Toorak Handicap 2025

Ladbrokes Tip: Toorak Handicap graduates have a good strike-rate in the Cox Plate

This season the 2025 Toorak Handicap runs on Saturday October 11, 2025 on Caulfield Guineas Day. 

2025 Toorak Handicap Odds

The updated Toorak Handicap 2025 betting odds complete with links to our Group 1 Caulfield Guineas Day markets will be available below as soon as open so stay tuned for the best mile racing odds online.

The Toorak Handicap is one of the key mile features of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival and runs over 1600m at Caulfield Racecourse on Caulfield Guineas Day in mid-October each year. On a meeting that is headlined by three Group 1 races the Toorak Handicap is worth $1,000,000 in prize money as of 2021 and was first run in 1881 when Josephine won the inaugural edition.

2022 Toorak Handicap winner Tuvalu. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Open to horses aged three-years-old and above it has held Group 1 status since 1979 and was traditionally contested by horses that came off a lead-up run at the track in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m). Trust In A Gust (2014) was the last horse to do the Sir Rupert Clarke – Toorak Handicap double.

In 2023 however the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes was moved to late November and now takes place after the Toorak.

The other elite level races that run alongside the Toorak Handicap at the meeting are the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) and the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes (2000m) for possible Cox Plate horses that now runs as the Might And Power.

Notable Toorak Handicap winners over the years include Royal Gem (1946), Galilee (1966), Leilani (1974), Roman Arch (2003), More Joyous (2010), and recent dual champ Solzhenitsyn (2012 & 2013).

The 2021 Toorak Handicap form was franked with the winner I’m Thunderstruck winning Sydney’s The Golden Eagle next start, a race now worth $10 million. The gun galloper returned the following autumn to finish runner-up in both the The All-Star Mile in Melbourne and Sydney’s Doncaster Mile.

Toorak Handicap Race Info

• Date: Saturday October 11, 2025
• Track: Caulfield Racecourse
• Distance: 1600m
• Conditions: Handicap
• Status: Group 1
• Prize Money: $1,000,000
• First Run: 1881

Toorak Handicap Betting

Toorak Handicap betting markets were traditionally led by horses that ran in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at the same track which has produced six winners from 2012-18 including Trust In A Gust (2014) who completed the double before the Sir Rupert was moved to November ahead of the 2023 edition.

Tuvalu (3rd in 2022) was the last Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes graduate to back-up and win the Toorak Handicap.

Previous experience over the mile also bodes well for horses at the top of the Toorak Handicap odds.

Favourites in the Toorak Handicap betting odds have a solid record in the race over the past decade with six saluting for the punters from 2010-22 including He’s Our Rokkii ($2.60 in 2016), Land Of Plenty ($4.20 in 2018), and I’m Thunderstruck ($3.10 in 2021).

Upsets though are also not uncommon with the longest priced Toorak Handicap winner in recent history being Allez Wonder ($41 in 2009). A roughie hope also saluted in 2019 with Fierce Impact ($18) defeating the equal favourite Night’s Watch ($7), while there was another outsider at the top of the results in 2020 with Mr Quickie ($21).

Antino winning the 2024 Toorak Handicap at Caulfield on Guineas Day. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

There was another notable upset in 2023 with Attrition winning at $26 while the third placed Bankers Choice jumped at $201!

Toorak Handicap Field

The Toorak Handicap race field has a capacity of 18 starters, that maximum last lining up in 2008 when Alamosa won the classic before the race drew capacity starters again in both 2017 – when Japanese import Tosen Stardom saluted – and 2018 when the favourite Land Of Plenty got the job done for the punters. The Toorak Handicap field also ran at capacity in 2019 when the Japanese-bred gallopers won for the second time in two years via the Matthew Smith-trained Fierce Impact.

It is a race known for its big fields with no single figure fields lining-up in over 30 years. Final Toorak Handicap acceptances are taken on the Wednesday before the race and feature the best milers of the season. The nominations for the race close the Monday two days out from the field and barrier draw release every October.

Trust In A Gust (2014) completed the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes – Toorak Handicap double. Photo Credit: Race Horse Photos Australia.

Horses traditionally come into the Toorak Handicap field via a lead-up run in Group 1 Melbourne races earlier in the spring and may continue onto the Melbourne Cup Carnival to contest later Group 1 features including the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) run at Flemington on the Saturday after the Melbourne Cup.

2025 Toorak Handicap Field

The official Toorak Handicap 2025 Final Field & Barriers are set for release on the Wednesday leading-up to Caulfield Guineas Day and will be listed in full below so stay tuned to see what gun spring milers make the field.

2025 Toorak Handicap Nominations

The early Toorak Handicap 2025 Nominations are taken the Monday of race week and will be available below once announced.

Toorak Handicap Tips

Toorak Handicap tips that are the most likely to pay off are to take the best performers coming out of similar grade Group 1 runs over 1400m or further.

Other Toorak Handicap tips are to take a runner drawn in barrier 11, which produced two of the four winners from 2011-2014. Looking for the four-year-olds who have a dominant recent record in the Toorak Handicap results since 2005 is another strong betting tip.

Looking over the history of the race it is clear the wider-drawn horses and proven Group 1 placegetters are the best to back in Toorak Handicap tipping.

2025 Toorak Handicap Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ exclusive Toorak Handicap 2025 betting tips will be detailed below the week of the race so stay tuned for the milers to get behind at the best value Caulfield odds this spring.

Toorak Handicap Form Guide

The Toorak Handicap form guide features all the crucial information like saddlecloth numbers, jockeys, trainers and the allocated weights of all the horses in the field.

Looking for horses that ran first three in their lead-up run is important as the Toorak Handicap form shows that gallopers that finished in the money last time out have the best record in the Group 1. Wide gates have produced as many winners as inside gates over the past decade.

The 2022 Toorak Handicap form was franked with the winner Tuvalu running second next-up at Flemington in the Group 1 VRC Champions Mile (1600m). The runner-up Laws Of Indices meanwhile went to Sydney for a third in the $2 million Five Diamonds before heading overseas to finish third in that year’s Hong Kong Mile.

Antino went on to frank the 2024 Toorak Handicap form with a next-up second in the Group 1 Champions Mile over the Melbourne Cup Carnival before returning in 2025 to take out Brisbane’s Doomben Cup in the winter.

Toorak Handicap Form Facts

• Favourites in Toorak Handicap betting saluted five times from 2013-24.
• Four-year-olds have the best record overall in the Toorak Handicap results going back over the past 30 years with Attrition (2023) the last four-year-old Toorak Handicap winner.
• More Joyous (2010) was the last mare to win the Toorak Handicap.

2025 Toorak Handicap Form Guide

A link to our detailed Toorak Handicap 2025 Form Guide will be provided for punters the week of the race.

Toorak Handicap Results

The Toorak Handicap race results and finishing order of all starters is known when the event runs on Caulfield Guineas Day. You can find out the winner, quinella, trifecta, first four as well as the winning margin for any exotic bets placed on the spring major.

K. Cid (1929) is the sole three-year-old Toorak Handicap winner in history.

There have been five multiple Toorak Handicap winners to date with Solzhenitsyn (2012, 2013); Umrum (1999, 2000); Nicopolis (1963, 1964); Desert Breeze (1952, 1953); and Saxony (1948, 1949) all winning the race twice.

Land Of Plenty holds the current Toorak Handicap race record winning in 2018 in a time of 1 minute 34.52 seconds.

Past Toorak Handicap Winners

Recent Toorak Handicap winners dating back to the year 1983 are detailed in the below table.

FAQ

When is the Toorak Handicap 2025?

What is the prize money for the Toorak Handicap 2025?

$1,000,000

Where is the Toorak Handicap 2025?

Caulfield Racecourse, Gate 2, Station St, Caulfield East VIC 3145