Date: 1st October 2022
Race Category: Group I
Race Track: Randwick Racecourse
Race Distance: 1600m
Prize Money: $750,000
Flight Stakes Preview
The Flight Stakes is a Group I race held for three-year-old fillies held on the day of the Epsom Handicap at the Royal Randwick Racecourse. The Flight Stakes runs over a distance of 1600m and is worth $750,000 in prize money.
The race was run for the first time in 1947 as a principal race and was named after the mare Flight, who had won the Cox Plate in 1945 and 1946. It has held a Group I status since 1985.
Usually, fillies taking part in the Flight Stakes are headed for the Spring Champion stakes held a week later. The last horse to complete a double was Montefilia in 2020. She returned the next year to win the Epsom Handicap. Last year Never Been Kissed won the race and finished second at the Spring Champion Stakes. Hers was a surprise win, upsetting the odds table at $41.
Top performers from the Flight Stakes may participate in The Invitation, an invitation-only race for fillies and mares, which was introduced in 2021. This year’s winner will also be exempted from the ballot for Doncaster Mile, which will be held in April 2023.
Favourites have delivered well in the past eight years, having won five times. The latest favourite to salute for the punters was Funstar in 2019. A good lead-up race for the Flight Stakes is the Tea Rose Stakes held earlier in the season. A good betting tip is to back the participants to complete the double for Tea Rose and Flight Stakes.
