Empire Rose Stakes

The 2018 Empire Rose Stakes, previously known as the Myer Classic, is a Group 1 fillies and mares race that is held at Flemington Racecourse in late October or early November each year.

The race is held as part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival and is run on the first day of the four day Melbourne Cup Carnival. Run over a distance of 1,600 metres, the Empire Rose Stakes is held under weight-for-age conditions and is worth $500,000 in prize money.

2018 Empire Rose Stakes Results

  • 1st: #3 Shillelagh
  • 2nd: #8 Bring Me Roses
  • 3rd: #16 Fundamentalist

The Empire Rose Stakes is held on the same day as three other Group 1 races, the Victoria Derby, the Longines Mile and the Coolmore Stud Stakes and is regarded by many as the best day’s racing on the Victorian Racing Calendar.

The Empire Rose Stakes has had a reasonably short history, with the first race being run in 1988 when it was won by Concordance. The race was initially held as a Listed race until 1995 when it became a Group 3 race. The Myer Classic was elevated to Group 2 status in 1997 and eventually was rewarded with its Group 1 status in 2004.

Throughout the running of the Empire Rose Stakes the race has had a total of six different names, including The Honda Legend, Hong Kong Bank Stakes and Nestle Peters Classic. The race became known as the Myer Classic after being sponsored by Myer in 2005.

Horses that run in the Empire Rose Stakes often come via avenues such as the Group 2 Blazer Stakes or the Group 2 Tristarc Stakes earlier in the carnival.

The Empire Rose Stakes has continually produced high quality winners including Natural Wonder (1990), Miss Zoe (2002), Lotteria (2005), Divine Madonna (2007) and in more more recent years the Peter Moody trained Horse Of The Year  Typhoon Tracy (2009), the very popular Red Tracer (2013) from the Chris Waller stable and the well deserved winner Politeness (2015) prepared by noted Caulfield trainer Robert Smerdon.

No horse has won the Empire Rose Stakes on more than one occasion.

2018 Empire Rose Stakes Field

No Last 10 Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight Penalty Hcp Rating
1 7100×43111 I AM A STAR (NZ) Shane Nichols Ben Melham 3 57kg 108
2 43215×1412 INVINCIBELLA Chris Waller Hugh Bowman 12 57kg 108
3 76x462x444 SHILLELAGH (NZ) Chris Waller James McDonald 10 57kg 110
4 65467×9513 ECKSTEIN Kurt Goldman Kerrin McEvoy 1 57kg 105
5 x503768x83 ALOISIA (NZ) Ciaron Maher & David Eustace Michael Walker 14 57kg 104
6 x350397x64 INVINCIBLE GEM Kris Lees Corey Brown 13 57kg 106
7 1214x0x042 KENEDNA Darren Weir Damian Lane 11 57kg 95
8 x230040x74 BRING ME ROSES Tony McEvoy Damien Oliver 9 57kg 93
9 12235×2141 SHUMOOKH Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Tim Clark 7 57kg 108
10 446x5x1550 LA BELLA DIOSA (NZ) David & B Hayes & T Dabernig Mark Zahra 16 57kg 103
11 11161×4297 BELLA MARTINI Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes Brenton Avdulla 6 57kg 96
12 11x5292x64 TEMPLE OF BEL Tony McEvoy Luke Currie 17 57kg 76
13 2322×54413 OOHOOD Tony McEvoy Craig Williams 4 50kg 104
14 x31591x383 SEABROOK (NZ) Mick Price Michael Dee 5 50kg 102
15 422×1111 AMPHITRITE Darren Weir Dean Yendall 8 50kg 105
16 1223×08822 FUNDAMENTALIST David & B Hayes & T Dabernig Ben Thompson 15 50kg 94
17e 5433362332 MAMZELLE TESS Leon & Troy Corstens Jye McNeil 2 57kg 88

The Myer Classic field is limited to 16 horses and 4 emergency runners. The usual type of horse to enter the Myer Classic field is a fairly well-rounded mare who has had plenty of black type experience around the 1600m mark. Or, you might find some particularly talented three year old fillies lining up in the Myer Classic field on the back of a successful spring campaign.

2018 Empire Rose Stakes Nominations

Empire Rose Stakes nominations draw horses from stables around the entire country. As a major Group 1 feature event for fillies and mares, the Empire Rose Stakes nominations attract a decent amount of top quality contenders. The Empire Rose Stakes nominations fairly accurately reflect the overall quality of the current crop of fillies and mares on the racing circuit.

No. Last 10 Horse Sex Age Trainer Hcp Rating
1 x503768x83 ALOISIA (NZ) M 4 Ciaron Maher & David Eustace 104
2 422×1111 AMPHITRITE F 3 Darren Weir 105
3 11161×4297 BELLA MARTINI M 4 Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 96
4 x230040x74 BRING ME ROSES M 4 Tony McEvoy 93
5 65467×9513 ECKSTEIN M 5 Kurt Goldman 105
6 3x4213x303 EL DORADO DREAMING F 3 Kris Lees 102
7 1223×08822 FUNDAMENTALIST F 3 David & B Hayes & T Dabernig 94
8 7100×43111 I AM A STAR (NZ) M 5 Shane Nichols 108
9 43215×1412 INVINCIBELLA M 5 Chris Waller 108
10 x350397x64 INVINCIBLE GEM M 5 Kris Lees 106
11 1214x0x042 KENEDNA M 5 Darren Weir 95
12 446x5x1550 LA BELLA DIOSA (NZ) M 5 David & B Hayes & T Dabernig 103
13 5433362332 MAMZELLE TESS M 6 Leon & Troy Corstens 88
14 12x412x217 NOIRE M 5 Chris Waller 105
15 2322×54413 OOHOOD F 3 Tony McEvoy 104
16 3131641353 PRINCESS POSH M 5 Kris Lees 100
17 x31591x383 SEABROOK (NZ) F 3 Mick Price 102
18 76x462x444 SHILLELAGH (NZ) M 7 Chris Waller 110
19 12235×2141 SHUMOOKH M 4 Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott 108
20 11x5292x64 TEMPLE OF BEL M 4 Tony McEvoy 76

Empire Rose Stakes Results

Below you will find a list of Empire Rose Stakes winners, place getters and winning times since the year 2000.

Year Results Winning Time
2018 1 Shillelagh 2 Bring Me Roses 3 Fundamentalist 1:34.86
2017 1 Shoals 2 Eckstein 3 Dixie Blossoms TBD
2016 1 I Am A Star 2 French Emotion 3 Denmagic 1:35.56
2015 1 Politeness 2 Fenway 3 Azkadellia 1:37.75
2014 1 Bonaria 2 Sweet Idea 3 Catkins 1:36.55
2013 1 Red Tracer 2 Catkins 3 Fire Up Fifi 1:36.45
2012 1 Appearance 2 Soft Sand 3 Secret Admirer 1:34.97
2011 1 Hurtle Myrtle 2 Sacred Choice 3 Dysphonia 1:37.5
2010 1 Sacred Choice 2 Typhoon Tracy 3 Hot Danish 1:38.9
2009 1 Typhoon Tracy 2 Lady Lynette 3 Zarita 1:35.3
2008 1 Forensics 2 Absolutely Fabulous 3 Mimi Lebrock 1:35.9
2007 1 Divine Madonna 2 Translate 3 Red for Lou 1:36.1
2006 1 Lyrical Bid 2 Sea Change 3 Kosi Bay 1:37.6
2005 1 Lotteria 2 Miss Potential 3 Shania Dane 1:35.4
2004 1 Miss Potential 2 Alinghi 3 Infinite Grace 1:37.5
2003 1 Zanna 2 Infinite Grace 3 Mrs Tendulkar 1:38.4
2002 1 Miss Zoe 2 Purple Groove 3 Ramanos Star 1:35.8
2001 1 Market Price 2 Pernod 3 Calm Smytzer 1:34.2
2000 1 Super Sequel 2 Its Platonic 3 Nova Claus 1:37.8

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