Turnbull Stakes Preview

The Turnbull Stakes is a Group 1 race held at Flemington racecourse each year in early October during the Melbourne Spring racing carnival. It is run over a distance of 2000 metres and raced under set weights and penalties conditions with prizemoney of $500,000. The 2009 Turnbull Stakes was won by Efficient from Predatory Pricer with Scenic Shot third.

The race was a Group 2 event up until 2005, when grand mare Makybe Diva beat a quality field, and the race was then elevated to Group 1 status.

Turnbull Stakes info
Date:	Saturday October 2nd, 2010
Track:	Flemington racecourse, Melbourne
Distance:	2000 metres
Race Type:	4yo&Up Set Weights + Penalties
Status:	Group 1
Prizemoney:	$502,000
2009 Winner:	Efficient

The Turnbull Stakes is rated below the major Group 1 spring races like the Melbourne Cup and WS Cox Plate, but it is held in high esteem and become a prestigious event on the racing calendar each year.

The race is the first quality 2000 metre event of the spring and gives staying types a chance to race over a more suitable middle distance with the upcoming Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup in mind. The Turnbull Stakes provides a more than handy lead up race to the Yalumba Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield the following week and the Caulfield Cup (2400m) two weeks later.

The race itself has been a tremendous guide to winners of major spring races and a number of high class gallopers have managed to win this race. In recent years the Turnbull Stakes has provided multiple winners of the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and WS Cox Plate, and every year it continues to be a pivotal race for horses contesting the major Group 1 races to come.

The Turnbull Stakes always attracts top class gallopers and is one of the premier middle distance events of the spring carnival. History says to keep an eye on the Turnbull Stakes.

Efficient (2009) was unplaced in the Underwood Stakes prior to winning this race and in recent years the Turnbull Stakes has been won by Littorio (2008), Devil Moon (2007) and Sphenophyta in 2006.

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Spring Carnival Guide
The 2008 Turnbull Stakes provided the first and second placegetters in the WS Cox Plate with Maldivian(6th in 2008) winning the time honoured event, while Zipping(3rd in 2008) finished in second place in the Cox Plate then went on to win the Sandown Classic later in the spring.

The Turnbull Stakes in 2005 was taken out by the mighty Makybe Diva who went on to win three Melbourne Cups in a row from 2003-05 and also won the 2005 WS Cox Plate.

Elvstroem (2004) won the Caulfield Cup the same year, while champion Northerly (2002) won the WS Cox Plate twice in 2001-02 and then captured the 2002 Caulfield Cup.

Brilliant mare Sunline (2001) scored a WS Cox Plate double in 1999-2000. Sky Heights (1999) won the Caulfield Cup later that spring, and All Our Mob (1995) won the 1996 Mackinnon Stakes over this track and distance, then finished 3rd in that years Cox Plate.

2009 Turnbull Stakes result
1. $26.00 Efficient 57.5 Nicholas Hall
2. $5.50 Predatory Pricer 56.5 D Dunn
3. $31.00 Scenic Shot 59.0 S Scriven

Then followed:
4. $4.40 Maldivian 59.0 Craig Williams
5. $7.50 Red Ruler 54.5 D Nikolic
6. $71.00 Baughurst 55.5 B Melham
7. $26.00 Viewed 59.0 B Rawiller
8. $41.00 Zipping 59.0 E Cassar
9. $15.00 Roman Emperor 56.5 J Bowman
10. $41.00 C'est La Guerre 57.5 S W Arnold
11. $26.00 Zagreb 55.5 Chris Symons
12. $14.00 El Segundo 59.0 Ms Michelle Payne
13. $4.20 Vigor 57.5 D Oliver
14. $81.00 Joe Blow 54.5 M Pegus
15. $20.00 Red Lord 55.5 G Boss

Margins: 1/2 hd, len
Time: 2:01.60

2009 Turnbull Stakes: Efficient came with a well timed run to finish strongly and grab Predatory Pricer close to home in a top win. Predatory Pricer went past race leader Maldivian at the 100m mark and was only collared close to home to finish second, while Scenic Shot got third place after being in a group of horses crossing the line in a photo finish.

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Turnbull Stakes recent winners & placegetters

Year	Winner	2nd	3rd	Time
2009	Efficient	Predatory Pricer	Scenic Shot	2:01.6
2008	Littorio	Master O'Reilly	Zipping	2:02.4
2007	Devil Moon	Scenic Shot	Haradasun	2:03.4
2006	Sphenophyta	Our Smoking Joe	Aqua D Amore	2:01.9
2005	Makybe Diva	Lad Of The Manor	Confectioner	2:01.5
2004	Elvstroem	Mummify	Confectioner	2:00.4
2003	Studebaker	Pentastic	Strasbourg	2:04.0
2002	Northerly	Dash For Cash	Fields Of Omagh	2:02.3
2001	Sunline	Universal Prince	Primrose Sands	2:03.9
2000	Fairway	Sunline	Diatribe	2:02.2
1999	Sky Heights	Ruy Lopez	Inaflury	2:04.6
1998	Aerosmith	Gold Guru	Our Unicorn	2:05.8
1997	Marble Halls	Always Aloof	Seascay	2:03.1
1996	Doriemus	Beaux Art	Cheviot	2:09.3
1995	All Our Mob	Doriemus	Sir Kingi	2:01.1
1994	Redding	Paris Lane	Tristalove	2:03.7
1993	The Phantom Chance	Naturalism	Kiwi Golfer	2:05.7
1992	Naturalism	London Bridge	Mr Eurostar	2:03.0
1991	Lets Elope	Prince Salieri	Renteeno	2:01.9
1990	Better Loosen Up	Royal Creation	Shuzohra	2:04.4
1989	Super Impose	Research	Sydeston	2:03.4
1988	Vo Rogue	Apollo Run	Ebeli Show	2:01.9
1987	Vo Rogue	Fair Sir	King Of Brooklyn	2:01.3
1986	Just Now	Pharostan	Cimarra	2:03.7
1985	Lacka Reason	Our Sophia	Glen Moriston	2:04.8
1984	Al Dwain	Alibhai	Beechcraft	2:04.9
1983	Chez Nous	La Cocotte	Malvita	2:02.0
1982	Birchwood	Fearless Pride	Prince Majestic	2:02.8
1981	No Peer	Deck The Halls	Saxon Slew	2:03.9
1980	Amarla	Polo Player	My Brown Jug	2:03.1