Ajax Stakes

Winners and Past Results for the Ajax Stakes.

The Ajax Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 2 Australian quality handicap horse race for horses aged three years old and upwards.

The Group 2 Ajax Stakes is held at the Rosehill Racecourse in Sydney.

The race is held on honour of Ajax, a formidable champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse and sire, with a record of 36 wins, 7 second, and 2 third placings from just 46 starts, which included the 1938 Cox Plate.

The 1500 meter race is held during the autumn carnival at the end of March. Each year an impressive field vies for the $200,000 prize money. Tonotan was the winner of the first Ajax Stakes held in 1974, when it was a principal race.

It became a listed race in 1979 and was upgraded to Group 3 status in 1984. In 2006, the Ajax Status became a Group 2 race, attracting the cream of Australian racehorses. A number of major Group 1 and Group 2 events are held on the day at Rosehill.

This includes the Coolmore Stud Classic, Ranvet Stakes, Phar Lap Stakes, and Reisling Stakes.

The Ajax Stakes has been a stepping stone for many notable winners. Catalan Opening scored a double in 1996 and 1997. Confiscate repeated the feat in 1998 and 1999. The race is a lead up to the Group 1 Doncaster Handicap at Randwick Racecourse. Grand Armee is among the notable horses to lift both races.

Many handy horses enter the Ajax Stakes after scoring well in the Group 3 Newcastle Newmarket Handicap at Newcastle. Solo Flyer scored a Newmarket/Ajax Stakes double in 2009 while Chasm who was placed third in the same race at Newmarket, bagged the second spot.

The Newmarket Handicap serves as the perfect form guide for punters looking for a winner in the Ajax Stakes line up.

The Group 3 Liverpool City Cup is also a lead up to the Ajax Stakes. Pureness, the 2011 winner of the Ajax Stakes with Glen Boss in the saddle, ran an impressive third in the Liverpool City Cup before winning by a margin of ¾ lengths from Mentality, followed by Lebrechaun.

The majestic looking Rosehill race track on Rosehill Guineas day is definitely the right place for horse racing enthusiasts to try their luck with the blessings of Ajax, one of the greatest champion horses in Australian history.