Hill Stakes 2021

Ladbrokes Tip: The Hill Stakes is good lead-up to Melbourne’s Ladbrokes Cox Plate

The Hill Stakes is a Group 2 race run on Epsom Handicap Day at Royal Randwick Racecourse in late September or early October each Sydney Spring Racing Carnival. The meeting is headlined by a trio of Group 1 spring races: the Epsom Handicap (1600m) for milers, The Metropolitan (2400m) for stayers and the Flight Stakes (1600m) for the three-year-old fillies.

Offering a lucrative $1 million in total prize money as of 2021, the Hill Stakes is contested over 2000m under weight-for-age conditions making it a nice lead-up into the Group 1 Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) run at Moonee Valley at the end of October. In 2016 the Hill Stakes winner Hartnell finished runner-up to the defending champion Winx in the Cox Plate quinella and also finished in the money when third in the Melbourne Cup over two miles on the first Tuesday of November.

The Hill Stakes – Cox Plate double however hasn’t been completed since Saintly (1996).

The latest edition of the Hill Stakes ran on Saturday October 2, 2021 and was won by the odds-on favourite Think It Over. 

2021 Hill Stakes Results

The official 2021 Hill Stakes Results & Finishing Order will be published below once the race takes place on Saturday October 2, 2021.

• 1st: #1 Think It Over
• 2nd: #3 Shared Ambition
• 3rd: #5 Cepheus

Think It Over ($1.75) returned to winning form saluting for the punters in the $1 million Hill Stakes 2021 results, the odds-on favourite lunging late to secure a devastatingly close victory over the Chris Waller-trained Shared Ambition.  

Hill Stakes Race Info

• Date: Saturday October 2, 2021
• Track: Royal Randwick
• Distance: 2000m
• Conditions: Weight-for-age
• Status: Group 2
• Prize Money: $1,000,000
• First Run: 1921

Hill Stakes Betting & Odds

Hill Stakes betting markets are led each year by in-form staying types with proven form at the distance and good records at Randwick.

Runners that come off a good run in a lead-up like the Chelmsford Stakes over the same track also sit high up the Hill Stakes odds. Think It Over (2021) was the last horse to complete the Chelmsford Stakes – Hill Stakes double with a Group 1 George Main Stakes third in between. 

The short-priced favourites have a top record in the Hill Stakes in the past 10 years, but there has been upsets recorded by double-figure chances in betting including Preferment ($31 in 2015).

Think It Over ($1.75 in 2021) was the last favourite in Hill Stakes betting to salute for the punters. 

2021 Hill Stakes Odds

The updated Hill Stakes 2021 betting odds for this Epsom Handicap Day will be available right here leading up to the race so stay tuned for links to our top Hill Stakes markets.

Hill Stakes Tips

Good Hill Stakes tips to take are to look for local Sydney-trained runners with form at the track and distance.

The Chelmsford Stakes runners from earlier in the month also have a good Hill Stakes record as do the single-figure favourites.

Checking the early markets for upcoming races like the Cox Plate for runners in the Hill Stakes can also be a good betting tip for the Group 2, with many Hill Stakes graduates going onto the weight-for-age classic in Melbourne a few weeks later.

2021 Hill Stakes Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ insider Hill Stakes 2021 betting tips and Randwick betting selections on the $1 million Group 2 this spring will be detailed in full below the week of the race so stay tuned for the stayers to back and sack.

• To Win: #8 Duais ($5 at time of publish) 

Good price for the Edward Cummings-trained mare to win second-up over 2000m. The ATC Oaks runner-up and Queensland Oaks winner was so good fresh running a surprise third in the Cameron Handicap over 1500m at Newcastle narrowly beaten and will be fitter and running better over the extra distance here. 

Hill Stakes Field

The Hill Stakes field attracts a quality line-up of the season’s top staying types, many heading towards the riches of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival and a target like the Cox Plate.

Gallopers in the Hill Stakes field may have come off an earlier spring run in a race like the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) a fortnight before. In 2015 Preferment improved on a 12th in the Chelmsford to win the Hill Stakes. Complacent meanwhile won the Chelmsford Stakes in 2015 before his second in the Hill Stakes. In 2016 Hartnell completed the Chelmsford Stakes – Hill Stakes double, followed in 2021 by Think It Over. 

Hill Stakes winner Hartnell (2016) went on to place in that year’s Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup down in Melbourne. Photo Credit: Steve Hart.

The Chelmsford Stakes also produced the 2014 Hill Stakes winner Junoob (6th), while Bagman ran third in both races. The year before (2013) Moriarty improved on a Chelmsford Stakes fourth to win the Hill Stakes, while in 2012 Lamasery won the Hill Stakes on the back of a Chelmsford Stakes third.

The Group 1 George Main Stakes is another key Hill Stakes lead-up and Kolding (2020) was the last horse to complete the double, while Think It Over improved on a lead-up third in 2021 to win the Chelmsford. 

2021 Hill Stakes Field

The official Hill Stakes 2021 Final Field & Barrier draw will be released on the Wednesday of race week and published in full below so bookmark this page to see the spring stayers that are accepted into the million-dollar feature.

With Verry Elleegant out it is Think It Over dominating the seven-horse Hill Stakes 2021 field at Randwick this weekend. 

• Scratched: #7 Verry Elleegant (7) is out in favour of a trip to Flemington to take on Incentivise in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m). 

2021 Hill Stakes Nominations

The early Hill Stakes 2021 Nominations close the Monday leading-up to the lucrative $1 million race and will be published below. 

Chris Waller’s star mare Verry Elleegant chases another million-dollar win heading the 2021 Hill Stakes nominations ahead of her Cox Plate bid in Melbourne. 

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Hill Stakes Form Guide

The Hill Stakes form guide features all the must know information like the jockeys, trainers, barriers and lead-up runs of the horses in the field. The Hill Stakes form has stacked up in better races many times in recent years, especially The Metropolitan, but now runs on the same day as that feature race.

The form has also held in Melbourne races later in the spring including in 2015 when Hill Stakes winner Preferment travelled to Flemington and won the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) next start over the same distance. In 2014 Hill Stakes runner-up Criterion also went to Melbourne next-up and crossed second in the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes (2000m).

2021 Hill Stakes Form Guide

A link to our comprehensive Hill Stakes 2021 Form Guide will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

Hill Stakes Results

Quality stayers have dominated the Hill Stakes results in the past decade. Notable recent Hill Stakes winners include Kolding (2020), Verry Elleegant (2019), Preferment (2015), Junoob (2014), Moriarty (2013), Descarado (2010) and Desert War (2005-06).

Hill Stakes Winners