Moir Stakes History

The Group 1 Moir Stakes (1000m) is steeped in history and is held at Moonee Valley Racecourse as a weight-for-age sprinting feature that is available for horses aged three years old and upwards.

The Moir Stakes takes place at Moonee Valley racecourse annually in either late September or early October.

The event was first held in 1976 when it was run as a Principal Race and taken out by Scamanda over 1000m.

It would be upgraded to Group 2 status in 1979 when the race was won by defending winner The Judge and Grey Sapphire – both runners dead-heated for first.

The Moir Stakes would be contested over 1200m between 2007 and 2014 before reverting back to its original distance from 2015 onwards.

Another change that occurred was to the race name, with the AJ Moir Stakes being known as the Schweppes Stakes for a number of years between 1998 and 2011.

The race was elevated to Group 1 status in 2013 when taken out by Samaready who defeated now three-time winner Buffering.

Worth $1,000,000 in prizemoney, the Moir Stakes attracts a quality field of sprinters and often showcases one or a number of sprinting superstars.

It was taken out by Buffering in 2015 as the Robert Heathcote-trained Queensland galloper claimed his third victory in the event in the past four years.

Boasting a prestigious honour roll, a number of champion sprinters have won the Moir Stakes and none more so than the immortal Black Caviar who was unbeaten at all 25 career starts. She won the 2010 edition by a whopping 5.5 lengths before returning the following year to win by six lengths as only three rivals turned up to try their luck.

Notable winners of the Moir Stakes include Manikato (1982), Placid Ark (1987), Schillaci (1992), Sequalo (1994), Falvelon (2000), Spinning Hill (2002), Bomber Bill (2004), Miss Andretti (2007), Apache Cat (2009), Black Caviar (2010-11) and Buffering (2012 & 2014-15).

There is no key lead up race to the Moir Stakes with runners entering the event on the back of a number of different runs or first up from a spell.

The next logical target following the Moir Stakes is the $1 million Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) held at the same venue around three weeks later.

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