Typhoon Tracy Stakes Winners, Past Results & Latest News

The Typhoon Tracy Stakes is a Group 3 Thoroughbred race held at Melbourne’s “other” metro track, Moonee Valley Racecourse.

It is run three-year-olds fillies over 1200 metres under set weight plus penalties conditions. In 2020, prize money for the race was boosted from $150,000 to $160,000.

The race is held in mid-to-late February. Unlike the majority of major Australian Group races, The Group 3 Typhoon Tracy Stakes is run under the lights on a Friday evening.

History of the Typhoon Tracy Stakes

The race is one of the newer events on the Australian Thoroughbred racing calendar. It was first run in 2011 as a Listed level race, where it remained until being lifted to Group 3 status in 2014.

It is named in honour of Typhoon Tracy, a competent mare foaled in 2005. Part of that mare’s name comes from a devastating cyclone that pretty much wrecked Darwin in 1974. She was bred and born in Queensland. Her sire was Red Ransom of the United States and her dam was Tracys Element. Tracys Element was actually the first Australian horse to contribute to the gene pool of Typhoon Tracy.

Almost all of her lines are from either the U.S. or Great Britain and Ireland. Some of the important predecessors in her lines include a couple of Canadian champions, two that have played key roles in the lines of many Australian horses, Nearctic and Northern Dancer. There were a couple of French horses contributing way back when, but we do not hold that against Typhoon Tracy.

She was a fine racer. Although she made only 20 starts, she won 11 times and had five placings, so she was money to any punters who backed her.

She won almost $2.5 million, winning her first five starts, and then four Group 1 races consecutively at Caulfield, Flemington and Rosehill. Her las race produced her second win in the Group 1 C F Orr Stakes.

Typhoon Tracy was Australian Racehorse of the year for the 2009 – 2010 season, as well as the Australian Champion Middle Distance Racehorse.

Race Venue

Moonee Valley Racecourse is the one and lonely home of the Typhoon Tracy Stakes.

It is famous for being the venue of the Cox Plate and the course itself was established by W S Cox himself. Cox bought the land for the course, unlike Caulfield and Flemington, both of which sit on public land.

Moonee Valley opened for business in 1883.

Other than the Cox Plate, the Group 1 Manikato Stakes, the Group 1 A J Moir Stakes and the Group 1 Australia Stakes are held at Moonee Valley.

The track is accessible by train, tram and car, but there is limited parking and visitors are encouraged to take public transportation on major race days.

Racing History of the Typhoon Tracy Stakes

Miss Gai Flyer won the race in the first year of 2011. The name alone would suggest she was trained by Gai Waterhouse, but that suggestion is inaccurate, as she was trained by Peter Moody and we only hope he treated her decently.

The 2013 winner, Norzita, was a Bart Cummings prepared galloper that made 12 starts. She won the Group 1 Flight Stakes at Randwick just prior to winning the Typhoon Tracy Stakes, and then backed with a second in the Group 2 Kewney Stakes, a third in the Group 1 Coolmore at Rosehill, followed by a Group 1 win at the same course in the Stormqueen Stakes. Her final good result was a third in the Group 1 Doncaster Handicap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDNrNbwMmcQ&ab_channel=MooneeValleyRacingClub

Tulip was the 2018 winner. She won one other Group 3 race. She finished fifth of 12 in The Everest in 2016, which is where the lion’s share of her $1 million plus earnings came about.

Conclusion

The Typhoon Tracy Stakes has yet to produce a horse that went on to gain true significance, but can be forgiven for being a relatively newly minted race.

Many of the top fillies and mares are sent elsewhere and it is also true that fillies and mares do not reach their ultimate potential before their fourth year.