William Reid Stakes Tips, Betting, Odds, Horses & More 2025

The William Reid Stakes is a weight-for-age sprint race that is held each year at Moonee Valley Racecourse and will take place on Saturday 22nd March 2025. The 1,200m trip is one of the most interesting races in the Autumn Racing Carnival and always features some of the best horses the country has to offer.

Let’s get you started with some quick facts about the William Reid Stakes. Check out all the details here:

The William Reid Stakes is one of the biggest feature sprint races that takes place at Moonee Valley Racecourse each year. This race will be run and won in 2025 on the 22nd of March and there is no doubt it is one of the most watched Group One races on the calendar. 

Moonee Valley is one of the most interesting tracks on the calendar and the William Reid Stakes is the only Group 1 in Autumn that is raced at this track. Later in the year, we do see the Cox Plate take place at Moonee Valley, which just cements the racecourse as one of the top tracks in the country.

The William Reid Stakes is raced on one of the biggest days in the Autumn Racing Carnival - Golden Slipper Day. Including the William Reid Stakes, there are a total of six Group 1s run on March 22, with the five other races taking place at Rosehill Racecourse.

This race was named after the former Moonee Valley Racing Club committee member, so it’s no surprise the race takes place at Moonee Valley! Reid was also a prominent racehorse owner, one of the more notable horses he owned was Uncle Sam, who won the Caulfield Cup on two occasions.

Like with many Group 1s, there is a lot of prize money on offer for the William Reid Stakes, $1 million to be exact! With so much at stake, we see some of the best horses giving the William Reid Stakes a crack. So, make sure you tune in here at OnlyRacing on race week to get all the information you need on William Reid Stakes tips, odds and more!

OnlyRacing’s William Reid Stakes page will cover all the details you care about like how and where to bet on the race. We will also get into the race history, as well as previous winners of the race. There’s no excuse to not check back in with us at OnlyRacing to get your tips and field information!

Before we dig deeper into the William Reid Stakes tips, why don’t we check out the prize money involved in the race? Here is the breakdown of prize money:

Who doesn’t love some free horse racing tips? Well, the team at OnlyRacing don’t just love horse racing tips, they love providing them to our loyal readers as well! Our experts do everything they can to find our readers winners, winners and more winners, so make sure you check out our Moonee Valley tips page for more details.

We love tips and you love tips! It’s all about tips here in this section and we are pleased to announce that our 2025 William Reid Stakes tips are now available! It is currently race week and we know all the runners that will line up for the race. We’ve gone through the entire field and nailed down our best bet, next best and best roughie for the William Reid Stakes.

Let’s get stuck in! Check out our 2025 William Reid Stakes tips here:

William Reid Stakes Best Bet - Jimmysstar

Sticking with the pre-race favourite for the 2025 William Reid Stakes, who is currently paying $3.10 with PlayUp. The 5YO comes in as the favourite after winning the Oakleigh Plate first up by 1.3L. He beat home the likes of She's Bulletproof and Rey Magnerio, who both line up again here in Moonee Valley on Saturday.

In that race, he settled in at the rear of the field and then jockey Ethan Brown let down in the final 400m, with Jimmysstar storming home. I’m expecting more of the same on Saturday and Brown lines up again. The gelding draws barrier two and that shouldn’t be a problem considering there are only nine runners in this one. There’s a lot to like.

William Reid Stakes Next Best - Benedetta

I think the mare has gone a little undetected in the William Reid Stakes after her poor performance last time out. However, she has excuses as she wasn’t weighted well and for this one, she comes in 2kg lighter than some of her main rivals. At the moment, you can pick up Benedetta to win the William Reid Stakes with odds of $6.50 at PlayUp.

The weight didn’t work to her advantage, but when she needed to get going in the Newmarket, all she found was traffic, so with a little more luck on her side, she’d be right in the finish. She had a decent run in the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes first up, finishing third, but that was probably a little too short for her. Gets up to 1,200m now, which looks suitable.

William Reid Stakes Best Roughie - Reserve Bank

The market has given all nine runners somewhat of a chance in the race on Saturday as no runner has odds greater than $20. For my best roughie, I’m going with Reserve Bank, who currently holds the second-highest odds with PlayUp, at $15. He is one of two 3YOs in the race and will only carry 56kg.

Compared to some of the others in this one, he does seem to lack a little bit of class, but he is worth a throw at the stumps at decent odds. He raced too keenly last time out and therefore didn’t have anything in the tank in the closing stages. He’ll be all the better for that run under his belt and Luke Currie sticks with him again. Plenty of upside.

If you enjoy having a little dabble here and there, then you’ve come to the right place! Betting on the William Reid Stakes can be a fun experience, especially if you read through some of our tips to make the most out of your betting. 

One quick look at your William Reid Stakes betting options will show you just how many markets are available from several different betting apps. Trying your hand at a few different betting markets will help you get the most out of your betting experience.

Some of the main markets that we think you should look into include:

• Quaddie at Moonee Valley Racecourse. This includes picking the winner of four nominated races at the track.
• Quinella/ Trifecta/ First Four in the William Reid Stakes race. This is where you pick the top two, three and four horses in the race.
• Fixed Win/ Place bets on your favourite runners in the William Reid Stakes as well as across the whole event at Moonee Valley Racecourse.
• Multi bet across multiple races at the track. You’ll find more bang for your buck if you can land a multi!
  

If you like the look of one of those options, now is the time to place your bets! But wait, who should you bet with? In Australia, there are A LOT of horse racing betting sites to sift through and it can be a really time-consuming process. But this is where the team at OnlyRacing comes in handy as we go through all the top  Australian betting sites and provide an in-depth review of them.

All your questions will be answered after checking out our reviews and you’ll find the perfect bookie for you! If one isn’t enough though, you can always open multiple bookie accounts. This is actually something that we recommend because you can easily shop around for betting odds as well as take advantage of all the best betting sites bonuses.

Some of the bookies that we are loving at the moment include BetGalaxy, QuestBet and Bet365. These three are some of the best betting apps going around due to their unique offerings. They all have some pretty awesome betting promotions as well, so you should certainly check them out!

While those are just three of the top bookies that we like, you can always head on over to our “Betting Sites” section earlier on this page for more recommendations on who to bet with come the William Reid Stakes. We’ve got more bookies than you can poke a stick at!

We all want to know the horses that will line up for the William Reid Stakes in 2025 and you’ve come at the right time as the final field has been confirmed. As expected, we see a raft of quality runners lining up for the William Reid Stakes field during race week. Which runner will claim the lion’s share of the prize money? 

As well as this, if the odds are available, you can check them out in our “Odds” section below. This will give you an idea of which runners are currently favoured in the market. It’s important to be aware that as the final field is announced, the odds for the William Reid Stakes potential runners will fluctuate constantly.

No more waiting around! Check out all the runners for the 2025 William Reid Stakes right here:

For the 2025 edition of the William Reid stakes, we see just nine runners expected to take their place in the starting barriers. On top of this, we haven’t seen any emergencies listed either. So, if there are any pre-scratchings, we will see the size of the field reduced. We haven’t seen any scratchings yet, but keep your eye on this.

If you are new to the world of horse racing, it’s important to remember that scratchings are fairly common. This is even the case in major Group 1 races like the William Reid Stakes, where there is a lot of prize money up for grabs. Scratchings can take place at any time between when the final field is announced and just seconds before the jump.

Something else that’s worthy of a look when going through the final field is the barrier draw. Some barriers in the William Reid Stakes are more successful than others and the connections of each runner want to ensure they draw a good barrier. The barrier a runner starts fro

Thinking of betting on the William Reid Stakes? Well, you should check out the form guide as this can help point you in the right direction. With a race that has as much history as the William Reid Stakes does, there is simply so much data and stats to go through. 

There is good news though. You don’t have to be the one to sift through all this information to find some key form indicators! The team at OnlyRacing has done all the heavy lifting for you. We’ve found all the information and patterns that are worthy of mention. Hopefully, this William Reid Stakes form guide will point you in the direction of the winner! Check out the key form indicators below!

Firstly, it’s a good idea to check out the best lead-up races. For the William Reid Stakes, look into the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes and the Newmarket Handicap. Since 2002, a total of 14 winners have come from one of those two races. You should also look for horses that were successful in their lead-up run, with just two of the last 22 William Reid Stakes winners finishing worse than third!

When it comes to the battle of the sexes, it’s a pretty even battle. Over the past 33 editions of the William Reid Stakes, fillies and mares have won the race on 17 occasions. It seems as though 3YOs have a good record in the race, with a total of 13 of the past 39 winners.

Favourites have a fair record in the race, with seven favourites getting the chocolates in the past 18 races. The recent favourites that have won the William Reid Stakes include Sunlight in 2019 and Imperatriz in both 2023 and 2024.

It is also best to see clear of horses that have drawn a wider barrier. In the past 32 years, only four winners have crossed the line in first place after starting from a double-digit barrier, with the most recent being September Run in 2022.

When it comes to a race as epic as the William Reid Stakes, it takes a pretty awesome horse to win it! Over the years we have seen amazing fields line up for the race but only the best of the best horses can go on and win the race.

We’ve narrowed down the best William Reid Stakes horses to just six winners. We know we’ve left off some quality horses, but we can’t be typing all day! So, check out the top horses we have picked to feature in this section here:

Heroic - 1927

Heroic won 27 races throughout his career, one of which was the William Reid Stakes in 1927. Some of the other Group 1 races he won throughout his career included; the Australian Derby, the Caulfield Stakes, the Cox Plate and the Underwood Stakes. In 2003, he was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

Gothic - 1929

Just two years after Heroic’s epic win in the William Reid Stakes, we saw another amazing horse grace the winner’s list in Gothic. Gothic also won some other pretty big races which included; the Futurity Stakes, the Memsie Stakes and the CF Orr Stakes.

Manikato - 1979-1983 

Yes, you read that correctly, Manikato won the William Reid Stakes five years in a row! Manikato was named the 1979 Australian Horse of the Year and was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2002. He even has a race named after him, the Manikato Stakes, which races at Moonee Valley Racecourse in the Spring Racing Carnival.

Apache Cat - 2008 & 2009

Another multiple winner of the William Reid Stakes, Apache Cat won the William Reid Stakes in back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009. Apache Cat won a total of eight Group 1s throughout his career, including the T J Smith Stakes and the Doomben10,000 . In 2008, Apache Cat was also named Australian Champion Sprinter.

Black Caviar - 2011 & 2013

Black Caviar just had to be included in the list of the best-ever horses to win the William Reid Stakes. Black Caviar even has a Group 1 named after her, the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes, which takes place at Flemington Racecourse during the Autumn Racing Carnival. She ended her career with a record of 25:25-0-0 and amassed almost $8 million in prize money.

Imperatriz - 2023

One of the more recent winners of the William Reid Stakes, Imperatriz is already a bonafide star! At the time of writing, the mare has a record of 24:18-2-1 which translates to almost $6 million in prize money. She has also won the Moir Stakes and the Railway Stakes, just to name a few. We will be following the career of Imperatriz very closely!

If you’ve found the runner you’re looking to bet on, the next step is to check out the William Reid Stakes odds. The shorter the odds for a particular runner means they are more favoured to win the race.

You’ll find that all the top horse racing betting apps will have markets for the William Reid Stakes a few weeks before the race. This means you can get your bets on sooner if you like! At the moment, our favourite bookie, PlayUp, has released odds for the big race, so you can check out all the details right here in this section.

Remember, that the odds in the horse racing markets will change all the time, so if you see a price you like, it’s better to jump on while you can. Betting when the market is listed as “Before Noms” means that if your chosen runner doesn’t make the final field, you’ll get your stake back!

The William Reid Stakes odds have been released and you can see where each runner stacks up here:

*Odds correct as of 20/03/2025.

The William Reid Stakes has a long and rich history, with the first running of the race taking place back in 1925 and won by The Night Patrol, who was able to back up and win the race again in 1926. As previously mentioned the race is named after William Reid who was a Moonee Valley Racing Club committee member and racehorse owner.

The race takes place during the Autumn Racing Carnival, which is one of the biggest horse racing carnivals on the calendar. The William Reid Stakes gained Group 1 status back in 1987 and has been known as the William Reid Stakes throughout its history, except between the years of 1994 and 2009, when the race was known as the Australia Stakes.

Previously run on the Australia Day weekend, the William Reid Stakes has been run in Autumn since 2002. Some amazing horses have been victorious in the William Reid Stakes including Manikato and Black Caviar, who both now have Group 1s named after them! For one year in 1995, the race was run at Flemington Racecourse.

As you may already know by now, there are so many major races on the Australian calendar. So, if you want to learn more about some of the other races, be sure to check out our Group One races list. All the races you care about are listed there!

Who wants to know which horse won the William Reid Stakes? You do of course! Were you lucky enough to bag a winner, or is it back to the drawing board? We’ve got all the details you’re looking for in this section including the full finishing position order table and the race replay.

Should we just leave all the information up here from last year? Imperatriz once again won the William Reid Stakes, just like she did in 2023. It was a closer fight than in 2023 though as Imperatriz won by just 0.2L to second-placed Johnny Rocker.

In third place, we saw I Am Me hold on, a total of 2.2L off the pace. It was a hotly contested race with just 6.6L separating the entire field of 10 runners. The 2024 William Reid Stakes was run in a time of 1:09.99.

Let’s check out how each runner fared in the 2024 William Reid Stakes here:

As promised, we have the full video replay of all the action that went down in the William Reid Stakes. Check it out here:

We’ve got all the recent winners of the William Reid Stakes in this section! So, if you want to know which runner took out the race, you’ve certainly come to the right place. Check out all the winners of the William Reid Stakes from 2010 onwards:

Before you become a certified William Reid Stakes expert, we’ve listed some common FAQs that you might be interested in learning about! Any last-minute questions are hopefully answered here: