The 2019 Australia Stakes is a Group 2 contest run at the end of January every year at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne.

The Australia Stakes is run under weight for age conditions with a handy prize pool of [cf prize_money] up for grabs.

The Australia Stakes is a sprint event with a distance of just 1200m. The action is always frantic with the tight turning and short Moonee Valley circuit always providing some of the closest fought racing.

The Australia Stakes has its name due to the event falling on the same week as Australia Day. The Moonee Valley Race Club has tried to cash in on the excitement generated around this period and the Friday night meeting has a real party type feel.

This race became the Australia Stakes in 2010, previous to that it was called the Carlyon Stakes. It has also been known as the Stanley Wootton Stakes in the past.

The Australia Stakes is one of the first black type races of the year anywhere in the country and suits horses which are either pushing on through the summer or getting into it early before the Autumn.

It can be used as an early tune up for races like the Group 1 Lightning Stakes at Flemington a couple of weeks later or event the Group 1 William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley in two months time.

Away from the top level something like the Group 3 Rubiton Stakes could also be suited on CF Orr Stakes Day.

Despite being held so early in the year the Australia Stakes fields always tend to be of quality and there are some real champions on the winners list.

Schillaci won this race in 1993 while Clang was the champion in 1997.

Royal Code got the job done in 2002 and El Segundo got up in 2007.

More recently the world champion superstar Black Caviar triumphed in 2009 and the impressive Whitefriars upstaged Typhoon Tracy to win in 2011.

2019 Australia Stakes Field

The Australia Stakes field regularly features some top sprinters from around Victoria. Some talented interstate types also often make the journey to enter the Australia Stakes field. As a result, the Australia Stakes field usually presents a fairly exciting competition.

The 2019 Australia Stakes field is provided here.

2019 Australia Stakes Nominations

The Australia Stakes nominations are released on the Monday prior to the race. Amongst the Australia Stakes nominations you can usually find some genuine Group 1 talents who have raced well in greater competition.

The 2019 Australia Stakes nominations are published below.

Australia Stakes Results

Australia Stakes winners, winning times and place getters since 2000 are provided below.