The T L Baillieu Cup is a Group 3 quality handicap race of 1400 metres aged two years only, held at Rosehill Racecourse, most recently in late March of the autumn racing season.
Straight away, we writers/typists appreciate neither the official T L Baillieu Cup nor the more recently adopted name of The Schweppervescence, so all future references will be to the more familiar, more recent name – The Schweppervescence.
The Schweppervescence Race Details
Date: 30-3-24
Time: TBA
Racecourse: Rosehill
Race Distance: 1400m
Conditions: TBA
Prize Money: $200,000
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When Is The Schweppervescence: 30-3-24
What Time Is The Schweppervescence: TBA
Where Is The Schweppervescence: Rosehill Racecourse
How To Live Stream The Schweppervescence
To live stream The Schweppervescence, TAB Account Holders can watch the race live.
More Details About The Schweppervescence
Like many of the autumn races at Rosehill, The Schweppervescence was boosted from prize money of $160k to $200k for the 2023 jump.
A Snitzel colt named Amur won in 2023 capturing the increased top prize of $110,000. The Schweppervescence was his most recent official race as of late July 2023, although he recently trialed at Hawkesbury.
The promising Godolphin colt has won three and placed in one from his five jumps under the preparation of James Cummings. Amur has a stack of dollars 373,000 high, much as the result of winning lucrative 2YO races at Moonee Valley that each returned more than Amur earned for winning The Schweppervescence.
As of 2023 and until the authorities that set the schedule change their view, The Schweppervescence is run near the end of March and for now is contested in the week following the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes, where gallopers that did not pass muster to try the Slipper might be expected.
At the last jump on the race, it was one of four Group 3 races at the meeting, along with two Group 2 grade races and the main attractions, the Group 1 races Tancred Stakes and Storm Queen Stakes.
History Of The Schweppervescence
The original name and the current official name of The Schweppervescence is the T L Baillieu Handicap.
T L Baillieu was a chairman of the Australian Jockey Club who took his post in 1947.
The race was inaugurated in 1986 and was always called by some variation of T L Baillieu, by which we can say it was a handicap or a quality handicap.
The race has been known as The Schweppervescence since 2010.
It was a Listed grade race until 2011, when it became Group 3.
From first jump through 1998, the race went off at Randwick. The next two years found it at Warwick Farm. It was run on the inner track of Randwick, known as Kensington and offering a synthetic surface, in 2001.
The Schweppervescence returned to Warwick in 2002, returning to the Kensington course at Randwick for 2008 and 2009.
Since 2010, the race has found a stable home at Rosehill.
Venue for The Schweppervescence
Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney seems to be the chosen venue for The Schweppervescence for the last good while.
Rosehill opened for racing in 1885 and is considered one of the primary metro racetracks in the country.
The facility currently offers nine Group 1 races, with eight of those jumping during autumn racing.
Right now, there are 13 Group 2 and 14 Group 3 races until it is decided otherwise.
Rosehill’s marquee race is the Group 1 Golden Slipper Stakes for two-year-olds. The recent (2019) addition to the facility was a set weight sprint restricted to four-year-olds called the Golden Eagle, where $10 in prize money is on the line.
A 1400 metre race such as The Schweppervescence jumps from a chute that gives a long run down the back straight, a continuous turn leads onto the home straight and the race concludes at the northwest corner of the track.
Racing History of the Schweppervescence Stakes
Our first glance at the list of Schweppervescence Stakes winners left us hoping we would find anything as good or better than the 2023 winner, Amur.
We will examine the complete list and supply further details about the winners when we find two-year-olds that progressed beyond Group 3 grade, beat better racers, won a lot of prize money and/or contributed as breeders.
The first winner receives mention for that fact alone – the first to win the Schweppervescence Stakes.
It was Western Ace in 1986.
His other win was the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude Colts & Geldings, he earned less than $150,000 by racing and left no progeny record.
Another entire, this one All Ashore, won in 1987.
All Ashore won the Group 1 WATC Derby that same year and produced a second in the Group 1 Victoria Derby, with a third in the Group 1 BTC Sires’ Produce Stakes.
He had limited stud duty following racing. Two of his offspring won above $200,000, but Kingston Shores made 109 jumps and Beat The Tide raced 64 times to produce those amounts.
The 1988 winner was the mare Bayonette.
She was unremarkable as a racer and is mentioned for being the first mare to win the sch. Her broodmare output was four fillies and two colts, but sires such as Snippets, Flying Spur and Octagonal failed to get anything of value out of her.
Select Prince, first crosser in 1989, was a solid, if not spectacular horse.
His racing returned about $377,000 in prize money, but he dd make 49 jumps for that money, winning nine and placing in nine. He won the prestigious Group 1 Champagne Stakes, also in 1989.
The investment in Select Prince paid off when he became a solid, if not spectacular, breeder. His top earner was Winkurra, a 1999 mare out of Bonny Vella. Winkurra won just over $152,000, but she was raced 63 times, so Select Prince was one of those types that managed to do a lot with a little.
A gelding with an interesting story won in 1992.
Quegent was the name. He made 25 jumps for three wins and six placings for $226,000.
A tendon injury took him off the turf and it was intended he be sent to stud before being euthanised to hamper the spread of the Hendra virus that claimed the life of his trainer Vic Rail.
We have skipped over some geldings, along with some mediocre stallions and mares, to look at the 1994 winner Talaga.
Her sire was the U.S. stallion Bakharoff and that side of the pedigree table was all northern hemisphere horses. That same is true for the dam, Australia’s Faithful Thought, except she offered a few Australian mares tracing back along that line.
She was not great as a racer. She was a productive broodmare, with four colts and seven fillies to her credit. She was served by the likes of Zabeel and I Am Invincible, with Snippets contributing to the 1997 filly Talista Belle that earned above $114,000.
We have a connection to the legendary sire Star Kingdom via The Schweppervescence winner in 1996, Bolster, a 1993 gelding by the New Zealand sire and Golder Slipper Stakes winning Marauding.
The famous ancestors did not boost Bolster, so other than that, he was not one of the for Marauding offspring that won over $11 million racing in Australia.
The winner from 1998, Danske, was by Danehill, which doubtless played a role in Danske holding onto his naughty bits.
He raced just 13 times, winning four and placing in five to win $263,000.
A prodigious sire, Danske supplied many money winners. The best Australian racer from these was Coup Ay Tee out of Flying Coup that won just above $521,000.
Winning Belle by Zabeel was the 2003 winner of The Schweppervescence.
She was a handy New Zealand mare with the ability to earn $630,000 from 18 jumps for five wins and six placings.
She came within a length of Makybe Diva in the 2005 Group 1 Australian Cup and she beat some better horses, but her better contribution was Plucky Belle by Mossman that won over $738,000 with a Group 1 win in the 2015 Coolmore Classic. A son by Redoute’s Choice, Rawna, brought in more than $217,000.
The Commands sired gelding Paratroopers was the 2005 winner of The Schweppervescence.
He was just one good result below $2 million in earnings and he made just 21 jumps, winning nine and placing in five. His Group 1 tally was just the 2006 All-Aged Stakes, where he beat the better Niconero. His win in the 2006 Canterbury Stakes at Group 2 grade found him crossing ahead of Patezza in second and Dance Hero in third.
Mentality was a gelding by Flying Spur that won eight times and placed in 13 races for above $1.9 million from 58 jumps.
He won the Group 1 Champagne Stakes at Randwick in 2006, beating the notable Miss Finland by nearly a full length. A third place in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes preceded a win in the Group 1 Randwick Guineas and Apache Cat was behind when he ran second to Haradasun in the 2007 Group 1 George Ryder Stakes.
He raced and beat, at various times, Phelan Ready, Apache Cat, Desert Wars, Excite and Sniper’s Bullet.
Another winner of The Schweppervescence that had better accomplishments was the 2009 winner Onemorenomore. He was mainly northern hemisphere in origin, with only his dam Palia representing Australia. His big win was the 2009 Champagne Stakes, so on that day at least, he was the best.
His career at stud was productive, to say the least. Eleven of his foals won anywhere from $508,000 to just over $100,000.
Skilled by Commands was the 2010 winner.
He captured a Group 1 win when he won the 2010 Champagne Stakes.
After racing, four of his offspring would account for over $1 million in prize money.
Who do you think was the 2011 winner of The Schweppervescence?
The answer is in the question, since the winner was Do You Think.
Bonus question: Who do you think was the sire of Do You Think?
If you answered So You Think, you thought wrong, as Do You Think was by a good sire, Starcraft.
Do You Think was not as good of a racer as might be thought, because he had some truly solid northern hemisphere ancestors, such as Nureyev, Danzig and Northern Dancer, but he was limited 14 jumps for two wins and one placing.
The Snitzel daughter Flying Snitzel was the 2012 winner.
She made 19 jumps for three wins, two placings and $340,000.
A better sort was the 2015 winner Takedown.
He was a gelding by Stratum that earned above $1.6 million from 39 jumps for seven wins and seven placings. He had a Group 1 win in the 2016 WATC Winterbottom Stakes and while he was not quite good enough to beat Redzel, Voodoo Lad or Japonisme, he gave all three good runs. He beat the notable mare Sheidel to win the Winterbottom.
Attention bet a better racer in The Schweppervescence when he held off Prized Icon.
The Mission by Choisir was the 2017 winner and like some of the previous winners, he captured a Group 1 race when he beat Invader in the Champagne Stakes.
His progeny to date includes the $1.1 million earning Yellow Brick and two others that won low six-figure prize money.
Holyfield by I Am Invincible was the 2020 winner.
This gelding is listed as active as of late July 2023. His last jump in June of 2023 was at Ipswich in a Listed grade race where he finished seventh.
A three-year-old colt by Snitzel named Williamsburg was the 2022 winner. He has made 17 jumps for four wins and five placings for $648,000.
His most recent jump was the Group 3 Frank Packer Plate at Randwick.
Conclusion
Whether you use the common popular name, The Schweppervescence, or you prefer the registered name of the T L Baillieu Handicap, there were some truly good winners, such as Takedown, Attention and Paratroopers.
There were a few good mares, although as two-year-olds we suppose they are more properly called fillies.
There were even some good breeders, although it seemed like many of the winners of the race were northern hemisphere bred.
The Schweppervescence Past Winners
Year | Winner |
2023 | Amur |
2022 | Williamsburg |
2021 | Saif |
2020 | Holyfield |
2019 | Bellevue Hill |
2018 | Irukandji |
2017 | The Mission |
2016 | Attention |
2015 | Takedown |
2014 | Bachman |
2013 | Champollion |
2012 | Flying Snitzel |
2011 | Do You Think |
2010 | Skilled |
2009 | Onemorenomore |
2008 | Rhyno Chaser |
2007 | Pistols |
2006 | Mentality |
2005 | Paratroopers |
2004 | Gaze On |
2003 | Winning Belle |
2002 | Redwood Falls |
2001 | Vita |
2000 | Clonmel |
1999 | Citirecruit |
1998 | Danske |
1997 | Key Issue |
1996 | Bolster |
1995 | Latin Quarter |
1994 | Talaga |
1993 | Santiago Belle |
1992 | Quegent |
1991 | French Prince |
1990 | Shot Of Comfort |
1989 | Select Prince |
1988 | Bayonette |
1987 | All Ashore |
1986 | Western Ace |