Expressway Stakes 2024 Tips, Betting Odds, Past Winners & Results

The Group 2 Expressway Stakes is a weight for age sprint race of 1200 metres that is held on a Saturday meeting at  Rosehill Racecourse in Sydney. 

Depending on how the calendar plays out, the Expressway Stakes will take place in late January or early February.

 

Expressway Stakes Race Details

Date: 27/1/23

Time: TBA

Racecourse: Rosehill

Race Distance: 1200m

Conditions: TBA

Prize Money: $250,000

How To Bet On The Expressway Stakes

Our Top 3 Recommended Online Bookmakers To Bet With For The Expressway Stakes:

Ladbrokes

Palmerbet

Unibet

Expressway Stakes Betting Tips

1. TBA

2. TBA

3. TBA

When Is The Expressway Stakes: 27/1/24

What Time Is The Expressway Stakes: TBA

Where Is The Expressway Stakes: Rosehill Racecourse

How To Live Stream The Expressway Stakes

To live stream the Expressway Stakes, can watch the race live.

More Details About The Expressway Stakes

There is $250,000 in prizemoney available.

History of the Expressway Stakes

The Expressway Stakes jumped for the first time in 1974, so it is a newer race. It was considered a Principal race until 1979, after which it was granted Group 2 status.

The race is aptly named, because it has been run at just about every metro Sydney racecourse. It began at Royal Randwick until it was switched to Warwick Farm for 1983 while Randwick was spelling while upgrades were underway.

The Expressway Stakes returned to  Randwick for the 1984 edition, and then went back to Warwick for 1985 and 1986.

We will not list every year the race changed venues because it has done so many times. It even found itself at Canterbury Park for the year 2008.

The Expressway Stakes was at Randwick in 2020 and it would appear that the race’s permanent home will be Rosehill going forward, but given the way the race has shifted over the years, it is not something upon which we would choose to have a punt.

The trip has changed almost as much as the venue, beginning as 1100 metres, lengthening to 1200 and even making it out to 1300 metres for 1999.

The year 2004 saw it being run at 1180 metres, which sounds like something that might happen at Randwick, where the race was run that year, in order to accommodate swampy conditions that often influence Sydney racing at that time of the season.

Race Venue of the Expressway Stakes

If we make the leap and trust the racing authorities that the Group 2 Expressway Stakes will stay at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse going forward, we can tell readers that the track is operated by the Australian Turf Club in the western Sydney suburb of Rosehill.

Rosehill opened in 1885 and is situated about 20 kilometres northwest from Sydney’s CBD.

Calling Rosehill Gardens Racecourse an oval might be considered offensive by true ovals.

All four turns feature a different radius. Turn three is tight, while the turn into the home straight is graduated, similar to turn two, which is really a continuation of the first turn.

The finishing straight in front of the main stands is just over 400 metres.

The big event staged at Rosehill is the Golden Slipper Stakes for 2YOs in the latter part of March. The other big race is the Golden Eagle for four-year-olds and offering over $7 million in prizemoney.

Rosehill stages nine Group 1, 13 Group 2 and 14 Group 3 races in a typical year.

Racing History of the Group 2 Expressway Stakes

The winner of the 2020 Expressway Stakes was Standout.

Standout showed promise early on, winning three consecutive in spring of 2019, followed by a second in his first jump at Group 2 level in the Roman Consul Stakes. He trialed a couple of times before winning the Expressway Stakes, but he declined to a degree and the best result he posted following that win was a second in the Group 3 Sydney Stakes in spring of 2020.

Alizee was the 2019 winner and Trapeze Artist won in 2019. Alizee won by beating Le Romain in a race that saw only five horses running, and then went on to win the Group 1 Futurity Stakes at Caulfield. She made some other good runs, but at times, it seems she spent most of her racing energy on barrier trials.

Trapeze Artist won another Expressways Stakes with a small field, this one six. He picked up a big payday when he ran second to Redzel in The Everest in 2018.

The race does attract some of the better horses, many of which are in their autumn preparations and using the Expressway Stakes as a measure of form for the major sprints that come along in March and April.

As a weight for age race, it might be expected that there would be plenty of multiple winners, but this is not the case. Only Court’s In Session won back-to-back in 2005 and 2006.

The better horses seldom came back for an encore in the Expressway Stakes, while those that did return failed to double.

Lonhro won in 2003 and devoted the rest of the year to winning major races, including the Group 1s George Ryder Stakes, a second  Caulfield Stakes, the George Main Stakes, Queen Elizabeth and Chipping Norton Stakes. He went on to become a champion sire and he earned induction into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2014.

Tie The Knot won in 2001 while using the race for training. The four-time Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes winner won a total of 13 Group 1 races and demonstrated the sort of versatility to earn the nod as the Australian Champion Stayer in 2000. His wins in the 3200 metre Sydney Cup in 1998 and 1999 leaves us wondering what he was doing in a sprint race, but that question is better left to his trainer Guy Walter.

Saintly won in 1996 to go along with his trophy for winning that year’s Cox Plate and the  Melbourne Cup for trainer Bart Cummings.

Far and away the most notable to win the Expressway Stakes was Kingston Town in 1980. His record is well chronicled and will not be rehashed here.

Luskin Star won in 1978 in mid-career and is best known for winning the Australian two-year-old Triple Crown.

Finally, Zephyr Bay won the Expressway Stakes in 1975, the same year he won the Oakleigh Plate and the  Challenge Stakes before going on to sire multiple stakes and Group 1 winners.

Expressway Stakes 2022 Details, Results & Recap

The Expressway Stakes 2022 was won by Overpass who won the contest when beating long time race favourite Anamoe to victory in the Group 2 contest. Tim Clark putting on a front running performance in The Expressway to win the race for trainer Bjorn Baker.

The Lead Up To The Expressway Stakes

In the lead up to the Group Two Expressway stakes all the talk had been about the red hot Godolphin Colt Anamoe returning to the track after finishing second on protest in the W.S. Cox Plate and looking to set of his Autumn racing campaign with a win.

The 2022 Expressway Stakes over 1200m at Group 2 level is one of the first lead up races for New South Wales trainers who are looking to see what condition there runners are in before plotting a course for the big sprint races of Autumn such as the Oakleigh Plate and The Black Caviar Lightning Stakes.

Run at Randwick Racecourse the betting for the Group 2 Expressway Stakes in 2022 had been heavily dominated by Godolphin and James Cummings trained colt Anamoe who was having his first up run in the Expressway before heading on to compete in bigger sprint features.

Punters and bookies took no chances with Anamoe backing the Colt from $2.20 into $1.70 before drifting out to $2.30 at the jump. Overpass, The winner of the 2022 Expressway Stakes third last in the order of betting jumping at $9.50 for the Bjorn Baker stable.

2022 Expressway Stakes Results

The winner and final placings for the 2022 Expressway Stakes at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday 29th January 2022 are as follows:

1st - 8. Overpass (7) - 55kg - $9.50
2nd - 4. Forbidden Love (6) - 56.5kg - $5.50
3rd - 6. Anamoe (3) - 55kg - $2.30

2022 Expressway Stakes Race Recap

The 2022 Expressway Stakes run on the 29th January 2022 was dominated by talk of Godolphin runner Anamoe returning from the paddock to the track with many punters expecting the Royal Blue stable star to dominate the Group 2 event.

As the gates crashed back the widest two runners on the track, Forbidden Love and Overpass for Bjorn Baker jumped well and pushed forward to pick up the running. Overpass particularly had to gamble under the ride of Tim Clark and push forward from the widest barrier.

When the field of the 2022 Expressway Stakes began to settle Clark had pushed Overpass two lengths clear of Forbidden Love before Belucci Babe under the ride of Joshua Parr decided to push on into second place.

As the runners entered the first turn jockey Tim Clark decided to steady the speed aboard Overpass after going hard early. Long time race favourite Anamoe had settled toward the back of the field between runners and began to look for a run.

Entering the home straight Overpass began to kick for home however Tiger of Malay, Anamoe and Forbidden Love were all traveling under hands and looking for runs

As the Expressway Stakes 2022 field hit the final 200m Overpass was still in front and holding challenges from Forbidden Love and Anamoe late. Despite Anamoe finishing strongly the Bjorn Baker trained Overpass continued to kick strongly and held on to the line winning the Group 2 Expressway Stakes.

Conclusion

The Group 2 Expressway Stakes is often overlooked by trainers and connections, at least so it would seem by the number of times the race has had small fields.

Still, it serves as a good guide to some of the major autumn races that come later in the season, as even though the fields can be small, they are talented.

Expressway Stakes Past Winners