VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024

The VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes makes a nice target for stayers that didn’t make the 24-horse Melbourne Cup field

The VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes – recently run as the Queen’s Cup – is a Group 3 staying showdown held on Champion Stakes Day at Flemington on the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

The meeting is headlined by a triple shot of Group 1 racing action with the running of the $3 million Champions Stakes (2000m), $3 million Champions Sprint (1200m), and the $3 million Champions Mile (1600m).

2022 Queen’s Cup winner Soulcombe. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

The event should not be confused with the Group 1 $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) held in Sydney during the autumn.

It is a popular end-of-spring target for stayers that may originally have been aimed at the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) over the two miles on the first Tuesday of November.

Any horse balloted out of the Melbourne Cup that goes on to win the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (VRC) / Queen’s Cup race is eligible for a VRC bonus.

Irish-trained mare True Self (2019) for the first of her two victories was the last Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner to collect on the bonus. 

The quality handicap event is contested of 2600m so is a gruelling staying test and offers $300,000 in prize money.

The race has been known under a host of various names over its long history that dates back to the inaugural running in 1854 when it was first run as the Queen’s Plate (1854-1872).

The latest edition of the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes ran on Saturday November 9, 2024 on Stakes Day at Flemington and was won by the Ciaron Maher-trained Smokin’ Romans ($13) in a stylish all-the-way upset.

2024 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Results

• 1st: #4 Smokin’ Romans
• 2nd: #8 Star Vega
• 3rd: #2 Berkeley Square

The Ciaron Maher-trained eight-year-old Smokin’ Romans ($13) improved on a lead-up fourth in the JRA Cup bursting free of the field to lead all-the-way and hold off a late run by Star Vega off a confident Ben Melham ride in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024 results on Champions Stakes Day.

2024 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Odds

The season’s top VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024 betting odds and Flemington market links to the Stakes Day support act will be available below the week of the race so stay tuned for the top prices on the spring stayers.

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Race Facts

• Date: Saturday November 9, 2024
• Track: Flemington Racecourse
• Distance: 2600m
• Conditions: Quality Handicap
• Status: Group 3
• Prize Money: $300,000
• First Run: 1854

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Betting

Betting on the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes is led by the season’s second-best stayers that could have been on the Melbourne Cup path but unable to make the 24-horse field in the world’s richest two mile handicap.

Warning ($3.40 in 2021), Soulcombe ($3 in 2022) – who was making his Australian race debut as an import for trainer Chris Waller and would return in the 2023 Melbourne Cup to finish second – and Muramasa ($4.40 in 2023) are the latest VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes favourites to win.

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Tips

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes tips to take to the bookmakers during the Melbourne Cup Carnival include backing stayers with proven race experience, any Group 1 graduates down in grade, those with winning form over at least 2400m, and the better-weighted runners in the handicap event.

Watching out for horses out of key lead-ups including the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) and Group 2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m) is also key when looking for the best VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes betting tips.

2024 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ insider VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024 tips and Flemington racing selections will be detailed below the week of the race so stay tuned for the stayers to back and sack in the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes betting markets this spring.

• To Win: #7 Kinesiology ($2.70 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Some horses are just perennial placegetters and are scared of winning and it is tough to tip them but going against that in a small and winnable Queen Elizabeth at HQ and sticking with the Chris Waller-trained Kinesiology to shrug that runner-up status. This consistent entire has been a source of frustration for connections back in Ireland running second in his latest four. Debuts down under now for Waller and is being thrown straight into it at 2600m. May be yet to win over further than 2000m but two back in August was beaten a nose hair over 2816m with 60.5kg on his back. Carries just 54kg from the inside alley and think he’ll make an immediate impact looking ahead to the 2025 Melbourne Cup.

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Field

The VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes race field attracts a line-up of classy stayers every spring, the majority of which are using it as a final chance to secure a Group win for the season before turning out for a spell.

Some of the key lead-up races into the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes field include the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m), Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m), and even the Group 3 Lexus Archer Stakes (2500m) earlier in the spring.

True Self (2019) improved on a first-up second in the Geelong Cup before her first VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes win.

The Geelong Cup – VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes double meanwhile was last completed by Vengeur Masque who also placed second in that year’s Lexus Stakes results.

Runners that are not heading to the paddock may back-up in the Group 2 $750,000 Zipping Classic (2400m) currently held at Caulfield in early December.

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes nominations close the Monday before Champions Stakes Day runs on the Saturday and the final field and barriers are out on the Wednesday.

2024 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Field

The official VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024 Final Field & Barriers are announced on the Wednesday leading-up to Champions Stakes Day and will be published in full below once released so stay tuned to see what stayers make the line-up in the lucrative Group 3 showdown.

The Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024 field at Flemington features a small field of stayers including Chris Waller’s Irish import Kinesiology on debut down under and Dan O’Sullivan’s Bendigo Cup runner-up Berkeley Square looking for further frank that form after 90/1 Melbourne Cup champ Knight’s Order came off a fifth in the same race.

2024 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Nominations

The early VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024 Nominations close on the Monday ahead of the race – Melbourne Cup eve – and will be available below once confirmed by Racing Victoria.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Form Guide

The VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes form guide provides punters with all the crucial information and statistics from the jockeys, trainers and barriers to the track / distance records of all the stayers in the field.

The 2021 Queen Elizabeth Stakes form was franked with second place-getter Sound continuing on to win the Sandown (Zipping) Classic next start, while Wentwood finished third in both events.

The 2023 Queen Elizabeth Stakes form from Flemington was franked the following spring with the third placed Duke De Sessa winning the 2024 Group 1 Caulfield Cup.

2024 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Form Guide

A link to the comprehensive VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024 Form Guide will be provided below the week of the race so stay tuned for all the facts / stats you need to place a winning wager on the field this spring.

VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes Results

The VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes race results have seen a host of very good stayers take out the title including a number of either former or subsequent Melbourne Cup winners.

Tim Whiffler (1867 & 1870) was the first dual Queen Elizabeth Stakes (VRC) winner. He also completed the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (VRC) – Melbourne Cup double in 1867.

True Self (2019-2020) is the last dual VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner.

Other multiple VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes winners include: Hyperno (1979 & 1980), Sailor’s Guide (1956 & 1958), Rising Fast (1954 & 1955), Hydrogen (1952 & 1953), High Caste (1939, 1940 & 1941), and Alawa (1908, 1909 & 1910).

Other Melbourne Cup winners to also take out the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (VRC) during their careers include: Warrior (1871), Don Juan (1873), Patron (1893), Artilleryman (1919), Phar Lap (1930), Even Stevens (1962), Galilee (1966), Rain Lover (1968), Hyperno (1979-80), Might And Power (1998), and history’s only three-time Melbourne Cup champion Makybe Diva (2002).

Notable recent VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes / Queen’s Cup winners include Puissance De Lune (2012), Precedence (2013), Francis Of Assisi (2016), Warning (2021), and Soulcombe (2022).

True Self (2020) was also the last VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes winning mare.

Francis Of Assisi holds the current VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes race record winning over 2600m in 2016 in a time of 2 minutes 41:13 seconds.

Past VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes / Queen’s Cup Winners

Recent VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes / Queen’s Cup winners and placegetters dating back to the year 2000 are detailed in the below table.

FAQ

Who won the 2024 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes?

The 2024 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes was won by the Ciaron Maher-trained Smokin’ Romans at $13 with Ben Melham aboard.

When is the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024?

What is the prize money for the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024?

$300,000

Where is the VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes 2024?

Flemington Racecourse, 448 Epsom Rd, Flemington VIC 3031.