Mannerism Stakes Winners, Past Results & Latest News

Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne holds some of the biggest and most anticipated horse racing events on its track that attracts punters from all over.

One of black type races held during the autumn racing carnival in February is the Mannerism Stakes. Bookies and horse racing enthusiasts would like to begin the year on a positive note and make money on the contenders in the Mannerism Stakes.

The Group 3 race is for mares four years old and over who travel a distance of 1400 metres under set weight plus penalty conditions. The event is hosted by Melbourne Racing Club with prize money worth $160,000 going to the fastest mare on the day.

The Mannerism Stakes is scheduled on Blue Diamond Stakes day, which is a premier race day, along with other major Group 1 races like the Futurity Stakes and Oakleigh Plate as well. The race attracts a fine class of mares with set weight & penalties favouring the better performing types.

However, picking a winner can often be difficult due to the strong field. Mares that have a good outing in the Mannerism Stakes may fancy their chances in the Gr3 Frances Tressady Stakes for mares only, which is held alongside the Group 1 Australian Guineas. They may also head to Flemington on Super Saturday for a chance at the Group 3 Matron Stakes, a mares only race held on the same day as the Group 1 Australian Cup.

The Mannerism Stakes was first held in 1988 as a Listed Race with Even True recorded as the first winner. It was elevated to Group 3 in 1993 and has remained so since then. Between 1988 and 1992, it was known as the VATC Fashion Stakes. Among the notable mares to win the Mannerism Stakes are Memphis Blue in 1990, Tolando in 1996, Typhoon Billie in 2001, Galapagos Girl in 2003, and Seachange in 2007. Tootsie in 2010 and Red Flair, the 2011 Mannerism Stakes winner also recorded stellar victories against some of the toughest opponents on the Caulfield track.

The Group 2 Matriarch Stakes, Tristarc Stakes and the Group 3 Hyderabad Stakes are among the races from where top performing mares may enter the Mannerism Stakes, and are usually a reasonable form guide before the event. In 2011, Red Flair won the listed 1200 M Nissan Hareeba Stakes at Mornington prior to winning here.

History of the Mannerism Stakes

The Group 3 Mannerism Stakes is a newer race that was run for the first time in 1988. The race takes its name from a mare named Mannerism.

Mannerism was foaled in 1987, the year before the race debuted. This is not an instance of future predicting on the part of those who chose the name of the race. Mannerism won the 1991 Group 1 Australasian Oaks at Morphettville in South Australia and the 1992 Caulfield Cup.

Her other Group 1 wins were the Show Day Cup (now the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes) and the Futurity Stakes. She won nine other races, but while she may be more deserving of a race named for her than Zeditave was deserving for the Zeditave Stakes, we have to comment that four Group 1 wins, even if one of those wins was the Caulfield Cup, are rather slim credentials for having a race dedicated to her.

The authorities may have acknowledged this at the point they switched the name to the Premier Signs Stakes in 2015, although the official name of the race is the Premier Signs Mannerism Stakes.

Nothing against Mannerism. We like most horses better than we like most people. Still, some of her results were unexceptional, such as the 10th in the 1992 Group 1 Doncaster Handicap or the 14th in the 1993 Caulfield Cup.

When the Mannerism Stakes made its debut in 1989 it was known as the Fashion Stakes and switched to Mannerism in 1995 through 2014.

It began as a Listed race and went to Group 3 in 1993.

The trip was 1411 metres in 1996 and 1997 and in 1996, the race was run at Flemington while Caulfield was having a redo.

Race Venue

Caulfield Racecourse is practically within walking distance of Melbourne’s CBD. There is a train station less than 100 metres from the course.

The track was widened in 1995 and the straight lengthened by 43 metres. There are banked turns, so the gallopers can really wind up through the turns.

Some of the big races held at Caulfield are the Caulfield Cup, of course, and the Caulfield Guineas, Blue Diamond Stakes and several others.

Over the course of the season, Caulfield stages 12 Group 1, eight Group 2 and 19 Group 3 races.

There are facilities for other types of events, such as meetings, conferences and parties. Just don’t try to book your wedding on Caulfield Cup Day.

Caulfield has extensive equine facilities and the venue is also used for testing students that are unable to take their exams at their schools.

Racing History of the Mannerism Stakes

The Mannerism Stakes attracts some decent horses, but it is mostly the handy types and not the elite that have won.

The first race in 1988 went to Even True. She won 12 races, but nothing significant and her prize money, estimated at $176,000, is the sort of money almost equaled when she won the race in 2021.

Memphis Blues won in 1990, with her best result a second in the Group 1 SAJC Australasian Oaks. She also delivered two SAJC wins in the Group 2 Queen of the South Stakes.

Red Nile was the 1997 winner and as best we can determine, the Mannerism was her best victory. We mention her to supply some gauge as to the calibre of the horses that compete in the race.

Many of the other winners we researched had similar results, with the Mannerism Stakes being their best win. This only makes sense, as if a mare has not proven itself by the time it is aged four years, chances are that it will not go far beyond Group 3 class.

Galapagos Girl won in 2003 and won the Group 3 VRC Tooheys New Plate the same year. She jumped in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic in 2003 and ran third. She was exported to New Zealand, which probably says as much about her ability as does her racing record.

The most notable discovery we found from the winner’s list though 2007 was that year’s winner, Seachange. Like Galapagos Girl, Seachange was sent to New Zealand, where she won seven Group 1 Kiwi races. Winning the Mannerism Stakes was her best result in Australia.

The first truly significant winner we encountered was 2015’s Tycoon Tara. She broke out to win the 2017 Group 1 Tattersall’s Tiara. Those who enjoy alliteration could say, “Tattersall’s Tiara winner Tycoon Tara.” She won some Group 2 races as well and two other Group 3s.

She shares a distinction with Winx, if beating Le Romain could be considered a distinction. She beat Prompt Response in the Tattersall’s in the race after Prompt Response beat her in the Group 2 Dane Ripper Stakes at Doomben.

There was controversy in 2016. Azkadellia passed the post first, but Racing Victoria stripped her due to her connections to a convicted named Peter Foster. Foster was a versatile hoodlum who served prison terms in Australia, Great Britain, the United States and Vanuatu. So loathsome was he that he was actually kicked out of Ireland in 2003.

The victory for that year was handed to Tuscan Sling, a lightly raced mare that never won above Group 3.

Silent Sedition supplied Mannersism Stakes wins in 2017 and 2018.

She was a decent sort that in addition to the two Mannerism Stakes wins, won the 2017 Group 1 William Reid Stakes, ran second in the Group 1 Australasian Oaks in 2016 and second in the ATC TAD Kennedy Stakes, a race better known as the Group 1 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill. She won or placed in 17 of her 24 starts.

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The 2019 winner, Jamaican Rain, won the Summoned Stakes, another Group 3, the same year she won the Mannerism.

Greysful Glamour won in 2020, with her other good win coming in the 2010 Group 3 Villiers Stakes at Randwick. She ran second to Aristia in the 2018 VRC Group 1 Kennedy Oaks at Flemington. Her starting price of $17 rewarded any punters keen enough to have something on her and one of the other horses she beat in that race was Verry Elleegant.

Rich Hips won in 2021 and it by the same sire that produced Tycoon Tara, Written Tycoon.

Conclusion

The Mannerism Stakes is a decent race, but the running conditions, mainly the aged four and above one, means that the top horses are seldom jumping.

Caulfield has three Group 1 races on the day the Mannerism Stakes is run and the better class will be found in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes or possibly the Group 2 St. George Stakes.

It almost comes off as a consolation race, allowing owners possibly to recover some of their investments.  It is the fourth race of the meeting, just ahead of the Angus Armanasco Stakes. The two races lead up to the first Group 1 of the Day, the Futurity Stakes.