Standish Handicap

Winners and Past Results for the Standish Handicap.

The Standish Handicap, hosted by Victoria Racing Club is a Group 3 race held during the Melbourne summer racing carnival in January.

The Standish Handicap is a 1200 metre sprint race and is usually held on New Year's Day or the day after at the Flemington track with a purse worth $150,000 awaiting the winners.

Punters as well as horses have a great opportunity to open their account in the New Year on a good note. The Standish Handicap attracts a quality field with a number of above average sprinters seeking to pick up another group event in their summer campaign.

As usual, Flemington's long home straight is a deciding factor that separates the good sprinters from the average, which punters ought to take note of when picking a potential winner or place getter.

Selecting a winner for the Standish Handicap can be a daunting task since horses may enter through a number of routes which includes listed races.

The Standish Handicap has a rich history with the first race held way back in 1851. It was a principal race until 1980 when it was promoted by Victoria Racing Club to Group 3. There have been several back to back winners in earlier times. However, the feat hasn't been achieved over the past few decades. Grandoise made it in 1989 and came back in 1991 while Super Impressive picked up two titles in 2003 and 2005 respectively. Hon Kwok Star came close to winning the Standish Handicap in 1997 and returned to do so in 1998.

Honalee holds the distinction of the fastest time of 1:03.4 set in 2006.

The Magic Millions at the Gold Coast could be the next target for top performers although it hasn't been a handy form guide in recent times.

Punters ought to note that not many favorites have obliged in the past twenty five years. Among the latest of four who did so was Iglesia in 2001. Horses with longer odds have been fairing better with a number of winners in recent times. This includes Publishing in 2008 and King Hoaks in 2009.

The Standish Handicap is named after Captain Frederick Standish, a police chief who had chased Ned Kelly and other bush rangers, a VRC committeeman and former Chief Commissioner of police at the time of the bush ranger Ned Kelly.

From 1881 to 1883 Captain Standish was chairman of the VRC and was credited with the idea of the race called the Melbourne Cup.