Sheraco Stakes Winners, Past Results & Latest News

The Sheraco Stakes is a race designed for horses that are three years or older and only open to Fillies and Mares. The race is run under set weight conditions with penalties. The Sheraco stakes has a total prize pool of $200,000.

History of the Sheraco Stakes

As far as some of the black type races held at Rosehill Gardens are concerned we don’t need to turn to many pages of the history books to find the origins of the Sheraco Stakes and its inaugural edition in the late 90’s.

Sheraco was a race horse foaled in 1978 and was the progeny of Australian Sire Lord Dudley and Dam Chellissa.

Overall Sheraco had 20 starts in her career which included 7 wins and 3 places. What was most impressive however was that her wins came in distances between 1000m right up to 2400m endurance races. 

In 1982 Sheraco’s career reached the pinnacle when she won the Australian Oaks and the Sheraco Stakes were named after her in 1998 to honour her achievement in that race. 

Originally the Sheraco Stakes start life as an Unlisted Quality Handicap before being transitioned into a Listed Race in 2000. The Sheraco Stakes would remain at Listed Grade until 2013 when it was upgraded to a Group 3, where it remains to this day. 

The Sheraco Stakes did see a brief name change in 2002 where the race was renamed The Winning Edge Presentation Stakes due to sponsorship rights. The rename only lasted 2 years however The Sheraco Stakes were resumed in 2004.

Rosehill Gardens have always been the home of the Sheraco Stakes despite the track, located in Sydney’s Western Suburbs, receiving an influx of new races including the Golden Eagle and The Invitational which was launched in 2021.

Despite always being at Rosehill Racecourse however we have seen the distance of the race increase over time. Originally the race started life as an 1100m race. In 2013, in line with the upgrading of the race the distance of the Sheraco Stakes was increase to 1200m

Race Venue For The Sheraco Stakes

The Sheraco Stakes at Group 3 level are run at Sydney’s biggest western suburbs racecourse, Rosehill Gardens. 

Rosehill Gardens was originally opened in 1885 when construction was completed for a price of less than $25,000. In 1888, three years later, work was completed on the adjoining railway stations that allowed patrons easier access to the horse racing action.

The racecourse currently falls under the stewardship of the Australian Turf Club, a governing body who also control and run Royal Randwick Racecourse as well as the smaller western suburbs track, Warwick Farm Racecourse. 

The Gardens Racecourse holds thoroughbred horse racing meets across the year however it’s key events are scheduled between September and October as well as February and March. These periods encompass Spring Carnivals and Autumn Carnivals in Victoria and New South Wales. 

Throughout the year Rosehill Gardens Racecourse plays host to 10 Group 1 races with the most famous one being the Golden Slipper Stakes which are run in April of each year over a distance of 1200m

The richest race that Rosehill hosts and literally dwarfs the Sheraco Stakes in prize money size, is the Golden Eagle which boasts prize money of $7.5 million. The race is for 4 year olds and designed to keep trainers running their stable stars rather than retiring them to stud. 

Past Winners of The Sheraco Stakes

Overall there have been less than 30 winners of the Sheraco Stakes but nonetheless we have seen some talented horses drive through the finish line of the Rosehill straight and claim the $200,000 prize money.

The first winner of the Sheraco Stakes in 1998 was a horse by the name of Patou, a bay mare trained by Barbara Joseph, who won the race wearing bold yellow silks with a red diamond and a red cap.

There have been many other single time winners of the Sheraco Stakes however More Joyous and Catkins are currently the only runners to win the race two times with Catkins going back to back in 2014 and 2015 and More Joyous winning in 2010 and again in 2012. 

More Joyous won the Sheraco Stakes as both a three year old and four year old however it wouldn’t be the pinnacle of her career going on to win a further 15 Group 1 titles which included a career high Cox Plate win before retiring. 

In 2014 we saw a fans favourite win the Sheraco Stakes when the mighty grey Catkins flew over the line at her favourite Rosehill track. 

Looking for back to back wins in 2015 her race looked potentially done at the 200m mark however Catkins knuckled down to dig deep and run down Echo Gal and claim the Group 3 title and achieve consecutive Sheraco Stakes titles.

Since then we have seen some really talented runners come through the Sheraco Stakes and go onto significant Group 1 glory. Invincibella (2018), Mizzy (2019) and Haut Brion Her (2020) have all gone on to G1 success after winning an edition of the Group 3 Sheraco Stakes.

Analysis Of The Sheraco Stakes

Being such a young race it’s hard to proclaim the Sheraco is one to watch, however results in recent years have suggested it is beginning to get that way.

With the likes of Mizzy, Invincibella, Haut Brion Her all going on to win Group 1 titles and great sprinters including Ravi and Catkins winning multiple black type races it suggests the Sheraco is on to watch. 

Either way black type racing is a fantastic addition to the racing calendar and the Sheraco looks to be driving the industry from strength to strength.