Villiers Stakes

The Villiers Stakes is a Group 2 quality handicap event that takes place in December each year at Randwick racecourse in Sydney, New South Wales. The race is run over a distance of 1600 metres and worth $175,000 in prizemoney. The 2011 Villiers Stakes was won by Monton from Kontiki Park with King Lioneart third.

Traditionally held at Randwick, the 2011 Villiers Handicap was held at Warwick Farm racecourse due to the partial closure of Royal Randwick for construction works.

Villiers Stakes info
Date:	Saturday 22nd December 2012
Track:	Randwick racecourse, Sydney
Distance:	1600 metres
Race Type:	Open Handicap
Status:	Group 2
Prizemoney:	$175,000
2011 Winner:	Monton

The Villiers Stakes is a good quality mile race that typically assembles a capacity field of above average gallopers, especially considering the time of the year, and the Villiers is a well regarded event on the racing calendar each December.

The race suits good milers or strong 2000m horses and while not as strong as Randwick's other big mile races, the Epsom Hcp and Doncaster Mile, it's usually a more than handy field that lines up in the Villiers.

Staying types contesting the Villiers Stakes might head on to the Gr3 Summer Cup over 2400m on Boxing Day at the same track and Aqua D'Amore (2005) was the last galloper to win both the Villiers Stakes & Summer Cup in the same year.

Monton (2011) won the listed Festival Stakes over 1500m at Rosehill before taking out this event and recent Villiers Stakes winners include Dances On Waves (2010) and Palacio De Cristal (2009).

2011 Villiers Stakes result
1. $12.00 Monton 58.0 Hugh Bowman
2. $14.00 Kontiki Park 52.0 Brenton Avdulla
3. $14.00 King Lionheart 58.0 Nash Rawiller

4. $31.00 Miss Keepsake 52.0 Josh Adams
5. $5.00 Lightinthenite 52.0 Christian Reith
6. $61.00 Alexander Of Hales 54.0 Peter Robl
7. $7.50 Fibrillation 52.0 Corey Brown
8. $6.50 New Day Rising 53.0 Chad Schofield
9. $26.00 Altered Boy 54.5 Danny Nikolic
10. $14.00 Erewhon 54.0 Tommy Berry
11. $101.00 Tindal 52.0 Sam Clipperton
12. $6.00 Shadowfax 55.0 Glyn Schofield
13. $26.00 Viva Las 52.0 Daniel Ganderton
14. $41.00 Lebrechaun 52.5 Brendan Ward
15. $41.00 Without Compromise 52.0 Ms Kathy O’Hara
16. $15.00 Zara Dancer 54.0 Adam Hyeronimus

Margins: 1 1/4 len, short head
Time: 1:36.33

Villiers Stakes recent winners & placegetters
Year	Winner	2nd	3rd	Time
2011	Monton	Kontiki Park	King Lioneart	1:36.3
2010	Dances On Waves	Mentality	Snow Alert	1:35.0
2009	Palacio De Cristal	Parfumier	Spinney	1:34.7
2008	Something Anything	Hey Elvis	Rags To Riches	1:36.3
2008	(Jan) Honor In War	Takeover Target	Alverta	1.21.5
2007	Race not run
2006	Utzon	Anwaar	Spirit of Tara	1.35.2
2005	Aqua D'Amore	Malcolm	Fiery Venture	1.35.4
2004	Ike's Dream	Dante's Paradiso	Sir Dex	1.33.1
2003	On a High	Mufti	Jeremiad	1.35.8
2002	Boreale	This Manshood	Silver Birch	1.34.8
2001	Carael Boy	Space Age	Osca Warrior	1.36.5
2000	Grey And Gold	Taberann	Forbill	1.36.1
1999	Final Fantasy	So Precise	Huge Demand	1.35.4
1998	Referral	Juggler	Banner Headline	1.34.9
1997	Arletty	Quick Flick	Banner Headline	1.35.1
1996	Touch Of Force	Nick's Joy	Persian Flyer	1.34.0
1995	Here's The Prince	Zouslan Pragmatism	Pragmatism	1.34.5
1994	Aunty Mary	Nick's Joy	Cohort	1.34.3
1993	Cobbora	Square The Circle	Pharaoh	1.33.8
1992	Soho Square	Pharaoh	Manly Star	1.35.1
1991	Shining Wind	Mighty Rimu	Pontormo	1.35.0
1990	Post Elect	Don't Play	Our Dawn Star	1.34.4
1989	Spot The Rock	Merimbula Bay	Mighty Grey	1.34.7
1988	Tumble On	Mystical Prince	Tierra Rist	1.33.3