King Charles III Stakes (George Main Stakes) 2024

Ceolwulf (2024) became the first horse to complete the Epsom Handicap – King Charles III Stakes double! 

2024 King Charles III Stakes Results

The official King Charles III Stakes Results 2024 and race finishing order will be known once the race is run and won on Saturday, October 19, 2024 and published below.

2024 Ceolwulf winning the 2024 King Charles III Stakes for trainer Joe Pride and jockey Chad Schofield. Photo: Steve Hart.

• 1st: #6 Ceolwulf 
• 2nd: #9 Pride Of Jenni
• 3rd: #2 My Oberon

The Joe Pride-trained Ceolwulf ($6.50) was huge again over the Randwick mile cementing his place as a champion to watch when backing-up off his Epsom triumph to claim the King Charles III Stakes 2024 results off a patient Chad Schofield ride to run down Pride Of Jenni late and steal the second Group 1 on The Everest Day.

The King Charles III Stakes (formerly known as the George Main Stakes) is a mile feature held at the famous Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney each Spring Racing Carnival.

The event was formerly held in September a fortnight before the Epsom Handicap but was moved ahead of the 2023 edition to join the stellar The Everest Day line-up at Randwick in mid-October.

In its place on The Shorts Day program in mid-September is the unlisted $1 million 7 Stakes (1600m) run for the first time in 2023 and offering the winner an Epsom Handicap ballot exemption.

The 2023 King Charles III Stakes winner Fangirl came via a lead-up third in the inaugural 7 Stakes.

In 2024 Ceolwulf made history as the first horse to complete the Epsom Handicap – King Charles III Stakes double at successive starts over the Randwick mile. 

The race was originally named after a former chairman on the Australian Jockey Club, the George Main Stakes but was renamed in 2023 to honour His Majesty King Charles III.

2023 King Charles III Stakes winner Fangirl was at her peak with a 2.6 length win. Photo: Steve Hart.

The Everest Day now offers close to $35 million across the 10-race card and is headlined by the Group 1 $20 million The Everest (1200m) which is the world’s richest turf race.

The King Charles III Stakes offers $5 million in stakes and is now officially the world’s richest weight-for-age 1600m thoroughbred race.

A Group 1 race since 1979 it has been won by many stars including Godolphin hero Anamoe (2022), subsequent Melbourne Cup winning mare Verry Elleegant (2021), three-time champion Winx (2016-18), More Joyous (2010), Grand Armee (2004), Lonhro (2003), Shogun Lodge (1999), and dual champion Kingston Town (1981-82).

The official second edition of the King Charles III Stakes (formerly the George Main Stakes) ran on Saturday, October 19, 2024 at Royal Randwick on The Everest Day and was won in style with a fast-finishing effort by Joe Pride’s Epsom Handicap winner Ceolwulf ($6.50).  

2024 King Charles III Stakes Odds

The leading King Charles III Stakes 2024 betting odds will be available here for punters the week of the race so stay tuned to access the premium Group 1 spring racing odds in Sydney this season.

King Charles III Stakes Race Facts

• Former Race Name: George Main Stkaes
• Date: Saturday, October 19, 2024
• Track: Royal Randwick Racecourse
• Distance: 1600m
• Conditions: Weight-for-age
• Status: Group 1
• Prize Money: $5,000,000
• First Run: 1945 (George Main Stakes); 2023 (King Charles III Stakes)

King Charles III Stakes Betting

King Charles III Stakes betting markets in recent years have featured 10 or fewer chances making it one of the easier Sydney Spring Racing Carnival majors to pick the winner of.

The odds are usually led by horses that ran well in their lead-up races like the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes, the Group 1 Winx Stakes, and the Group 2 Tramway Stakes that most recently produced a winner in 2011 when Sincero completed the double.

In 2018 the heroic Winx won the race named in her honour (Winx Stakes) before saluting in her third straight George Main Stakes.

Most recently in 2021 Verry Elleegant improved on a first-up second in the Winx Stakes to win the George Main Stakes, while Anamoe (2022) was the last horse to complete the Winx Stakes – George Main Stakes double before the latter was renamed.

In 2023 Fangirl became the first horse to complete the Winx Stakes – King Charles III Stakes double.

Favourites in the George Main Stakes / King Charles III Stakes odds have dominated the results over the past decade or including 11 winners from 2010 – 2022 thanks to the three-peat of Winx (2016-18), the success of Avilius in 2019, the 2021 win by odds-on favourite Verry Elleegant at $1.75 and Anamoe saluting at a short $1.65 in 2022.

In 2023 Fangirl jumped at King Charles III Stakes odds of $5.50 to beat the odds-on favourite Mr Brightside ($1.95) by a big margin.

The last double-figure winner to score an upset was Road To Rock ($41 in 2009).

In 2020 trainer Chris Waller saddled up the first four over the line in the George Main Stakes results with Kolding scoring an upset at odds of $9.50. He won again in 2021 celebrating his eighth George Main win with Verry Elleegant, before taking out the inaugural King Charles III Stakes race with Fangirl in 2023.

In 2024 Ceolwulf ran down the favourite Pride Of Jenni to score an upset at King Charles III Stakes odds of $6.50. 

King Charles III Stakes Field

The King Charles III Stakes race field has a capacity of 20 starters plus four emergencies but is not commonly run at that maximum.

Horses often come into the field via a lead-up run in the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) or the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) run over the same track / distance.

Other gallopers may run first-up in the King Charles III Stakes field or come off a run in the Group 2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) run on the same day as the Chelmsford Stakes.

The newly created $1.5 million Alan Brown Stakes (1400m) – a quality handicap run on Hill Stakes Day at the start of October – also now serves as a key lead-up into the King Charles III Stakes field.

Winx (pictured in Sydney, 2017) is the most famous of the Sunshine George Main Stakes winners in history. Photo: Steve Hart.

2024 King Charles III Stakes Field

The official King Charles III Stakes 2024 field and barrier draw will be released on the Wednesday of race week and published in full below so stay tuned to see the horses that make the line-up for the $5 million WFA feature this The Everest Day.

The 2024 King Charles III Stakes field has drawn an elite line-up of 12 spring hopefuls led in betting by the Ciaron Maher-trained Pride Of Jenni and Chris Waller’s defending champion Fangirl.

2024 King Charles III Stakes Nominations

The early King Charles III Stakes 2024 nominations are taken the Monday ahead of the race.

Nominations extended until 11:00am (AEDT) on 15/10/2024

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

King Charles III Stakes Form Guide

The King Charles III Stakes form guide features all the facts and stats you need to place a well-informed wager on the race including the jockey, trainer, weight allocation, barrier, age and lead-up form of all the horses in the field.

No George Main Stakes winner since Road To Rock (2009) has finished worse than fourth in their final lead-up so looking for horses that ran well last time out on the form guide is a good tip.

The 2022 George Main Stakes winner Anamoe franked the form his next two starts winning the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes – Ladbrokes Cox Plate double before the George Main was renamed the following year.

The King Charles III Stakes form from 2023 was franked with the runner-up, Mr Brightside, also finishing second in that year’s Cox Plate results and Champion’s Mile during the spring. He returned in the autumn of 2024 and was huge again completing the CF Orr – Futurity double, running second in the All-Star Mile and rounding out the Queen Elizabeth Stakes trifecta. 

King Charles III Stakes Form Facts

• Trainer Chris Waller prepared nine of the George Main Stakes / King Charles III Stakes winners from 2012 – 2024 including triple champion Winx (2016-18) and most recently Fangirl (2023).
• The Winx Stakes, Chelmsford Stakes and Tramway Stakes are the key lead-up races to look for on the King Charles III Stakes form guide.
• No horse has come off a non-Sydney lead-up into the King Charles III field in over 30 years.
• Favourites have a dominant record in recent results including the wins by Winx (2016, 2017, 2018), Avilius (2019), Verry Elleegant (2021), and Anamoe (2022).

2024 King Charles III Stakes Form

A link to our detailed King Charles III Stakes 2024 Form Guide & Betting Preview will be available for punters below the week of the race.

King Charles III Stakes Tips

King Charles III Stakes tips are a great way to get an idea of who to back and who to sack in the mile classic and most commonly have the favourite selected to win.

Favourites have an excellent record in the race so backing the top fancy in betting is a top King Charles III Stakes tip.

Sydney trainer Chris Waller prepared nine George Main Stakes winners / King Charles III Stakes winners from 2012 – 2024, including Hall of Fame mare Winx (2016-18), so looking for in-form Waller hopes in the field is also a good racing tip.

2024 King Charles III Stakes Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ exclusive King Charles III Stakes 2024 betting tips and Group 1 Randwick racing selections will be detailed below the week of the race.

To Win: #19 Pride Of Jenni ($2.40 at time of publish)

Sticking with a form mare and deserving favourite who has the ability to lead all-the-way in this year’s King Charles III Stakes.

Cannot go past Pride Of Jenni to win a Sydney Group 1 here off her excellent Melbourne lead-up form further south.

There’s obviously plenty of depth in this field including a very big danger in Fangirl, last start winner of the 7 Stakes, who is looking to go back-to-back with a successful title defence for the race’s incredible nine-time winning trainer Chris Waller.

Ciaron Maher’s brilliant favourite however held her measure in the Group 1 Champions Mile at Flemington last year during the Melbourne Cup Carnival and think she’ll win this.

She doesn’t have quite the same impressive Randwick record as Fangirl, but she is a Group 1 winner (by 6.5 lengths!) at the track in the autumn’s Queen Elizabeth.

Obviously well proven at a mile (10-4-2-0) and presents rock hard fit.

It is the local vs the visitor, so strap in!

Group 2 Feehan Stakes win over this distance at The Valley was really nice last start, the form of which was firmly franked by the third placed Antino who was emphatic with his own 6.5 length Group 1 win in last weekend’s Toorak.

Front runner can go all the way.

The Danger: #10 Fangirl ($3.70 at time of publish)

You cannot bet on the King Charles III Stakes this year and leave out the defending champion Fangirl.

She won the 7 Stakes in terrific style last start beating a good line-up of rivals by a solid margin at this track and trip.

Waller’s six-year-old Sebring mare is a Randwick track specialist (17:6-3-3) and will love a Soft going course on which she’s got a wonderful strike-rate in (8:4-2-0).

Drawn a treat in gate four and no doubt James McDonald is the form jockey of the season (again).

Fangirl is fit third-up, confident off her last start, at the right course to dominate, and will give plenty of chase late to Pride Of Jenni making for a potential thriller!

Each Way: #12 Amelia’s Jewel ($15 at time of publish) 

Yeah the girls! Amelia’s Jewel is another class mare in this field and she has perhaps been forgotten by the punters making her a sneaky top three value runner.

The former WA-trained daughter of Siyouni is a Group 1 winner in Perth and dual $4 million The Quokka runner-up to Overpass who is a very good horse in his own right luckless not to gain a The Everest slot this weekend.

The five-year-old is consistent with nine wins and six seconds from 18 starts.

Two of those second placings have come back-to-back in Sydney this prep for her new stable with the mare now prepared out of Warwick Farm by Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald.

Fresh she was runner-up to Royal Patronage in the Group 2 Tramway here before an eye-catching Golden Pendant second with 58kg at Rosehill.

Gets options from gate nine, Tommy Berry is getting to know her well now, and up to 1600m third-up looks great with Amelia’s Jewel a two-time winner from three runs at the distance.

Value.

The Roughie: #1 Pericles ($23 at time of publish) 

The price on this talented Godolphin-raced son of Street Boss is huge considering what he is capable of on his day.

Apprentice Zac Lloyd is absolutely airborne this season and partners the James Cummings-trained five-year-old from a favourable barrier five draw.

Pericles is deep into his prep already coming off a string of good runs including his third behind this Saturday’s Caulfield Cup favourite in Melbourne, Buckaroo, in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) two back.

Last start was at Rosehill in the Group 2 Hill Stakes over 1900m where he finished fourth to Attrition.

Think the drop back to a mile is a smart move by the Royal Blue brigade with the horse’s only other 1600m run producing a close second to Celestial Legend on a Heavy (8) in the autumn’s Doncaster Mile.

Can surprise a few well-conditioned and back in distance.

George Main Stakes / King Charles III Stakes Results

The George Main Stakes results (officially the King Charles III Stakes results as of 2023) are known each year after the event runs at Royal Randwick on The Everest Day in October and display the winning horse, successful trifecta, winning margin and time so you can see how your bets went.

From 2010 – 2024 the favourites saluted for the punters in the race 11 times.

Notable recent George Main Stakes winners prior to the race being renamed in 2023 include Anamoe (2022), Verry Elleegant (2021), Avilius (2019), Winx (2016-18), Sincero (2011), More Joyous (2010), and Racing To Win (2006).

Fangirl (2023) was the last George Main Stakes / King Charles III Stakes winning mare.

Viscount (2001) was the last three-year-old George Main Stakes / King Charles III Stakes winner.

Kolding holds the current 1600m George Main Stakes race record winning in 2020 in a time of 1 minute 33:3 seconds.

Past George Main Stakes / King Charles III Stakes Winners

Recent George Main Stakes / King Charles III Stakes winners and placegetters dating back to the year 2000 are detailed in the below table.

FAQ

Who won the 2024 King Charles III Stakes?

The 2024 King Charles III Stakes was won by the Joe Pride-trained Ceolwulf who was ridden by Chad Schofield and started at odds of $6.50.

When is the King Charles III Stakes 2024?

What is the prize money for the King Charles III Stakes 2024?

$1,000,000

Where is the King Charles III Stakes 2024?

Randwick Racecourse, Alison Rd, Randwick NSW 2031.