The 2017 Turnbull Stakes is a 2,000 metre Group 1 race that is held in early October each year at Flemington Racecourse. Part of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, the Turnbull Stakes is run under set-weight plus penalty conditions and is worth $500,000 in prize money. The Turnbull Stakes is open to horses that are aged four-years-old and upwards only.

The Turnbull Stakes was first run in 1948 when it was won by Beau Gem. The Turnbull Stakes was named after the Victoria Racing Club Chairman at the time; Mr Richard Turnbull. The race was originally held over a distance of 12 furlongs (2400m) until 1972 when it was changed to today’s 2,000 metres.

The Turnbull Stakes was initially run under handicap conditions until 1964 when it was made a weight-for-age race. The race was run under weight-for age conditions from 1964-1970 and was changed to set-weights in 1971. Prior to 2006, the Turnbull Stakes was a Group 2 race, however, when Makybe Diva blitzed a quality field to win the race in 2005, it was given it’s Group 1 status the very next year.

Throughout the years back-to-back Turnbull Stakes titles have been claimed by only two horses; Comic Court (1949-50) and Vo Rogue (1987-88). The fastest winning time since 1999 was set by Elvstroem (2004), who won the race in a time of 2 minutes and 0.46 seconds.

The slowest winning time was set by Sky Heights, who finished the race in 2 minutes and 4.6 seconds in 1999. Notable past winners of the Turnbull Stakes include Rising Fast (1954), Redcraze (1955), Tobin Bronze (1966), Galilee (1968), Leilani (1974), Dulcify (1979), Super Impose (1989), Doriemus (1996), Sunline (2001), Northerly (2002), Makybe Diva (2005), Littorio (2008), Efficient (2009) and Zipping (2010).

2017 Turnbull Stakes Field

The Turnbull Stakes field is customarily filled out with older horses with a lot of experience at the Flemington track. You’ll usually spot some fairly well known names in the Turnbull Stakes field, particularly some top stayers.

The 2017 Turnbull Stakes field will be finalised on Wednesday, September 28th and uploaded here.

2017 Turnbull Stakes Nominations

The Turnbull Stakes nominations are frequently filled out with utter talent. It’s not often that the Turnbull Stakes nominations features a preponderance of duds, particularly since it was upgraded to Group 1 status.

When the 2017 Turnbull Stakes nominations are closed on Monday, October 2nd, they will be published here.

Turnbull Stakes Results

Turnbull Stakes winners, places and winning times are shown below.