McEwen Stakes 2023

Ladbrokes Tip: The McEwen Stakes is a good guide to the Group 1 Manikato Stakes

The McEwen Stakes is a Group 2 sprint race contested at Moonee Valley Racecourse on John F. Feehan Stakes Day in  September during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Headlining the day’s action is the Group 2 John F. Feehan Stakes (1600m) for Cox Plate hopes, while the McEwen Stakes attracts horses heading towards the carnival’s Group 1 sprint features.

2022 McEwen Stakes winner Rothfire. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Run over 1000m, the McEwen Stakes is a weight-for-age event offering $300,000 in total prize money as of 2021 and was elevated from a Group 3 event for the 2013/14 season. It makes a nice spring kick-off for horses heading towards features like the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) back at Moonee Valley the following month as well as Flemington’s Group 1 VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) held during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Recent winners of the McEwen Stakes – Manikato Stakes double include Chautauqua (2015), Hay List (2010), and Miss Andretti (2006).

The latest edition of the McEwen Stakes ran on Saturday September 9, 2023, one day before UFC 293 took place in Sydney, with Mark Walker’s class mare Imperatriz ($3.90) winning first-up in a new track record time of 56.68 seconds. 

2023 McEwen Stakes Results

The official Mittys McEwen Stakes 2023 results and finishing order will be known and published below on Saturday September 9, 2023.

2023 McEwen Stakes winner Imperatriz will target the Group 1 Moonee Valley races during the spring. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

• 1st: #5 Imperatriz
• 2nd: #2 Rothfire
• 3rd: #1 Giga Kick

Mark Walker’s talented Kiwi expat Imperatriz ($3.90) blitzed her first-up run of the spring with the last start Group 1 William Reid Stakes winner from the autumn relishing another run at The Valley to let down late and charge past last year’s The Everest hero Giga Kick for a big 2.5 length win in the McEwen Stakes 2023 results.

2023 McEwen Stakes Odds

Market links to our top Mittys McEwen Stakes 2023 odds on the potential Group 1 winning sprinters of the spring will be detailed below the week of the race.

McEwen Stakes Race Facts

• Date: Saturday September 9, 2023
• Track: Moonee Valley Racecourse
• Distance: 1000m
• Conditions: Weight-for-age
• Status: Group 2
• Prize Money: $300,000
• First Run: 1995

McEwen Stakes Betting

McEwen Stakes betting odds are released by bookmakers shortly after the final field and barrier draw is out the Wednesday before the race. Betting is traditionally led by smart sprinters with form at the tight Moonee Valley circuit that have been tested in tougher class.

If racing first-up, those with good records fresh are also dominant in McEwen Stakes betting each spring.

Imperatriz (2023) was the last McEwen Stakes winner to salute first-up.

Nature Strip ($1.50 in 2018) was the last favourite in McEwen Stakes betting to win when saluting at an odds-on quote.

McEwen Stakes Field

2018 McEwen Stakes winner Nature Strip. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

The McEwen Stakes race field attracts a class line-up of early spring sprint types heading towards more lucrative features over similar distance over the coming weeks and months in Melbourne.

Many runners in the McEwen Stakes field will be racing first-up or coming off an earlier run at the track in the Listed Carlyon Stakes (1000m).

In 2014 Angelic Light ran third in the Carlyon Stakes before her McEwen Stakes success. She also went on to run second to Lankan Rupee in that year’s Group 1 Manikato Stakes. Lankan Rupee had run second in both the McEwen Stakes and Moir Stakes before his Manikato win and subsequent third in the VRC Sprint Classic – formerly the Darley Classic.

The following year Chautauqua (2015) won the McEwen Stakes first-up before winning the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m) at Flemington followed by the Manikato Stakes. He also ran second in the Darley Classic that November.

The Group 1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at The Valley later in the month makes a nice target for graduates out of the McEwen Stakes field. In 2020 the McEwen Stakes winner Bella Vella ran third in that spring’s Moir Stakes results, while the 2021 McEwen champ The Inferno ran second next-up in the Moir.

The 2022 Moir Stakes winner also came via a top three run in the McEwen with the third-placed filly Coolangatta enjoying success in that year’s Group 1.

Rothfire meanwhile won the McEwen before a second in that year’s Manikato Stakes results.

2023 McEwen Stakes Field

The official McEwen Stakes 2023 Field & Barriers are released on the Wednesday of race week and will be published below.

The 2023 McEwen Stakes field features a diminutive but imposing field of sprint stars led in betting by last year’s The Everest hero Giga Kick racing first-up.

2023 McEwen Stakes Nominations

The early McEwen Stakes 2023 Nominations close the Monday leading-up to the race and will be published in full below.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

McEwen Stakes Tips

Good McEwen Stakes tips include looking for previous Moonee Valley winners, sprinters that can handle the short 1000m trip and class gallopers that have Group 1 experience from previous campaigns especially in the Moir Stakes.

Single-digit runners also have a strong record in the race so backing horses under $10 in the markets is also a good McEwen Stakes betting tip.

2023 McEwen Stakes Tips

Our insider Ladbrokes’ McEwen Stakes 2023 best bet will be published below the week of the race so stay tuned!

• To Win: #1 Giga Kick ($1.95 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Does last year’s The Everest champion come out and win first-up this spring as the odds-on favourite? Looks that way. The McEwen features a small but top-notch field of sprint stars, but Giga Kick is the standout fresh looking to kick off where he left off. The now four-year-old son of Scissor Kick has just shy of $9.6 million in the bank, and he can add notably to that this prep. At his last two starts back in the winter he won the interstate Group 1 All Aged Stakes – Doomben 10,000 double. He has a lovely record fresh and can beat this field in his first go at The Valley.

McEwen Stakes Form Guide

The McEwen Stakes form guide provides punters with all the must-know information including the jockeys, trainers, barriers and lead-up form of the runners in the field.

In recent years the McEwen Stakes form has held up in many tougher spring races including the Moir Stakes and VRC Sprint Classic.

For example, the 2018 McEwen Stakes winner Nature Strip went on to win the following year’s Moir Stakes – VRC Sprint Classic double among other subsequent Group 1 sprint wins by the champion.

The 2021 McEwen Stakes form was franked with the third-placed mare September Run returning the next autumn to win the Group 1 William Reid Stakes in 2022.

2023 McEwen Stakes Form Guide

A link to our complete McEwen Stakes 2023 Form Guide will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

McEwen Stakes Results

McEwen Stakes in the past decade have been dominated by the class horses in the race, many of which went on to enjoy Group 1 success later that campaign. Upsets still occur however including the win by Kuroshio ($16) in 2013.

Notable recent McEwen Stakes winners include Nature Strip (2018) who went on to win the 2021 The Everest race, Chautauqua (2015), Buffering (2011), Hay List (2010), and Miss Andretti (2006).

Kuroshio (2013) was the last three-year-old McEwen Stakes winner.

Imperatriz (2023) was the last McEwen Stakes winning mare.

Imperatriz also holds the current McEwen Stakes race record winning in 2023 in a time of 56.68 seconds.

Past McEwen Stakes Winners

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