Ladbrokes Tip: The Winx Stakes has been a gun guide to the George Main Stakes trifecta (now King Charles III Stakes) in recent years
The next edition of the Winx Stakes takes place on Saturday, August 22, 2026 to kick off Group 1 racing for the spring in Sydney.
2026 Winx Stakes Odds
The latest Winx Stakes 2026 betting odds on the runners in the one of the country’s more recent Group 1 races, dominated by the now retired Winx from 2016-18, will be provided below once markets open the week of the race.
Winx Stakes Tips
Good Winx Stakes tips including looking at past performers in the race that are still running well, horses with a nice Randwick race record and Group 1 runners heading into races like the King Charles III Stakes (formerly the George Main Stakes) later in the spring.
With a recent upgrade to Group 1 status and boosted prize money, the Winx Stakes tips are likely to be dominated by proven Group 1 horses with strong form in similar class races from the autumn carnival earlier in the year or any horses finishing-up a winter prep chasing a shot at elite level success.
Chris Waller-trained mares have a gun recent record in the race so also make a good Winx Stakes betting tip if presenting in the right form and race fitness with Fangirl (2023) improving on her second the year before and Via Sistina (2024 & 2025) the latest to win for the stable.
2026 Winx Stakes Tips
Our Ladbrokes’ insider Winx Stakes 2026 tips and Group 1 Randwick racing selections will be detailed below the week of the race so stay tuned for the weight-for-age spring gallopers to back and sack.
The Winx Stakes is a Group 1 race run in August during the early stages of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival at Royal Randwick Racecourse and was formerly known as the Group 2 Warwick Stakes up until its upgrade and name change in 2018.
The Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes, Group 3 Show County Quality and Group 3 Toy Show Quality are the key support races on the Winx Stakes Day card.
The weight-for-age feature is named in honour by the champion mare Winx who won the Warwick Stakes in 2016 and 2017 before making it a triple with her 2018 success.
Taking place over 1400m, the Winx Stakes is now also worth $1,000,000 in total prize money having had its stakes doubled in 2018 before a further boost ahead of the 2022 edition and again in 2023.
Many runners resume racing in the Winx Stakes on their way to tougher assignments in the Spring like the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) and Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) both also held at Randwick. In 2016, 2017 and 2018 Winx did the Warwick Stakes – George Main Stakes double. Anamoe (2022) was the last horse to do the Winx Stakes – George Main Stakes race double.
The George Main Stakes was renamed the King Charles III Stakes ahead of the 2023 edition and moved from September to take place in October on The Everest Day
Earlier in 2015 Royal Descent won the Warwick Stakes first-up before subsequent seconds in the George Main and the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. She also ran second in the 2014 edition before seconds in the George Main and Epsom Handicap.
In 2020 trainer Chris Waller won the event for a sixth time with his classy mare Verry Elleegant holding off her stablemate Star Of The Seas in a thrilling photo finish. Verry Elleegant went on to frank the Winx Stakes form winning a host of other Group 1 races including that season’s Caulfield Cup.
Subsequent Melbourne Cup winner Verry Elleegant returned in 2021 for a title defence, but had to settle for second behind Mo’unga in a race marred by the fatal fall of Brandenburg.
Waller added to his impressive Winx Stakes record in 2023 saluting for a seventh time with Fangirl improving on her second in the race the year before, before his eighth success in 2024 with Via Sistina defeating her stablemates Zougotcha (2nd) and Fangirl (3rd).
Waller celebrated his ninth Winx Stakes success in 2025 with Via Sistina going back-to-back with a win over her ATC Derby winning stablemate Aeliana in an all-Waller quinella.
Winx Stakes Race Info
- Date: Saturday, August 22, 2026
- Track: Royal Randwick Racecourse
- Distance: 1400m
- Conditions: Weight-for-age
- Status: Group 1
- Prize Money: $1,000,000
- First Run: 1923
2026 Winx Stakes Results
The full Winx Stakes 2026 Results and Finishing Order will be published below once the new Group 1 Sydney race is run and won on Saturday, August 22, 2026.
Winx Stakes Betting
Betting on the Winx Stakes is led by proven Sydney performers that race well first or second-up, have form around 1400m – 1600m and that have run well in similar or tougher company in recent campaigns.
Fit horses backing-up from a race like the Missile Stakes also run at Randwick Racecourse often feature high up the Winx Stakes odds, as do those that ran top three in the race the previous spring and have held their form over the past 12 months.
Looking for the Chris Waller runners in betting is also favourable as he has won the race nine times most recently in 2020 running the quinella with Verry Elleegant (1st) and Star Of The Seas (2nd); again in 2023 with Fangirl (2nd) and Princess Grace (3rd); taking out the 2024 trifecta with Via Sistina (1st), Zougotcha (2nd) and the previous year’s winner Fangirl (3rd); and claiming the exacta in 2025 with the defending champion Via Sistina (1st) and her younger stablemate Aeliana (2nd).
Verry Elleegant meanwhile also returned to run second as the beaten favourite in 2021.
Anamoe ($2.50 in 2022) and Via Sistina for her second win ($2.80 in 2025) are the latest Winx Stakes favourites to get the job done.
Winx Stakes Field
The Winx Stakes race field attracts middle distance sprinters – milers, the majority of which are just kicking off or in the early stages of their spring campaigns.
If not resuming in the race, runners may come into the Winx Stakes field – formerly the Warwick Stakes field – via a race like Flemington’s Group 3 Aurie’s Star Handicap (1200m) at Flemington earlier in the month. In 2014 Tiger Tees completed the Aurie’s Star – Warwick Stakes double.
Another lead-up race into the race field held in Sydney is the Group 2 Missile Stakes (1200m) at Randwick a fortnight earlier. The last horse to complete the Missile Stakes – Warwick Stakes double was Pinwheel (2012).
Winx won the race from 2016-18 first-up so looking for resuming horses in the Winx Stakes field, especially those that won a Group 1 the campaign before during the spring, is a good tip.
Mo’unga (2021), Anamoe (2022), Fangirl (2023), and Via Sistina (2024 & 2025) are the latest first-up Winx Stakes winners to claim the race fresh for the spring.
Following a run in the Winx Stakes field horses may return to Randwick in mid-September for a shot at the $1 million 7 Stakes (1600m) held on The Shorts Day for the first time in 2023 in place of the George Main Stakes.
2026 Winx Stakes Field
The official Winx Stakes 2026 final field and barrier draw is announced by Racing NSW on the Wednesday of race week with full acceptances to be listed below once released.
2026 Winx Stakes Nominations
The Winx Stakes nominations for 2026 are taken on the Monday leading-up to the race and all the early entries will be announced right here.
Winx Stakes Form Guide
The Winx Stakes form guide features all the must-know information like the jockeys and trainers, barrier draw and lead-up runs of the horses in the field.
As many runners are kicking off their spring campaigns in the weight-for-age event, looking at the Winx Stakes form for first-up hopes with nice records when fresh is important. Royal Descent (2015) won first-up, improving on her second to Tiger Tees in 2014, before star stablemate Winx won the 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions fresh as did Waller’s seventh Winx Stakes winner Fangirl in 2023 and the stable’s eighth champion Via Sistina in 2024.
The Winx Stakes form, previously run as the Warwick Stakes, has held-up in tougher spring races plenty of times in recent years especially the George Main Stakes (now King Charles III Stakes) over the Randwick mile later in the spring.
In 2021 Verry Elleegant improved on her Winx Stakes second to win the George Main Stakes next start. She also went on to win that spring’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November.
Anamoe franked the Winx Stakes 2022 form going on to win three straight Group 1 races that spring including the Ladbrokes Cox Plate before a huge autumn in 2023 that included his Chipping Norton – George Ryder Group 1 double.
Via Sistina franked the 2024 Winx Stakes form going on to win a record number of subsequent Group 1 races that season including her historic eight-length victory in the Ladbrokes Cox Plate. She also returned to go back-to-back in the 2025 Winx Stakes results.
Via Sistina franked the form in a big way, returning in the spring of 2025 to pull off the rare Cox Plate–Champions Stakes double before bowing out of racing. That same Winx Stakes formline only strengthened as the season rolled on, with runner‑up Aeliana going on an elite tear of her own — consistently landing in the money at Group 1 level and ultimately completing the Ranvet Stakes–Tancred Stakes double at Rosehill in March 2026.
2026 Winx Stakes Form Facts
- Five-year-olds have the best record in the Winx Stakes with 11 wins in the past 30 years, most recently Verry Elleegant (2020) and Fangirl (2023).
- First-up performers dominate the race with 26 of the past 34 winners doing so fresh, most recently Mo’unga (2021), Anamoe (2022), Fangirl (2023), and Via Sistina (2024 & 2025).
- Eleven mares have won the Warwick / Winx Stakes throughout history most recently Verry Elleegant (2020), Fangirl (2023), and Via Sistina (2024 & 2025) all for Chris Waller.
- Since 1983, 17 favourites have won the Warwick / Winx Stakes, most recently Winx who was odds-on for all three of her victories between 2016-18, Anamoe (2022) and Via Sistina for her second success (2025).
- Trusting (2009) was the last three-year-old winner.
2026 Winx Stakes Form Guide
A link to our comprehensive Winx Stakes 2026 Form Guide will be provided for punters below the week of the race.
Past Winx Stakes Results
The Winx Stakes race results have been a mix of well-backed single-figure hopes and roughie hopes scoring the upset in the past decade with the last to salute at double-figures being shock 2019 winner Samadoubt ($41).
In recent times there have been some notable winners of the Winx Stakes including subsequent Cox Plate hero Via Sistina (2024 & 2025), Fangirl (2023), the fellow Waller-trained Verry Elleegant (2020), her three-time champion Winx (2016-18) who the race is now named in honour of, Royal Descent (2015), Tiger Tees (2014), Pinwheel (2011-12), Metal Bender (2010), and Racing To Win (2008).
Last Winx Stakes winning mare: Via Sistina (2024 & 2025).
Last Winx Stakes winning three-year-old: Trusting (2009).
Samadoubt holds the current Winx Stakes record winning in 2001 in a time of 1 minute 21:05 seconds.
Recent Winx Stakes / Warwick Stakes Winners
Recent Winx Stakes winners and placegetters dating back to the year 2000 are detailed in the below table.
| Year | Winner | Runner-Up | Third | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 2025 | Via Sistina | Aeliana | Arapaho | 1:26.02 |
| 2024 | Via Sistina | Zougotcha | Fangirl | 1:23.15 |
| 2023 | Fangirl | Princess Grace | Zaaki | 1:24.1 |
| 2022 | Anamoe | Fangirl | Profondo | 1:24.2 |
| 2021 | Mo’unga | Verry Elleegant | She’s Ideel | 1:22.1 |
| 2020 | Verry Elleegant | Star Of The Seas | Fierce Impact | 1:23.2 |
| 2019 | Samadoubt | Happy Clapper | Invincible Gem | 1:21.0 |
| 2018 | Winx | Invictus Prince | D’argento | 1:22.5 |
| 2017 | Winx | Foxplay | Ecuador | 1:21.8 |
| 2016 | Winx | Hartnell | Rebel Dane | 1:23.8 |
| 2015 | Royal Descent | Pornichet | Messene | 1:21.5 |
| 2014 | Tiger Tees | Royal Descent | Criterion | 1:27.7 |
| 2013 | Veyron | Streama | Rain Affair | 1:21.5 |
| 2012 | Pinwheel | Secret Admirer | Danleigh | 1:22.5 |
| 2011 | Pinwheel | Ilovethiscity | Startsmeup | 1:25.8 |
| 2010 | Metal Bender | Triple Honour | Danleigh | 1:24.2 |
| 2009 | Trusting | O’lonhro | Mr Baritone | 1:21.5 |
| 2008 | Racing to Win | Gallant Tess | Danzippo | 1:24.5 |
| 2007 | Race not run | |||
| 2006 | Courts In Session | Racing To Win | Desert War | 1:23.3 |
| 2005 | Sir Dex | Dizelle | Sportsman | 1:22.8 |
| 2004 | Private Steer | So Assertive | Niello | 1:22.7 |
| 2003 | Lonhro | Clangalang | Defier | 1:24.3 |
| 2002 | Defier | Lonhro | Republic Lass | 1:22.8 |
| 2001 | Lonhro | Diamond Dane | Shogun Lodge | 1:17.3 |
| 2000 | Al Mansour | Hire | Celestial Choir | 1:14.7 |
FAQ
Who won the 2025 Winx Stakes?
The 2025 Winx Stakes was won by the defending champion, eight-year-old Fastnet Rock mare Via Sistina, at $2.80 favouritism for now nine-time winning trainer Chris Waller with jockey James McDonald aboard on 57kg from barrier 1 to win by 0.36 lengths on a Heavy (10) track in a time of 1:26.02.
When is the Winx Stakes 2026?
Saturday, August 22, 2026What is the prize money for the Winx Stakes 2026?
$1,000,000
Where is the Winx Stakes 2026?
Randwick Racecourse, Alison Rd, Randwick NSW 2031.
How do I bet on the 2026 Winx Stakes?
Bet online or via the latest iOS/Android apps with Ladbrokes.
The first step is to create an account at ladbrokes.com.au. The process is quick and easy!
Once you've created your account you can make a deposit via credit card, or any other of our secure payment methods. Next up, head to the racing page and find the race and runner that's right for you.
Which horse will win the 2026 Winx Stakes?
The best way to pick which horse will win the Winx Stakes is to take into account the form, assess the barriers, and consider the weight the horse will carry (among other factors). Check out ladbrokes.com.au in the lead up to the race for full form information.