Top 5 Epsom Handicap Winners

The Epsom Handicap (1600m) is always one of the highlights of spring racing in Sydney and has been won by some champion gallopers over the years. See who made our list of top 5 Epsom Handicap winners since 2000.

In modern times, the feature race has been taken out by some outstanding gallopers.

1. WINX (2015)

Winx is arguably the most famous racehorse that Australia has produced and retired with 37 wins from 43 starts and is best known for her streak of 33 wins as she matured into the champion that we remember her for. No-one could possibly have predicted what was to come around the time of her Epsom win in 2015, which was the fourth in her remarkable streak. Previous to that, she had won the Sunshine Coast Guineas (1600m), Queensland Oaks (2200m) and Theo Marks Stakes (1300m). Following her triumph in the Epsom that year she would take the first of her four Cox Plate’s (2040m).

2. DESERT WAR (2004 & 2005)

Desert War is one of only three horses to win the Epsom on two occasions, joining Super Impose and Chatham but taking out the Randwick mile in 2004 and 2005. He won as a three-year-old in 2004 then backed up a year later. The big gelding from the Gai Waterhouse stable was at his best at the 1600m-2000m distance range and picked up six Group 1 wins, including the 2007 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at the tail end of his career.

3. HARTNELL (2018)

The Godolphin import would no doubt have gone down a champion were it not for being the whipping boy behind Winx on multiple occasions. He was blown away by the mare in the 2016 Cox Plate but was a five time Group 1 winner in Australia. The 2018 Epsom among his major highlights, when carrying 57kg to victory with Hugh Bowman somehow urging him to a narrow win.

4. SHOGUN LODGE (2000)

Shogun Lodge was a star at a time when we were spoiled for champion gallopers. He won’t he Epsom when it was run the day after the end of the 2000 Sydney Olympics on a Monday, saluting with Glen Boss on board. He won three Group 1 races and a remarkable stat is that he finished runner-up in a further 12, often bumping into the likes of Sunline, Northerly and Lonhro. Tragically, the Bob Thomsen galloper suffered a fatal heart attack in the 2003 edition of the Champions Stakes (1600m) at Flemington

5. RACING TO WIN (2006)

A quality galloper from the John O’Shea stable, Racing To Win loved the Randwick mile, wining the Epsom in 2006, as well as the George Main Stakes (1600m) and Doncaster Mile (1600m) that year. His career was interrupted somewhat by the equine influenza outbreak in 2007, when at the peak of his powers, but the grey galloper ended his career of 30 starts for 13 wins, with five of those coming at the highest level.

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