Schweppes Stakes
| Location | Moonee Valley Racecourse, Melbourne |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1976 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1,200 metres |
| Track | Turf, Left-handed |
| Weight | Weight for Age |
| Purse | $450,000 (2013) |
The A J Moir Stakes is a Moonee Valley Racing Club Group 1 Australian Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 1200 metres. It is held at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne in late September. Prizemoney is A$450,000 and a $5,000 trophy.
The AJ Moir Stakes was named after a former Moonee Valley Racing Club committeeman and well known Melbourne solcitor Alan John Moir (of the Melbourne establishment firm Gillott, Moir and Winneke - now Minter Ellison)
It was first run in 1976 and won by Scamanda.
Elevated to Group 2 status in 1979, it has been won by many star sprinters, most notably Manikato, who became the second horse to pass $1 million in earnings when he won in 1982. Other top-line winners include the Judge (1978-79) and his sister Victoria Peak (1980), Special (1986), Placid Ark (1987), Spartacus (1996), Falvelon (2000), Spinning Hill (2002) and more recently Miss Andretti, Apache Cat and Black Caviar.
The 2013 A.J. Moir Stakes sees the race upgraded to Group 1 status and moved from the traditional Cox Plate Day card to be run under lights on Grand Final eve.
Race history
Distance
- 1976 - 2006 held over 1000 metres
- 2007 onwards held over 1200 metres
Class
- 1976–1978 was a Principal race
- 1979 - 2012 Group 2 race
- 2013 race was elevated to Group 1
Name
- 1976 - 1995 the race was known as the ‘A.J. Moir Stakes'
- 1996 - 2002 the race was known as the ‘Schweppes Stakes’
- 2003 - 2006 the race was known as the ‘Schweppervescence Stakes’
- 1996 onwards the race has been called the ‘Schweppes Stakes’.
The winners
- 2013 - Samaready [1]
- 2012 - Buffering [2]
- 2011 - Black Caviar [3]
- 2010 - Black Caviar [4]
- 2009 - Apache Cat [5]
- 2008 - Lucky Secret [6]
- 2007 - Miss Andretti [7]
- 2006 - California Dane
- 2005 - Virage De Fortune
- 2004 - Bomber Bill
- 2003 - Our Egyptian Raine
- 2002 - Spinning Hill
- 2001 - Mistegic
- 2000 - Falvelon
- 1999 - Magic Music
- 1998 - Show No Emotion
- 1997 - Al Mansour
- 1996 - Spartacus
- 1995 - Quality Gold
- 1994 - Sequalo
- 1993 - Sports Works
- 1992 - Schillaci
- 1991 - With Me
- 1990 - With Me
- 1989 - Good Old Ted / Clay Hero (dead heat)
- 1988 - Scarlet Bisque
- 1987 - Placid Ark
- 1986 - Special
- 1985 - Aquilone
- 1984 - Foystaan
- 1983 - Bold Jet
- 1982 - Manikato
- 1981 - Bold Prospect
- 1980 - Victoria Peak
- 1979 - The Judge / Grey Sapphire (dead heat)
- 1978 - The Judge
- 1977 - Tetranate
- 1976 - Scamanda