George Main Stakes Winning Trends 

The George Main Stakes (1600m) has been taken out by some big names in the past and we take a look at the George Main Stakes winning trends.

The George Main Stakes (1600m), is a major lead up to the Epsom Handicap (1600m) and is a brilliant race in its own right, always won by high-class performers. The Randwick weight-for-age is worth $500,000 and has been won by guns such as Defier (2002), Lonhro (2003), Grand Armee (2004) and More Joyous (2010).

But it is the mightiest of them all, Winx, that stands out above those and registered a hat-trick of wins in the 2018 version of the George Main. She claimed the event in 2016 as a $1.09 favourite before saluting at $1.12 in 2017. She won at $1.10 in 2018. Last year, it was Avilius that joined Winx on the winners list.

In 2020, Avilius will be going for the double but it is Verry Elleegant that has installed as favourite with Sportsbet after the barrier draw at the $2.30 quote ahead of Avilius at $5. Dreamforce is also at $5, while Star Of The Seas heads the rest at $9.

So just which of this year’s contenders can take out the Group 1? If we look through the results since the year 2000 it reveals the following historical trends. 13 favourites have won the event since 2000 including four at odds on and they were Winx in 2016/17/18 as well as More Joyous (2010), Racing To Win (2006) and Grand Armee (2004). Kermadec scored as a $2.35 chance in 2015, while Lonhro won at similar odds in 2003. Avilius won as a $3.10 chance last year.

Only two horses have won above $10 since 2000. Road To Rock caused a boilover in 2009, winning at $41 and Adam saluted at $13 in 2000. The average winning price since the year 2000 is $5.80 although that number has been compressed somewhat due to the dominance of Winx.

The field of seven is just under the long-term average of eight runners in this race and with the smallish fields, barriers haven’t tended to be a factor in the event with winners coming from a variety of positions. However, it is worth noting that no runner has won from barrier 2 or 7 since before the year 2000. Verry Elleegant and Kolding will be out to break that drought this year.

Barrier’s 1, 4 and 5 have had four winners each and Dreamforce, Colette and Imaging have drawn those spots this year. It has been the five and six-year-olds that have come to the fore over the journey in this race. Eight horses aged five have won since 2000, while five horses aged six have saluted.

Kolding, and Verry Elleegant are the five-year-olds this year, while Imaging and Star Of The Seas are six. Verry Elleegant, and Colette are the mares in the race. Outside of Winx, Streama and More Joyous are other members of the fairer sex to salute since 2000.

Winx’ trainer, Chris Waller, has been the most successful trainer in the race since 2000 with six wins, while Gai Waterhouse and John Hawkes have registered three wins apiece in that time period. Waller has won six of the past eight editions and is a fair chance of adding to that collection this year as he has four of the seven runners.

They are Kolding, Imaging, Star Of The Seas and Verry Eleegant. James Cummings won the race last year with Avilius and will be going for back to back with the seven-year-old. He also has Colette this year. The most successful jockeys since 2000 are Hugh Bowman with three winners, while Corey Brown, Kerrin McEvoy and Blake Shinn have two wins apiece. Bowman rides Avilius this year. McEvoy rode Avilius to victory last year but is on Imaging.

Finally, the main form references in the past have been the Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) and the Winx Stakes (1400m). Five winners had their previous run in the Chelmsford Stakes (1600m), including three of the past five. Avilius was runner-up in the Chelmsford last year before going one better. This year he finished 4th in that race when resuming. 15 of the past 20 winners of this race have finished in the top two at their previous start.

Three of the past seven winners have come out of the Winx Stakes, which was formerly known as the Warwick Stakes. Verry Elleegant claimed that this year ahead of Star Of The Seas. Fierce Impact was 3rd and went on to claim the Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) last weekend at Flemington. Imaging was 4th.

The Tramway Stakes (1400m) has provided two winners and Dreamforce and Kolding provided the exacta in that this year. Colette dropped out of it and was 10th.

Selections based on George Main Stakes winning trends:

Verry Elleegant has history on her side and is the one to beat here.

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