William Reid Stakes 2025

Ladbrokes Tip: The Newmarket Handicap is the best lead-up race into the William Reid Stakes in recent years

The latest edition of the William Reid Stakes ran on Saturday March 22, 2025 at The Valley and was won in an impressive front running performance by the John O’Shea & Tom Charlton trained Schwarz ($5.50).

2025 William Reid Stakes Results

The William Reid Stakes Results 2025 and finishing order for the Moonee Valley Group 1 race will be known on Saturday March 22, 2025 and published right here.

Schwarz winning the 2025 William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

• 1st: #4 Schwarz
• 2nd: #5 Benedetta
• 3rd: #1 Jimmysstar

The John O’Shea & Tom Charlton trained four-year-old Schwarz ($5.50) finally started to live up to his lucrative purchase price when atoning for a last place effort in the CF Orr over 1400m leading all-the-way back down to 1200m at his pet Moonee Valley track to dominate the 2025 William Reid Stakes results.

2025 William Reid Stakes Odds

The top William Reid Stakes 2025 odds on the Group 1 autumn sprint will be available below the week of the race so make sure you check back to get behind your favourite Moonee Valley track specialists at the right price.

The William Reid Stakes is a Group 1 race at Moonee Valley Racecourse in late March during the Melbourne Autumn Racing Carnival. It is one of the final Melbourne feature races of the season scheduled before top-level racing moves to Sydney.

In recent years it has been run under the lights on a Friday night but in 2024 takes place on the same Saturday Sydney hosts the Golden Slipper.

2024 William Reid Stakes winner Imperatriz. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Contested over 1200m it is a weight-for-age race for sprinters and has a field limit of 14 runners competing for $1,000,000 in total prize money as of 2022.

The key lead-up race into the William Reid Stakes is the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) run over the same distance down the Flemington straight a fortnight earlier.

Sunlight (2019) was the last sprinter to complete the Newmarket Handicap – William Reid Stakes double, while the next year Newmarket runner-up Loving Gaby (2020) went one better becoming the second straight filly to win the William Reid Stakes.

In 2022 the William Reid Stakes winner September Run improved on a Newmarket Handicap third for her upset at $17.

The 2023 Newmarket Handicap also produced that year’s William Reid champion with the defending winner Imperatriz improving on her second in the Flemington race when carrying the 58kg topweight before returning to The Valley and WFA.

Many William Reid Stakes horses often head to Sydney next targeting the TJ Smith Stakes on Doncaster Mile Day or the All Aged Stakes over 1400m at Randwick after the two-day The Championships in April.

The last horse to win the William Reid Stakes – TJ Smith Stakes double without a run in between was Black Caviar (2013), while the Newmarket Handicap – William Reid Stakes double was also achieved by the superstar mare in 2011.

William Reid Stakes Race Info

• Date: Saturday March 22, 2025
• Track: Moonee Valley Racecourse
• Distance: 1200m
• Conditions: Weight-for-age
• Status: Group 1
• Prize Money: $1,000,000
• First Run: 1925

William Reid Stakes Betting

William Reid Stakes betting is led by sprinters that come via a top three run in the Newmarket Handicap or Lightning Stakes earlier in the autumn.

These two autumn races have provided more William Reid Stakes winners than any other events and make popular betting doubles.

Just three of the 23 William Reid Stakes winners from 2003 – 2025 finished worse than third in their Group lead-up run, most recently Schwarz (10th in the CF Orr Stakes in 2025). 

From 2006 – 2025 the favourites in the William Reid Stakes odds saluted for the punters seven times including champion mare Black Caviar (2011 and 2013), Sunlight ($1.70 in 2019), and fellow mare Imperatriz ($3.60 in 2023 and $1.70 in 2024).

Horses drawn wide are also risky in William Reid Stakes betting with Toledo (10 in 2002), Silent Sedition (10 in 2017), Hellbent (10 in 2018), and September Run (10 in 2022) the only winners from a double-digit barrier in over 30 years.

William Reid Stakes Field

The William Reid Stakes race field has a capacity of 14 starters and was last run at capacity in 2015 when Lucky Hussler won as an 11/1 shot. From 2009 – 2012 the race attracted only seven or eight runners in the field with superstar sprinters Apache Cat and Black Caviar scaring away the rivals.

Traditionally horses come into the William Reid Stakes field via a lead-up run in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) two weeks earlier at Flemington or the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (1000m) in late February.

The Newmarket Handicap and Black Caviar Stakes produced all but eight of the 21 William Reid Stakes winners from 2002 – 2025. The latest horses to complete the Newmarket Handicap – William Reid Stakes double were Black Caviar (2011) who also won the latter in 2013 and Sunlight (2019).

The Lightning Stakes – William Reid Stakes double was most recently secured by another double winner of the Moonee Valley feature when Apache Cat scored his first in 2008, followed by Black Caviar (2013) who the first leg of the double (Black Caviar Lightning) is now named in honour of.

In 2023 Imperatriz came via a different lead-up improving on her second in Sydney’s Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) to win at The Valley.

Imperatriz returned in 2024 to go back-to-back in the William Reid Stakes following a win in the Black Caviar Lightning and Newmarket Handicap second that autumn.

William Reid Stakes nominations close the Monday prior to the race with the field out on the Wednesday when the William Reid Stakes barrier draw is also conducted.

2025 William Reid Stakes Field

The William Reid Stakes field 2025 and barrier draw will be published below on the Tuesday of race week so stay tuned.

The William Reid Stakes 2025 final field features a small but competitive field of nine with Jimmysstar coming off an Oakleigh Plate win fresh heading the markets.

2025 William Reid Stakes Nominations

The early William Reid Stakes 2025 nominations close the Monday of race week and will be published right here so stay tuned to see what sprinters make up the original entries for the sprint.

The William Reid Stakes 2025 nominations feature 16 top sprinters led in all-in betting by Ciaron Maher’s first-up Group 1 Oakleigh Plate champ on Blue Diamond Day Jimmysstar.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

William Reid Stakes Tips

The best William Reid Stakes tips are to back in-form autumn sprinters coming off a placing in the Newmarket Handicap or Lightning Stakes. It is also a top William Reid Stakes tip to back a horse drawn no wider than nine with the most successful barrier since 1983 producing seven winners being gate one – the inside alley.

Fillies & mares have a strong record over the boys in the William Reid Stakes in recent years with 11 wins since 2004 most recently September Run (2022) and Imperatriz (2023 & 2024), while six three-year-olds have beaten the older horses in the race since 2003 including the fillies Sunlight (2019) and Loving Gaby (2020).

Looking for gallopers with proven form on tight tracks like the Moonee Valley circuit is also a good betting tip for the William Reid Stakes.

2025 William Reid Stakes Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ insider William Reid Stakes 2025 tips and exotic Group 1 betting selections will be detailed below the week of the race so stay tuned for the sprinters to back and sack in the Group 1 The Valley feature this autumn.

Hard to bet against the airborne Jimmysstar in a far from vintage edition of the William Reid Stakes. Ciaron Maher’s Kiwi bred Per Incanto gelding has his first run at the tight Moonee Valley circuit but if he handles the course, he’s the winner. Still at a backable price to go back-to-back in Group 1 grade in Melbourne this prep following his impressive resuming win in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield on Diamond Day in late Feb. Has been kept fresh with a month between runs and he’ll relish the 1200m now. He’s proven up to 1500m so the six-furlongs second-up looks ideal. Carries more weight up from 54.5kg in the Oakleigh to 58.5kg at WFA but he had over a length to spare on the line last time out from a wide alley (14). Gun gate two draw in a small nine-horse field on Saturday, made up ground in the Oakleigh and is fitter now with previous winning form second-up. Can win again.

2023 William Reid Stakes winner Imperatriz. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

William Reid Stakes Form Guide

The William Reid Stakes form guide shows the jockeys, trainers, barriers and lead-up form for all the horses in the field.

Keeping an eye on sprinters coming off a good run in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap is a top tip as is checking the barrier draw with the William Reid Stakes favouring those drawn the inside alley.

Jockey Glen Boss rode two William Reid Stakes winners with Turfontein (2010) and Lucky Hussler (2010) so checking the jockeys in the form guide is also a good idea for successful punting on the classic.

The 2022 William Reid form was franked with the winner Sunlight finishing third in the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) in Adelaide next-up. The William Reid second placegetter Halvorsen also placed that autumn in an Adelaide Group 1 when runner-up in The Goodwood results.

Imperatriz franked the William Reid Stakes 2023 form winning her next four race starts including a Group 1 double at the track in the Moir Stakes and Manikato in the spring, as well as Flemington’s Champions Sprint that Melbourne Cup Carnival.

She enjoyed another William Reid Stakes win in 2024 to become a 10-time Group 1 champion.

William Reid Stakes Form Facts

• From 2007 – 2025 eight William Reid Stakes betting favourites saluted for the punters most recently Sunlight ($1.70 in 2019) and Imperatriz ($3.60 in 2023 and $1.70 in 2024).
• A Flemington run in the lead-up is the best William Reid Stakes form guide with all but seven of the winners from 2008 – 2025 coming off either the Lighting Stakes or Newmarket Handicap.
• Six-year-olds have a dominant record in the William Reid Stakes results with four wins from 2009 – 2025.
• Horses drawn in barriers one and two have the best record in the race in the past decade.

2025 William Reid Stakes Form Guide

A link to our comprehensive William Reid Stakes 2025 Form Guide will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

William Reid Stakes Results

While favourites have a strong recent record in the race upsets in the William Reid Stakes race results in the past decade have also occurred including September Run ($17 in 2022), Foxwedge ($12 in 2012) and Turffontein ($12 in 2010).

The longest priced William Reid Stakes winner in the past three decades was Toledo ($31 in 2002).

Some notable William Reid Stakes winners in recent years include include Masked Crusader (2021), Loving Gaby (2020), Sunlight (2019), Black Caviar (2011 and 2013), Apache Cat (2008 and 2009), Miss Andretti (2007), and Regimental Gal (2004).

Imperatriz (2023 & 2024) was the last William Reid Stakes winning mare.

Loving Gaby (2020) was the last three-year-old William Reid Stakes winner.

Spanish Mix holds the current 1200m William Reid Stakes race record winning in 1993 in 1 minute 08:80 seconds.

Past William Reid Stakes Winners

Recent William Reid Stakes winners and placegetters dating back to the year 2000 are detailed in the below table.

FAQ

Who won the 2025 William Reid Stakes?

The 2025 William Reid Stakes was won by four-year-old Zoustar entire Schwarz at $5.50 for trainers John O’Shea & Tom Charlton with jockey Jamie Mott aboard on 58.5kg from barrier 5 to win by 1 length in a time of 1:11.83.

When is the William Reid Stakes 2025?

What is the prize money for the William Reid Stakes 2025?

$1,000,000

Where is the William Reid Stakes 2025?

Moonee Valley Racecourse, Feehan Ave Moonee Ponds Vic 3039