Verry Elleegant Stakes Tips, Betting, Odds, Horses & More 2026

The Verry Elleegant Stakes (previously known as the Chipping Norton Stakes), a weight-for-age middle-distance race at Randwick Racecourse will be held on Saturday 28th February 2026. The 1,600m trip is one of two Group 1s that will take place at Randwick on February 28, with the Surround Stakes being the other race.

Before we go into detail about the Verry Elleegant Stakes, let’s take a look at some of the key quick stats about this race: 

If you’re a bit confused because you’ve never heard of the Verry Elleegant Stakes before, let us clear something up for you. You may know the Verry Elleegant Stakes as its former name, the Chipping Norton Stakes. The Verry Elleegant Stakes had a name change in 2024 to honour the achievements of the 2021 Melbourne Cup winner, who sadly passed away in 2024 after complications from giving birth.

The Verry Elleegant Stakes is for horses 3YO and over, with a weight-for-age system being applied. It is one of the most important Group One races in the Autumn Racing Carnival. The Verry Elleegant Stakes is known as a critical lead-up race for the Doncaster Mile. The winner of this race is exempt from the ballot in the Doncaster Mile.

The Verry Elleegant Stakes is the first major Group 1 event in Sydney, along with the Surround Stakes that takes place on the same day. It helps kick off what we expect to be a stellar Autumn Racing Carnival in Sydney! Randwick Racecourse is where the race is run, and it is one of the top tracks in the country.

Now, we can’t mention the Verry Elleegant Stakes without talking about Winx! Winx won this race four years in a row on her way to winning other key races like the Doncaster Mile as well as the Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Verry Elleegant herself won the race two years in a row, in 2021 and 2022.

The current prize money for this weight-for-age race is sitting at a cool $1 million. With so much money at stake, we see some of the best horses Australia has to offer, so be sure to tune in on February 28, 2026, to not miss out on one of the most entertaining races of the day.

OnlyRacing’s Verry Elleegant Stakes page will go into detail on several different areas about the race including betting tips along with where to bet on the race. We will also get into the race history as well as previous winners of the Verry Elleegant Stakes.

Be sure to visit OnlyRacing in the week leading up to the meet on February 28 to see our three tips for the race. These tips will cover a range of bet types, so no matter the type of punter you are, we will have something for you!

Before we move on, we just want to share the breakdown of the prize money for the Verry Elleegant Stakes. Now we can dream of what we would buy if we were the owner of the winning horse!

We cover a lot of things here at OnlyRacing, but our favourite thing to cover is horse racing tips. We pride ourselves in providing some of the best free horse racing tips going around. Anything from your Randwick tips to tips on all the big races, including the Verry Elleegant Stakes itself.

At this stage, we aren’t able to provide our Verry Elleegant tips as it isn’t race week just yet and the final field hasn’t been confirmed. When the time is right, we will go through the entire field and nail down our best bet, next best and best roughie, so there will be something for everyone.

Seeing that you’re already here, you can check out our 2025 Verry Elleegant Stakes tips and use the benefit of hindsight to judge our tipsters:

Verry Elleegant Stakes Best Bet - Via Sistina

There’s a lot of talk about Via Sistina in this one and if she’ll be able to bounce back from her performance last time out in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes, where she jumped as the favourite and finished third behind Fangirl and Lindermann (who both line-up here). The answer is a yes from me and she is jumping as the favourite yet again, with odds of $1.85.

It was a tough task first up in the Apollo Stakes and the mare was held up at a crucial stage, also getting stuck on the fence, which wasn’t the place to be. She should learn from her mistakes here but her second-up record is a little bit of a query. Pencil in Via Sistina to put in a bounce-back performance on Saturday.

Verry Elleegant Stakes Next Best - Fangirl

Tipped Fangirl as my best bet in the 2024 Verry Ellegant Stakes, but I think Via Sistina will prove a little too good for her in this one. However, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Fangirl win this one. The 6YO won the Apollo Stakes last time out and the race played out perfectly for her. 

Fangirl is currently on the second line of betting at PlayUp, with odds of $3.30. She’s got speed to burn and can use that very well to her advantage. Her Good record sits at 16:6-3-5 and it looks as though the rain will stay away in Sydney over the next couple of days. Jumps from barrier five and Jason Collett sticks, she’s in with a chance to beat Via Sistina again.

Verry Elleegant Stakes Best Roughie - Fawkner Park

I do have a soft spot for Fawkner Park and the gelding has let me down in the past, but it seems crazy to me that PlayUp is currently offering $61. He is no match for the likes of Via Sistina and Fangirl, but $61, really? His two recent trials were nothing to write home about, but they never usually are, so don’t look too much into that.

We haven’t seen Fawkner Park since November when he won the Rosehill Gold Cup. As long as he keeps away from wet tracks, he’ll be good. He has a Good record of 14:8-1-0, compared to his Wet record of 5:0-0-2 and his Soft record of 5:0-0-2. He might be looking for longer distances, but he is worth a throw at the stumps.

If you’re thinking about betting on the Verry Elleegant Stakes, then you’ve come to the right place! In this section, we will go through everything you need to know about Verry Elleegant Stakes betting, so you can make the best choice possible and hopefully come out a winner!

One of the things we recommend when it comes to Verry Elleegant Stakes betting is to bet on a wide range of different markets. Many betting apps offer different markets on the race. It’s fun to try your hand at different bet types, but you should understand how it works before betting on it.

Let’s take a look at some of the different markets you could bet on come Verry Elleegant Stakes day:

• Quaddie at Randwick Racecourse.
• Quinella/ Trifecta/ First Four in the Verry Elleegant Stakes race.
• Fixed Win/ Place bets on your favourite runners in the Verry Elleegant Stakes as well as across the whole meet at Randwick Racecourse.
• Multi bet across multiple races at the Verry Elleegant Stakes meet.
  

So, there are your betting options, but you’re not done yet! Who are you going to bet with? There are so many horse racing betting sites available for Australians and with so much choice it makes the decision a little tricky. The team here at OnlyRacing are here to break things down for you and help guide you to an easy decision.

We’ve gone through all the best Australian betting sites and provided in-depth reviews so you have all the information at your fingertips. Having multiple bookie accounts is also a good idea because you can take advantage of the different odds on offer as well as any of the best betting sites bonuses going around.

When it comes to the Verry Elleegant Stakes, there are a few bookies in particular that we like and think you’ll like as well. Firstly, you can’t go wrong with PlayUp! Many factors go into making them one of the best betting apps, but we just love their unique promotions. For example, horse owners can get an extra 15% of winnings.

If you’re more interested in same race multi bets, then we think you’ll like Bet777. They also have great betting promotions that you can take advantage of for races like the Verry Elleegant Stakes. Their app is as smooth as they come and really easy to use.

Another bookie that really stands out from the rest is JungleBet. They have a particular focus on horse racing, so it’s a perfect place to bet on the Verry Elleegant Stakes and their fixed odds for racing are always super competitive.

PlayUp, Bet777 and JungleBet are just three of the many bookies available for your Verry Elleegant Stakes betting needs. So, if you want more don’t forget to check out our “Betting Sites” section above!

The Verry Elleegant Stakes field for the race in 2026 hasn’t been confirmed. While we don’t know which runners will line up for the race, if history is anything to go by, we can expect a high-quality field of runners fighting it out for the $1 million that’s on the line. 

Also, once available, we will list the odds of all the fancied runners in the Verry Elleegant Stakes in our “Odds” section later on this page. Please remember that as the Verry Elleegant Stakes field hasn’t been announced, the odds will be constantly changing. So, if you see a runner at odds you like, we recommend jumping on it while you have the chance!

We will provide all the 2026 Verry Elleegant Stakes field details as soon as we can, but until then you can check out the 2025 field here:

In the 2025 edition of the Verry Elleegant Stakes, we saw just nine runners confirmed to take part. There weren’t any emergencies listed either, so with the pre-race scratching of Ceolwulf, the final field size was reduced to eight.

You’ll find that scratchings are a fairly common occurrence, even in a race as major as the Verry Elleegant Stakes. There are many reasons that a horse will be scratched and it can happen at any time before the race. We know just how annoying it is to see the horse you bet on be scratched, but at the end of the day, you do get your stake back if this happens.

Something else to note when looking at the final field is the barrier draw. Barriers can have a major role in race tactics and certain barriers are more successful than others. In a small field, the barrier draw isn’t as critical, but it’s still a good idea to check out where each runner will jump from.

Studying the Verry Elleegant Stakes form guide can take a lot of work, but it is important if you’re trying to find a winner in the race! With a race that has been running as long as the Verry Elleegant Stakes you’ll find there are lots of patterns that have emerged, guiding you to a winner.

It’s hard to go past cold, hard stats and you don’t have to do any of the work either. We have gone through the form guide ourselves and have found some key form indicators that we think are important to note for your betting decisions. Let’s take a look at some of the key stats!

When looking for lead-up races, you should check out the Apollo Stakes. The winner of the Verry Elleegant Stakes has come from this race 13 of the last 15 times. The Apollo Stakes is by far the most common lead-up race. 

In 2025, winner Via Sistina finished in third place in the Apollo Stakes before the Verry Elleegant Stakes. As was the case in 2024, when winner Think It Over finished third in the Apollo Stakes before claiming victory in the Verry Elleegant Stakes.

Good news for all the favourite punters out there! The Verry Elleegant Stakes has been kind to the favourites over the past few years, with 11 favourites winning in the last 13 years. This is thanks to the likes of Winx (who won four years in a row) and Verry Elleegant herself! In 2025, Via Sistina won the Verry Elleegant Stake as the $1.60 favourite.

It seems as though 3YOs aren’t too successful in recent times in the Verry Elleegant Stakes. The last 3YO to win the Verry Elleegant Stakes was back in 2007 with He’s No Pie Eater. You should also look at runners that are trained in Sydney, since the last non-Sydney trainer winner was Te Akau Shark in 2020 and before that, it was Starcraft all the way back in 2004!

Wide barriers aren’t your friend in the Verry Elleegant Stakes. However, it is important to remember that the Verry Elleegant Stakes doesn’t usually attract a large field. Only two horses since 1993 have won from a barrier wider than eight, which were Te Akau Shark in 2020 and Kingston Bay in 1993. In 2025, Via Sistina won jumping from barrier eight. 

Speaking of Winx and Verry Elleegant, they are the exception as mares traditionally haven’t had a good record in this race. Winx was the first mare to win the Verry Elleegant Stakes since 1984! Via Sistina joins the two great mares as she won the race in 2025 as a 7YO mare.

There have been some amazing, out-of-this-world horses that have won the Verry Elleegant Stakes in the past. This section is dedicated to shining a light on some of these great horses. We have only picked a handful of horses to feature here, so we’ve had to make some tough choices on who to include!

So, let’s see who we’ve picked as some of the best Verry Elleegant Stakes horses to ever win the race here:

Phar Lap - 1930

Known for winning some amazing races, including the biggest race of them all, the Melbourne Cup, Phar Lap also won the Verry Elleegant Stakes! He also won races like the Cox Plate, the Memsie Stakes, the Victoria Derby and the Underwood Stakes. In the end, he held a career record of 51:37-3-2.

Tulloch - 1958 & 1960

Tulloch was one of the greatest Australian stayers, so we just had to include him in our list of best Verry Elleegant Stakes horses! He won the Verry Elleegant Stakes on two occasions and even has a Group 2 race named in his honour, the Tulloch Stakes. He has also won major races like the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Victoria Derby, the Cox Plate and the Caulfield Cup. 

Super Impose - 1991 & 1992

Inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2007, Super Impose won the Verry Elleegant Stakes in back-to-back years, in 1991 and 1992. He ended with a record 74: 20-24-8, which helped him amass a total career prize money of $5,659,358. Not bad for a horse that was purchased by a syndicate for $40,000!

Tie The Knot - 1999-2002

Tie The Knot won the Verry Elleegant Stakes four times in a row. An amazing feat that many thought would never happen again, well how wrong they were (thanks Winx!). He won several other Group 1 races including the Spring Champion Stakes, the Rosehill Guineas and the Ranvet Stakes, just to name a few.

Winx - 2016-2019

Do we really need to say anything about Winx? She was a once-in-a-generation horse who won almost every major race on the Australian calendar! She was named Australian Horse of the Year multiple times and also has a Group 1 race named after her, the Winx Stakes. With prize money over $26 million, it’s no wonder she is much loved by many Australians.

Verry Elleegant - 2021 & 2022

We couldn't have a section about the best horses of the Verry Elleegant Stakes without featuring the horse the race is named after! She won several Group 1 races throughout her career and ended with a record of 36:16-7-3, which amounted to over $14 million in prize money!

If you’re looking for Verry Elleegant Stakes odds, then you’ve come to the right place. However, our favourite bookie, PlayUp, hasn’t released their markets for the race just yet. It’s important to know that PlayUp isn’t the only bookie either, all the top horse racing betting apps will release markets for the Verry Elleegant Stakes in advance, so punters can get their bets on.

Don’t forget that the odds are constantly changing, so if you see something you like, jump on it while you can! There are many different horse racing markets available for the Verry Elleegant Stakes, so there will be something for everyone!

If you see the market is “Before Noms”, then it’s a great time to place your bets. This is because you’ll get your cash back if your horse doesn’t end up making the final field. You won’t have any such luck if you’re betting when the market is “All-In”, so make sure you keep an eye on that.

While we wait for the 2026 Verry Elleegant Stakes odds to be released, you can check out the odds for the entire 2025 field:

*Odds correct as of 27/02/2025.

The Verry Elleegant Stakes has a long and rich history, first run in 1925, the race was won by Wallace Mortlake. This race is known as the perfect lead-up race to the Doncaster Mile, which is one of the major races on the Australian racing calendar. The winner of the Verry Elleegant Stakes is exempt from the ballot for the Doncaster Mile!

The winner of the Verry Elleegant Stakes is also exempt from the ballot of the Sydney Cup as well and is a good lead-up race for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, one of the biggest Autumn Racing Carnival races. The Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival is one of the biggest horse racing carnivals of the year.

As recently as 2023 the race was known as the Chipping Norton Stakes, but in 2024 it was renamed the Verry Elleegant Stakes to honour Verry Elleegant who won the race in 2021 and 2022. In the past, the Verry Elleegant Stakes was run at Warwick Farm Racecourse, but it moved to Randwick Racecourse in 2016.

Originally, the Verry Elleegant Stakes was run over a distance of 2,000m and in 1979 it was even extended to 2,100m, but in 1980 it was reduced to its current race distance of 1,600m The Verry Elleegant Stakes was elevated to Group 1 status in 1986.

As you may have already figured out, the Verry Elleegant Stakes is just one of many races on the Australian racing calendar. If you’re keen to find out more information on other races then you’re in luck, we have a page on all of them! Just check out our Group One races list to see which races we cover!

Everyone wants to know who won the Verry Elleegant Stakes. Was it the favourite who got the chocolates, or was there an upset? All will be revealed in this section, including a table with the full finishing order as well as a race replay video, so you can relive all the action.

The 2025 Verry Elleegant Stakes was won by the pre-race favourite and multiple Group 1 winner, Via Sistina. Via Sistina jumped from barrier eight and had to fight all the way to the line. Fangirl finished second behind Via Sistina by 0.3L and was on the second line of betting.

Wrapping up the final minor placings was Lindermann, who gave things a red hot crack, finishing just 0.3L off the leader after jumping from barrier seven. The 2025 Verry Elleegant Stakes was run in a time of 1:33.62 and there was a total of 7.4L that split the first and last runners across the finish line.

Want to see where each of the runners finished? Check out the full Verry Elleegant Stakes results here:

As promised, we have the full race replay video of the Verry Elleegant Stakes! Check it out here:

We’ve seen some pretty epic races over the past few years in the Verry Elleegant Stakes, which include some amazing wins. Let’s take a step back in time and see all the latest winners from the Verry Elleegant Stakes, up until 2010:

One last section before you’re a qualified Verry Elleegant Stakes expert! We’ve listed some common FAQs about the race, so if you have any last-minute questions, we hope you find the answers you’ve been searching for here: