Winterbottom Stakes 2023

Ladbrokes Tip: Horses coming off a Melbourne lead-up run have dominated the Winterbottom Stakes in recent years.

The Winterbottom Stakes is one of the three Group 1 Perth Summer Racing Carnival features run at Ascot Racecourse annually and is the feature race of the late November – early December meeting.

2022 Winterbottom Stakes winner Paulele (pictured winning Melbourne’s Group 2 Schillaci Stakes). Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Contested over 1200m the sprint feature is run at weight-for-age a week after the Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m), both elite level events offering $1.5 million in prize money in 2022.

Horses come into the race via a host of different lead-up races, but the previous month’s Group 3 Prince Of Wales Stakes (1200m) and also the Group 3 Colonel Reeves Stakes (1100m) both held in W.A. earlier in November have been good guides to the Group 1 in recent years.

The Colonel Reeves Stakes – Winterbottom Stakes double was most recently achieved by Barakey (2012). More recently, Graceful Girl (2021) improved on a lead-up second in the Colonel Reeves to win the Group 1 at $9.

Horses that run well in the Winterbottom Stakes are now likely to target the following autumn’s $4 million The Quokka (1200m) slot-race held the first time in April of 2023.

In 2023 Overpass won the inaugural The Quokka race before returning to Ascot that summer to salute in the Winterbottom Stakes. 

The latest edition of the Winterbottom Stakes ran on Saturday December 2, 2023 as the second Group 1 event of the Perth Summer Racing Carnival in WA and saw the autumn’s The Quokka champ Overpass ($3F) return to winning form with another feature race victory in Perth. 

2023 Winterbottom Stakes Results

The official Winterbottom Stakes 2023 results and full finishing order will be available below once the million dollar sprint runs on Saturday December 2, 2023 over the Festival of Perth Racing.

• 1st: #1 Overpass
• 2nd: #16 Oscar’s Fortune
• 3rd: #15 Ripcord

The Bjorn Baker-trained favourite Overpass ($3F) relished a return west with the autumn’s The Quokka champion making it two-from-two at Ascot coming right out to the middle of the track at the top of the straight to bound away from his rivals and post a stylish win for the punters in the 2023 Winterbottom Stakes results.

2023 Winterbottom Stakes Odds

The latest Winterbottom Stakes 2023 odds and Perth Group 1 betting market links will be provided below so stay tuned for the top WA racing odds on the short distance specialists this summer.

Winterbottom Stakes Race Info

• Date: Saturday December 2, 2023
• Track: Ascot Racecourse
• Distance: 1200m
• Conditions: Weight-for-age
• Status: Group 1
• Prize Money: $1.5 million
• First Run: 1952

Winterbottom Stakes Betting

All-in futures Winterbottom Stakes betting on the likely line-up opens the month before the race soon after nominations close. The markets firm once the Winterbottom Stakes field and barriers are confirmed the week of the race.

Last-start winners won four of the five editions of the race from 2011 – 2015, so sprinters coming off a lead-up win often dominate the Winterbottom Stakes odds.

Horses that performed well in events such as the Group 1 VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) – now known as the Champions Sprint – at Flemington if they are travelling across the country or the Group 3 Colonel Reeves Stakes locally are well-fancied in the Group 1 markets for the Winterbottom. Paulele (11th in 2022) was the last Champions Sprint graduate to head east and win the Winterbottom Stakes.

Favourites have a gun Winterbottom Stakes record with seven saluting for the punters from 2006 – 2023 including Buffering for his second in 2015. Buffering also led Winterbottom Stakes betting for his win in 2013 and was the third favourite in as many years to salute that season.

In 2020 there was a notable upset with Elite Street beating a field of better fancied runners as a 30/1 shot in Winterbottom Stakes betting, while Paulele scored an upset at Winterbottom Stakes odds of $13 in 2022.

Overpass ($3 in 2023) was the last Winterbottom Stakes favourite to salute. 

Winterbottom Stakes Tips

Good Winterbottom Stakes tips include looking for sprinters proven over the distance and coming off a lead-up win in a race like the Colonel Reeves Stakes at the track earlier in the carnival.

Favourites have a strong strike rate in the race over the past 20 years, so sticking with the bookies’ pick is another historically successful tip in Winterbottom Stakes betting selections.

2023 Winterbottom Stakes Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ exclusive Winterbottom Stakes 2023 tips and Group 1 betting selections will be detailed below the week of the race so stay tuned for the summer sprinters to back and sack this season.

• To Win: #1 Overpass ($3 at time of publish) – BET NOW 

Happy to stick with the race favourite Overpass who won the $4 million The Quokka here at this track and trip in the autumn. The Bjorn Baker-trained five-year-old has been competitive in some top races since including a Group 1 Doomben 10,000 second in the winter and Group 2 The Shorts second in Sydney fresh in the spring. His latest run saw him finish 10th in the $20 million The Everest (1200m). He was only four lengths off the winner in the world’s richest turf race and this is an easier assignment. Proven in Perth, runs well fresh, and can salute.

Winterbottom Stakes Field

The Winterbottom Stakes race field attracts a line-up of the spring / summer’s best Perth sprinters. Interstate talent often also makes the line-up and Robert Heathcote’s Brisbane-trained, internationally-performed champion Buffering won the Winterbottom Stakes twice in 2013 and 2015.

Dual Winterbottom Stakes winner Buffering (2013 & 2015) saluted for the punters as the race favourite in both editions. Photo Credit: Daniel Costello.

The race has a capacity of 16 starters and the Winterbottom Stakes field was last run at capacity in 2023 when Overpass won from barrier 10 of 16. 

Winterbottom Stakes nominations close a month before the race in October before the final field and barriers are released on the Monday before the event takes place on the Saturday.

2023 Winterbottom Stakes Field

The official Winterbottom Stakes 2023 Final Field is announced on the Monday of race week followed by the 2023 Winterbottom Stakes Barriers on the Tuesday and will be published in full below once released by Perth Racing.

The Winterbottom Stakes 2023 final field features a capacity line-up of summer sprinters led in betting by the Bjorn Baker-trained Overpass racing third-up in gate 11 who won the $4 million The Quokka at this track and distance in the autumn.

2023 Winterbottom Stakes Nominations

The early nominations for the 2023 Winterbottom Stakes close in early October over a month out from the Group 1 Perth sprint and will be published in full below.

The 2023 Winterbottom Stakes nominations close on Monday the 16th of October, 2023. 

The Winterbottom Stakes 2023 nominations attracted 68 summer hopefuls led in all-in betting by star local mare Amelia’s Jewel who won last year’s Group 1 Northerly Stakes and has been racing well in Melbourne over the spring.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Winterbottom Stakes Form Guide

The Winterbottom Stakes form guide details all the must know facts for punters including the jockeys, trainers, barriers and lead-up runs of all the horses in the field.

Looking over the historical data, horses drawn in double digits have a recently strong record in the race with a number of Winterbottom Stakes winners since Miss Andretti (13 of 16 in 2005) saluting from barrier nine or wider including Magnifisio (10 of 12) in 2014, Voodoo Lad (13 of 14) in 2018, Hey Doc (13 of 14) in 2019, Elite Street (12 of 15 in 2020), Graceful Girl (16 of 16 in 2021), Paulele (15 of 16 in 2022), and Overpass (10 of 16 in 2023). 

While locally-trained runners have a good record against any visitors, interstate horses and jockeys have plenty of recent wins including Paul Messara’s mare Ortensia (2009 and 2011), Buffering (2013 and 2015), Viddora (2017) from the Adelaide stables of Lloyd Kennewell, the ill-fated Voodoo Lad (2018) from Melbourne, the Tony & Calvin McEvoy-trained Hey Doc (2019), the Godolphin-raced Paulele (2022), and Bjorn Baker’s Sydney visitor Overpass (2023).

In 2022 the Winterbottom Stakes runner-up Kissonallforcheeks franked the form with a next-up second in the inaugural Group 3 $1.5 million The Gold Rush (1400m) back at the track.

Winterbottom Stakes Form Facts

• Seven Winterbottom Stakes winners since 2005 have jumped from a double digit barrier including Graceful Girl (16 of 16 in 2021), Paulele (15 of 16 in 2022), and Overpass (10 of 16 in 2023). 
• From 2011 – 2023 five Winterbottom Stakes winners came off a lead-up victory.
• Melbourne races have been a good Winterbottom Stakes form line to follow with eight winners from 2011 – 2023 having come off a Victorian run.
• From 2011 – 2023 five favourites in Winterbottom Stakes betting saluted for the punters.

2023 Winterbottom Stakes Form Guide

A link to a comprehensive Winterbottom Stakes 2023 Form Guide will be provided below the week of the race.

Winterbottom Stakes Results

While favourites have dominated the recent Winterbottom Stakes race results the biggest upset of the past decade was Hadabeclorka ($41 in 2010).

Along with dual champions Ortensia (2009 and 2011) and Buffering (2013 and 2015) other notable Winterbottom Stakes winners include Takeover Target (2008), Miss Andretti (2005), the last back-to-back winner Hardrada (2002-03), and the inaugural The Quokka champ at the track earlier in the year Overpass (2023). 

Graceful Girl (2021) was the last Winterbottom Stakes winning mare.

Hardrada (2002) was the last Winterbottom Stakes winning three-year-old.

Belinda’s Star (1975) was the last Winterbottom Stakes winning filly.

Buffering holds the current Winterbottom Stakes race record winning over 1200m in 2015 in 1 minute 08:17 seconds.

Past Winterbottom Stakes Winners

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