap 2020 Form Guide will be provided by punters the week of the race.

Doncaster Mile Results

The Doncaster Mile results and finishing order are known on Day 1 of The Championships on the first Saturday in April each autumn. Single-figure hopes have dominated the Doncaster Mile results in the past two decades.

The longest priced winners in recent years though have been Nettoyer ($41 in 2020), It’s Somewhat ($34 in 2017), Sacred Falls ($21 in 2013) for her first of two victories and Patezza ($21 in 2005). Other notable Doncaster Mile winners in that time include Winx (2016), More Joyous (2012), Rangirangdoo (2010) and Racing To Win (2006).

Doncaster Mile Winners