A J Moir Stakes

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.^[1]

History

The A J Moir Stakes was named after former Chairman of the Moonee Valley Racing Club, long standing committeeman and well known Melbourne solicitor Alan John Moir (of the Melbourne establishment firm Gillott, Moir and Winneke - now Minter Ellison).

A lawyer, company director and racing administrator from 1948-67, MR Moir was a director of David Syme and CO Limited.

As a senior partner in the firm Gillott, Moir and Ahern played an important role in the formation of Syme as a public company in 1948. The paper previously had been run by the Syme family trust.

Mr Moir was also a great grandson of a former Victorian Premier, Sir Graham Berry.

The AJ Moir stakes 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.^[1]

For the 2013 running of the event the race was upgraded to Group 1 status and moved from the traditional Cox Plate Day card to be run under lights on AFL Grand Final eve.

Race distance

• 1976–2006 - 1000 metres
• 2007 onwards - 1200 metres

Race grade

• 1976–1978 - Principal race
• 1979–2012 - Group 2
• 2013 onwards - Group 1

Race name

• 1976–1995 - A.J. Moir Stakes
• 1996–2002 - Schweppes Stakes
• 2003–2006 - Schweppervescence Stakes
• 2006–2011 - Schweppes Stakes
• 2012 - A.J. Moir Stakes
• 2013 - Programmed Moir Stakes

The winners

See also

• List of Australian Group races
• Group races

References