Epsom Handicap 2024

Ladbrokes Tip: Last start winners have a gun recent record in the Epsom Handicap

The Epsom Handicap is one of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival’s major mile races and runs at Royal Randwick Racecourse in late September or early October each year. Offering $1.5 million in prize money after receiving a $500,000 boost in 2021 the race is held at the same meeting as The Metropolitan and the Flight Stakes and has been conducted since 1865.

2022 Epsom Handicap dead-heat winners Top Ranked & Ellsberg. Photo: Steve Hart.

The 1600m feature is open to horses aged three years and older and is named after the iconic Epsom Downs Racecourse in the South of England. It has held Group 1 status since 1979 and has been won by many notable champions including Desert War (2004 & 2005), Shogun Lodge (2000), Super Impose (1990 & 1991), Imposing (1979), Gunsynd (1971), and Sky High (1961).

More recently Chris Waller-trained horses have dominated the Epsom Handicap results including the 2015 win by superstar mare Winx and 2019 success of Kolding who went on to win the inaugural The Golden Eagle race.

Waller celebrated his fifth Epsom Handicap success in 2023 running the quinella with Rediener and Kovalica. 

The Epsom Handicap winner also earns a ballot exemption into the following year’s Group 1 $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) held at Randwick during April’s The Championships. 

The 2024 Epsom Handicap ran on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at Randwick Racecourse and was won in style by the exciting Joe Pride-trained four-year-old favourite Ceolwulf ($4F).  

2024 Epsom Handicap Results

The full Epsom Handicap 2024 Results & Finishing Order will be provided below once the race is run and won on Saturday, October 5, 2024.

2024 Epsom Handicap winner Ceolwulf was enormous back in distance to win the feature race in Sydney. Photo: Steve Hart.

• 1st: #7 Ceolwulf
• 2nd: #9 Tom Kitten
• 3rd: #2 Royal Patronage

Big things could be in store for the Joe Pride-trained four-year-old Ceolwulf ($4F) who overcame a tardy start to charge down the outside late and win the Epsom Handicap 2024 pulling away in a victory for favourite backers.

2024 Epsom Handicap Odds

The season’s latest Epsom Handicap 2024 betting odds and links to our markets on the Group 1 Randwick mile classic will be available over the spring below.

Epsom Handicap Race Info

• Date: Saturday, October 5, 2024
• Track: Randwick Racecourse
• Distance: 1600m
• Conditions: Handicap
• Status: Group 1
• Prize Money: $1.5 million
• First Run: 1865

Epsom Handicap Betting

Epsom Handicap betting markets are often led by horses that won their final lead-up into the mile classic with three of the four winners from 2013 – 16 coming off a victory including Winx (2015).

Bill Ritchie winner Rediener in 2023 was the latest last-start winner to take out the Epsom. 

In 2019 the top two horses in Epsom Handicap betting ran the quinella with the $5.50 equal favourites Kolding and Te Akau Shark running one-two.

Chris Waller’s horses always sit highly up the Epsom Handicap odds as he prepared five of the winners between 2013 – 24 most recently Kolding (2019) and Rediener ($9.50 in 2023). 

Gai Waterhouse-trained hopefuls, if in form, also feature in the Epsom Handicap markets as she has won the Epsom Handicap a record seven times, most recently with Fat Al (2012).

Waller was narrowly denied another Epsom win in 2020 when his mare Funstar ran second to Probabeel. The stable also ran second in 2021 with Aramayo running second to the Joe Pride-trained winner Private Eye. Waller’s mare Hinged also ran third in the 2022 Epsom that saw Ellsberg and Top Ranked run a dead heat for third.

Epsom Handicap odds online are affected by the results of traditional lead-up races including the Theo Marks Stakes, which Winx won on way to her 2015 success in the feature, and other events offering an Epsom Handicap ballot exemption like the Shannon Stakes the week before at Rosehill Gardens.

Favourites in Epsom Handicap betting have a solid recent record and no galloper since Captain Sonador ($15 in 2010) had won the race at double-figure Epsom Handicap odds until the massive upset by Hartnell ($20 in 2018) and then Private Eye ($11 in 2021). 

In 2022 Ellsberg was at $16 when he ran a dead heat for first in the Epsom with $4.60 pop Top Ranked. 

There was another upset in 2023 when Rediener won at Epsom odds of $9.50. 

Ceolwulf ($4 in 2024) was the last Epsom Handicap favourite to win. 

Epsom Handicap Tips

Epsom Handicap tips flood in the week of the race and usually feature horses that are well-weighted under the handicap conditions. No horse has carried more than 57kg to Epsom Handicap victory since Super Impose (61kg in 1991).

Winners of the Group 3 Bill Ritchie Handicap and the Group 2 Shannon Stakes are also good Epsom Handicap tips as these two races have produced plenty of recent champions of the Epsom Handicap results.  Kolding (2019), Probabeel (2020), Top Ranked (2022) who ran a dead heat in the Group 1 with Ellsberg, and Rediener (2023) are the latest to complete the Bill Ritchie – Epsom Handicap double.

2024 Epsom Handicap Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ insider Epsom Handicap 2024 betting tips and exotic Group 1 Randwick selections will be detailed below for punters the week of the race, so stay tuned for the miler hopefuls to back and sack this season.

• To Win: #5 Rediener ($27 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Hard to knock this Waller-trained five-year-old and the defending champion at the price. Rediener won with a light weight off a Bill Ritchie victory last year and goes up to 55.5kg looking to go back-to-back. It is a weight he still looks capable of carrying after an impressive return with 58kg in Rosehill’s Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) running only 1.5 lengths fourth to Encap in mid-September. That was his first assignment since things went amiss in the King Charles off his Epsom triumph last year. He is forgotten in the markets but presents fit and with confidence second-up for Josh Parr in gate 12. Two-from-four at Randwick so will relish getting back here and is proven at the distance. Can surprise a few at a big price. 

Epsom Handicap Field

The Epsom Handicap race field has a capacity of 20 starters plus four emergencies and the last year it was run at capacity was 2024 when Ceolwulf saluted for the punters.

The field of final acceptors is released on the Tuesday before the race runs on a Saturday at the start of October. 

Horses come into the Epsom Handicap field may have previously run in the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) that produced Hauraki (2nd) for his 2016 win and Happy Clapper (2nd) in 2017, while that double was last completed by Racing To Win (2006). The George Main Stakes however was moved ahead of the 2023 and now runs after the Epsom as the King Charles III Stakes. 

Replacing the George Main Stakes on The Shorts Day at Randwick in mid-September from 2023 onwards is the $1 million 7 Stakes (1600m) which offers the winner an Epsom Handicap ballot exemption. 

The Group 3 Cameron Handicap (1500m) run on Newcastle Gold Cup Day in mid-September offers the winner a ballot exemption into the Epsom Handicap field. Excellerator (2002) was the last horse to complete the Cameron Handicap – Epsom Handicap double. 

Probabeel (2020) completed the Bill Ritchie Handicap – Epsom Handicap double. Photo: Steve Hart.

An earlier spring lead-up into the Epsom Handicap field is August’s Group 3 Show County Quality, a race the 2020 Epsom champion Probabeel ran second in that season. In 2021 Private Eye completed the Show County Quality – Epsom Handicap double. 

Any five-year-olds out of the Epsom Handicap field may back-up on The Everest Day at Randwick in the $1 million Five Diamonds Prelude (1500m). 

In 2022 dead-heat Epsom Handicap winner Ellsberg went on to win both the Five Diamonds Prelude and the $2 million The Five Diamonds race. 

2024 Epsom Handicap Field

The official Epsom Handicap 2024 Final Field & Barrier Draw will be announced by Racing NSW on the Tuesday of race week with the full line-up to be published below. 

The 2024 Epsom Handicap field has drawn a capacity line-up with current markets led by the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained 7 Stakes third placed Royal Patronage with work to do from out in gate 17 and the in-form Joe Pride-trained ATC Derby runner-up from last campaign Ceolwulf. 

2024 Epsom Handicap Nominations & Weights

The Epsom Handicap 2024 nominations closed on Monday the 9th of September, 2024 about a month leading-up to Epsom Handicap Day. 

The 2024 Epsom Handicap weights must then be declared by Monday the 16th of September, 2024. 

The 2024 Epsom Handicap nominations attracted 101 hopeful milers led in betting by the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained French import Royal Patronage who won the Group 2 Tramway Stakes in their Australian race debut. 

The Epsom Handicap 2024 weights have been confirmed with Chris Waller’s multiple Group 1 winning mare, Zougotcha, allocated the 58kg top weight. 

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Epsom Handicap Form Guide

The Epsom Handicap form guide is poured over by punters before they place their bets on the spring showdown every season and lists all the horses, their allocated weights and barriers, trainers and jockeys, and other crucial info like track / distance form.

There’s lots to look at in the form guide but how horses ran in their lead-up races is especially important, while wide barriers haven’t been a hoodoo in recent years with the likes of Secret Admirer (16 in 2011), Boban (10 in 2013), He’s Your Man (10 in 2014), Winx (12 in 2015), Kolding (12 in 2019), and Ceolwulf (14 in 2024) all overcoming double digit gates to win the race.

Epsom Handicap Form Facts

• Chris Waller trained five of the 11 Epsom Handicap winners from 2013 – 24 most recently Rediener (2023).
• Mares have won the Epsom Handicap just three times in over 30 years with Secret Admirer (2011), Winx (2015) and Probabeel (2020).
• Double-digit barriers produced nine winners from 2011 – 2024 – including Secret Admirer (16 of 17 in 2011), Hartnell (10 of 20 in 2018), Kolding (12 of 19 in 2019), Probabeel (15 of 17 in 2020), and Ceolwulf (12 of 20 in 2024). 
• Favourites have a credible record in the race and recent Epsom Handicap results have been dominated by single-figure chances.

2024 Epsom Handicap Form

A link to our detailed Epsom Handicap 2024 Form Guide will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

Epsom Handicap Day

Epsom Handicap Day is one of the premier race meetings of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival and is held on the first Saturday in October. 

There are three Group 1 races on the card with the Epsom Handicap supported by the Group 1 $750,000 The Metropolitan (2400m) for the Caulfield Cup-bound stayers and the Group 1 $750,000 Flight Stakes (1600m) for three-year-old fillies. 

Epsom Day also features a seven-figure Group 2 event with The Everest-bound sprinters facing off in the $1 million Premiere Stakes (1200m). 

Epsom Handicap Day Group Races: 

• Group 1 $1,500,000 Epsom Handicap (1600m)
• Group 1 $750,000 The Metropolitan (2400m)
• Group 1 $750,000 Flight Stakes (1600m)
• Group 2 $1 million Premiere Stakes (1200m)
• Group 3 $250,000 Gimcrack Stakes (1000m)
• Group 3 $250,000 Breeders’ Plate (1000m)

Epsom Handicap Results

The Epsom Handicap race results are published after the showdown happens at Randwick on Epsom Handicap Day and features the finishing order of all the starters, any scratched horses, the winning trifecta pay-out as well as margins for those punters that bet on how much a horse would win or lose by.

There have been three Epsom Handicap dead heats throughout history with the latest in 2022 between Ellsberg and Top Ranked. 

Probabeel (2020) was the last Epsom Handicap winning mare. 

Noholme (1959) and Espiegle (1884) are the only three-year-old Epsom Handicap winners throughout history. 

Hartnell holds the current Epsom Handicap race record winning over 1600m in 2018 in a time of 1 minute 32:73 seconds. 

Past Epsom Handicap Winners

Recent Epsom Handicap winners and placegetters dating back to the year 2000 are detailed in the below table. 

FAQ

When is the Epsom Handicap 2024?

What is the prize money for the Epsom Handicap 2024?

$1,500,000

Where is the Epsom Handicap 2024?

Randwick Racecourse, Alison Rd, Randwick NSW 2031.