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The Railway Stakes
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Ascot Races
The Group 1 Railway Stakes is regarded as the premiere race in Western Australian and it is contested by the best Australian horse racing mile racers. This race starts the Perth Summer Carnival as a Group 1 open handicap. This open handicap race has a total prize money pool worth $1,010,000 and is held at the Ascot racecourse.
This race is held on the same day with the Jungle Mist Classic, the Tattersalls Cup and the Carbine Club Trophy. This 1600-metre race is conducted every November two weeks after the Melbourne Cup Carnival. The big name horses would eventually compete at the 1800-metre Group 1 Kingston Town Classic) two weeks after.
Local horses often win the race due to Perth’s extreme heat. Some of the great lead-up races for the Railway Stakes are the Group 3, 1400-metre Asian Beau Stakes and the Group 3, 1600-metre RJ Peters Stakes.
The Railway Stakes was first staged in 1894 and it was won by Wandering Willie. It had a distance of 2400 metres from 1894 to 1925 and it was adjusted to 1600 metres from 1926 to 1973. In 1974, the race is changed to 1500 metres and it was brought back to 1600 metres in 1974. Five years later, the race changed from a principal race to a Group 1 race.
Being an open handicap race, three-year-old horses must have a minimum weight of 50.0 kilograms while four-year-old horses and older must carry a minimum of 52.0 kilograms. By 2011, the Railway Stakes will try to match the money offered at the Melbourne Cup.
From its current prize money pool, the first place winner gets $622,500 with trophies worth $5,000 for the owner and $2,500 each for the jockey and the trainer. The second placer wins $200,000 while the third place finisher gets $90,000. The fourth placer gets $40,000 while the fifth placer takes home $20,000. Sixth to eighth place finishers will get $12,500 each.
In the 2009 Railway Stakes, Sniper’s Bullet surged from the wide gate to run a pace race before pulling away on the home turn to hang on to the victory. Local galloper Tarzi finished second while fellow local galloper Colour Correct got third place while running on the wide side of the track all the way. Sniper’s Bullet went on to win the 2009 Kingston Town Classic.
Railway Stakes Recent History:
| Year | Winner | 2nd | 3rd | Time |
| 2009 | Snipers Bullet | Tarzi | Colour Correct | 1:34.2 |
| 2008 | Gilded Venom | Sniper’s Bullet | Annenkov | 1.34:5 |
| 2007 | El Presidente | Hartley’s Dream | Mansion House | 1:34.7 |
| 2006 | Belle Bizarre | Confectioner | Niconero | 1:34.4 |
| 2005 | Covertly | Early Express | Blinded | 1:34.8 |
