Emirates Stakes Race

Winners and Past Results for the Emirates Stakes.

The Emirates Stakes is a Group 1 weight for age race hosted by Victoria Racing Club during the four-day Flemington spring racing carnival in October-November, which includes the prestigious Melbourne Cup.

The carnival attracts the largest racing crowd to the Flemington racetrack where horses travel over a distance of 2000 metres in the Emirates Stakes for a chance to bag two million dollars in prize money. The race is held on Stakes day along with the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes and The Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

The race has a rich history with many notable stayers etching their name on the trophy including Carbine in 1890, the mighty Phar Lap in 1930-31, Peter Pan in 1934, Ajax in 1938, Leilani in 1974, Dulcify in 1979, Rogan Josh in 1999, and Lonhro in 2002, to name a few.

Formerly known as the Mackinnon Stakes, in 2016 the VRC changed its name to the Emirates Stakes and running it on the final day of the 4 day program. The former Emirates Stakes was then renamed to the Longines Mile which runs on the first day of the Carnival.

The Emirates Stakes began as a principal race over ten furlongs in 1869 and was granted Group 1 status in 1979. Horses contesting in the Melbourne Cup three days later used that race as the final warm up before the gruelling 3200 metre race the following Tuesday.

The Emirates Stakes / Melbourne Cup Double in the same year has been done 16 times, the latest was Rogan Josh in 1999. As quoted by Wikipedia.

Of these champions which includes At Talaq in 1986, Empire Rose in 1988, Let's Elope in 1991, and Rogan Josh in 1999. Many horses have won more than once since its inception in 1869

Glass Harmonium ran fourth in the Underwood Stakes and finished runner up in the Turnbull Stakes before winning the 2011 Emirates Stakes although he remained unplaced in the WS Cox Plate in his previous outing. In 2010, So You Think came into the race with a series of Group 1 victories in the Cox Plate, Yalumba Stakes and Underwood Stakes as well and then finished an impressive third in the Melbourne Cup.

Punters ought to keep a close watch on runners in the Emirates Stakes. Horlicks in 1989 and Better Loosen Up in 1990 managed to win the Japan Cup as well.