Top 5 Oakleigh Plate Winners

The Oakleigh Plate (1100m) sees the speedsters in action over the 1100m at Caulfield and has been won by some champion gallopers over the years. See who made our list of top 5 Oakleigh Plate winners since 1980.

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

Top 5 Oakleigh Plate winners.

1. SCHILLACI (1992)

The champion grey was one of the stable stars for the all-conquering Lee Freedman stable in the early 1990’s and took out the Oakleigh Plate at just his fifth career start. He won the Lightning Stakes (1000m) and Newmarket Handicap (1200m) either side of that run, meaning that he had chalked up three Group 1 wins after just six starts. Niggling injuries curtailed his brilliance somewhat after that but he did manage to win a further five Group 1 races until his retirement in 1995, departing the scene with 16 wins from a total of 35 starts.

2. WEEKEND HUSSLER (2008)

Like Schillaci, Weekend Hussler was unstoppable as a younger horse and kicked off his autumn three-year-old campaign in 2008 with a win in the Oakleigh Plate ahead of Magnus. It was one of eight victories for the Ross McDonald-trained galloper that season as he gained Australian Horse of the Year honours by equalling Kingston Town’s record for most Group 1 wins in a single season. The excitement machine then took out the Memsie Stakes (1400m) and the Underwood Stakes (1800m) as a four-year-old before injury cut him down later on.

3. PLACID ARK (1987)

The West Australian galloper made a solid start to his career back in 1986 in Perth and was sent over to Victoria where he became the first horse to win the Lightning Stakes/ Oakleigh Plate and Newmarket handicap in succession. Other major wins came in the Moir Stakes (1000m) and the Winterbottom Stakes (1200m). Sadly, his career was cut short due to injury and he was euthanised at age four.

4. STARSPANGLEDBANNER (2010)

Starspangledbanner won the Oakleigh Plate in 2010 as a three-year-old. The Leon Corstens-trained galloper was second up after missing out in the Lightning Stakes (1000m) on resumption. He had won the Caulfield Guineas (1600m) in the spring after a bold front-running display with Danny Nikolic on board. Later, he would head to England and under Aidan O’Brien, he took out the Golden Jubilee Stakes (1200m) and the July Cup (1200m)

5. SNIPPETS (1988)

A popular and consistent galloper in the late 1980’s, Snippets won the Oakleigh Plate in 1988 and raced just 14 times for nine wins. He was too good for Rancho Ruler in this race, which came just a week after he finished runner-up behind Special in a vastly run Lightning. As a two-year-old he won the Sires Produce Stakes (1400m) in Sydney at Randwick before returning to that track a year later to claim the Galaxy (1100m).

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