The Australian Guineas is a Group 1 race for three-year-olds held annually each March at Flemington racecourse in Melbourne during the Melbourne autumn racing carnival. The race is run over a distance of 1600 metres under set weight conditions and has prizemoney of $750,000. The 2011 Australian Guineas was won by Shamrocker from Bullbars with Playing God third.
Also known as the 'Cadbury Guineas', the Australian Guineas takes place one week before Super Saturday of Racing at Flemington racecourse where the Gr1 Newmarket Handicap & Gr1 Australian Cup are the highlights of the day.
The Australian Guineas is the premier mile event for three-year-old gallopers during the autumn racing carnival and always assembles the best 3yo gallopers around at the time. Since its inception in 1986, the Australian Guineas has grwon to become a prestigious event on the racing calendar for three-year-olds.
The Gr3 CS Hayes Stakes for colts & geldings & Gr3 The Vanity Stakes for fillies are widely recognised as the ideal lead-up races to this event. Heart of Dreams (2009) ran fourth in the CS Hayes Stakes prior to winning this event, while Shamrocker (2011) finished fourth in The Vanity Stakes on her way to success in the Australian Guineas.
The 2009 Australian Guiineas produced multiple group winners throughout the rest of the racing year and proved to be a pivotal running of the race for future group race winners.
Set For Fame (2nd in 2010) managed to win the Gr2 Caulfield Sprint the following spring, while Linton (3rd in 2010) was successful in the Gr2 Herbert Power Stakes, and generally horses who perform well in this event tend to go on and win something of note later in their career.
Shamrocker (2011) produced a strong finish to beat the males in this event and recent Australian Guineas winners include Rock Classic (2010) and Heart Of Dreams (2009).
2011 Australian Guineas result
1. $31.00 Shamrocker 53.5 G Boss
2. $9.00 Bullbars 55.5 K Mc Evoy
3. $5.00 Playing God 55.5 B Prebble
then followed
4. $31.00 Mr Chard 55.5 S Arnold
5. $9.50 Under The Eiffel 55.5 M Zahra
6. $18.00 Anacheeva 55.5 L Nolen
7. $8.50 Southern Speed 53.5 Ms C Lindop
8. $16.00 Eclair Surprise 55.5 B Melham
9. $21.00 Spirited Eagle 55.5 D Nikolic
10. $31.00 Startsmeup 55.5 P Hammersley
11. $51.00 Smokin' Joey 55.5 J Winks
12. $31.00 Dusty Star 55.5 D Gauci
13. $11.00 Enjin Number Nine 55.5 D Oliver
14. $4.80 We Can Say It Now 53.5 C Williams
15. $41.00 Run For Levi 55.5 C Newitt
16. $31.00 Hollowlea 55.5 N Hall
