You have probably seen the word ‘stakes’ many times when you have been following horse races. It is as common a term as ‘maiden’ or ‘handicap’ but many people do not understand what a stakes race is.

What is a ‘stakes race’?

A stakes race is one in which the owner has to pay a fee to enter their horse. There are some events where horses are invited to attend and some which require the owners to put up a fee in order that their horse can be entered. The entry fee is the ‘stake’ and hence the term ‘stakes race’.

There are occasional stakes races which are by invitation and require no payment, although these are uncommon.

The purse

In a stakes race, each of the entrants will have paid a fee to enter. The purse for a race is therefore made up (at least partly) from the stakes that owners have paid to enter their horses in a race.

The stakes contribute to the overall prize purse for a certain race.

Famous Australian stakes races

Many of the most important events in the Australian racing calendar are ‘stakes’ races. The most important is the Australia Stakes run over 1,200 metres at Moonee Valley in Melbourne.

The ‘triple crown’ for two year olds is a high profile series of stakes events. It features the AJC Sires Produce Stakes, the Golden Slipper Stakes and the Champagne Stakes. The first leg of the ‘triple crown’ – the Golden Slipper Stakes – is the world’s richest race for two year olds and is run at Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens racecourse.

Other Grade One stakes races in Australia calendar include the VRC Sires Produce Stakes at Flemington, the QTC Sires Produce Stakes at Eagle Farm and the Storm Queen Stakes (also known as the Arrowhill stakes) at Rosehill.

Other stakes races

Many of the leading horse races in the world are operated on a stakes basis.

In the United States, for example, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association uses the term ‘graded stakes race’ to categorise races where the prize purse comes from the entry fee that owners have to pay. The racecourse normally adds an additional amount to the ‘stakes’ and this forms the total fund from which the prize money is paid.

There are over a hundred Grade One stakes races in the American horse racing calendar including the Breeders Cup Mile, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.

Stakes races

Many of you will probably have punted on a ‘stakes’ race, even if you weren’t sure what the term meant. Stakes races often offer a larger prize purse than other races because of the combined entry fees and attract high quality fields. You can therefore hope to profit by placing your own stake on such a race.

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