Looking for this year’s Challenge Stakes betting odds, field and tips? The experts at Neds have put together everything you need to know before this year’s race.

Challenge Stakes, Randwick

Run over 1,000 metres, the Challenge Stakes is a Group 2 race, held every March at Royal Randwick as part of Sydney’s Randwick Guineas Day program. With a $500,000 prize purse, it attracts some of Australia’s best sprinters.

This race is known as a good lead up race to The Galaxy, which takes place two weeks later, as well as the coveted Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) run back at Randwick during April’s ‘The Championships’. Subsequent Australian Horse of the Year Nature Strip (2020) was the last horse to complete the Challenge Stakes – TJ Smith Stakes double. 

In 2021 Nature Strip returned running second as the beaten odds-on favourite behind Eduardo who won in a record time of 55.2 seconds.

The form of the 2021 Challenge Stakes was franked throughout the year, including when the winner Eduardo went on to become latest Challenge Stakes – The Galaxy double winner. Runner-up Nature Strip meanwhile won the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes, where Eduardo ran third. That spring, Nature Strip won the world’s richest turf race with a victory in the now $20 million The Everest where the Challenge Stakes champ Eduardo finished third.

Eduardo returned for a successful title defence in the 2022 Challenge Stakes, while Nature Strip ran third as the beaten odds-on favourite as roughie shot Shelby Sixtysix powered home into an upset second.

Nature Strip went on to win that year’s TJ Smith Stakes with Eduardo running second before heading to the UK for his big Royal Ascot win in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes. Shelby Sixtysix meanwhile improved on his upset Challenge Stakes second in 2022 to win the Group 1 The Galaxy later that autumn.

Eduardo returned in 2023 looking to become history’s third three-time Challenge Stakes winner only to go down in a photo-finish as the beaten favourite behind Passive Aggressive.

Passive Aggressive won again in 2024 going back-to-back in the Challenge Stakes results.

Challenge Stakes 2024 – Quick Information

  • Race Day: Saturday, March 9th, 2024
  • Track Location: Randwick Racecourse
  • Track Surface: Turf
  • Track Direction: Right-handed
  • Race Distance: 1,000 metres
  • Weight Conditions: Weight for age
  • Qualification: Three years old and over
  • Type: Thoroughbred
  • Grade: Group 2
  • Operator: Australian Turf Club
  • Prize Purse: $500,000
  • Inaugural Race: 1906
  • 2024 Challenge Stakes Winner: Passive Aggressive

Challenge Stakes 2024 RESULTS

The official 2024 Challenge Stakes results will be available below once the race takes place on Saturday March 9, 2024. 

  1. #6 Passive Aggressive
  2. #5 Zapateo
  3. #4 Aft Cabin

The Grahame Begg-trained mare Passive Aggressive ($7.50) dominated the 2024 Challenge Stakes results first-up going back-to-back in the lucrative Group 2 when successfully defending her title with a flashing run down the outside the closing stages.

Challenge Stakes Betting 2024

New Ways to Bet at neds

There are many different ways to bet on the Challenge Stakes, and we have included some of the most popular options below:

Bet Type How To Place This Type Of Bet In This Year’s Challenge Stakes
Win Bet Place your bet on the horse you think will take first place in this year’s Challenge Stakes.
Place Bet Place your bet on the horse you think will place in the top three finishers at this year’s Challenge Stakes. Pays less than a win bet, but offers safer odds.
Each-Way Bet If your runner finishes 1st in the Challenge Stakes, you will collect both the Win and the Place dividend. If your horse finishes 2nd or 3rd you will collect the Place dividend.
Quinella Bet You must select the runners that finish 1st and 2nd in any order, within the Challenge Stakes, in order to win the Quinella.
Exacta Bet You must select the runners that finish 1st and 2nd in the correct order, within the Challenge Stakes to win the Exacta.
Trifecta Bet You must select runners to finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the correct order, within the Challenge Stakes to win the Trifecta.
First Four You must select runners that finish 1st, 2nd ,3rd and 4th in the correct order, within the Challenge Stakes to win the First 4.
Quadrella Bet (Quaddie) You must select the winners of four nominated races to win the Quaddie. This means you would have to select three other races apart from the Challenge Stakes, in order to be eligible to place a Quaddie.

How To Bet On The Challenge Stakes in 2024

  1. Login at neds.com.au
  2. Make sure to check out form guide, once it’s released
  3. Decide what kind of bet you’re going to place (Win, Place, Each-Way, Trifecta + more betting options, please read our section on Challenge Stakes Betting above).
  4. Select the horse(s) for the race.

Challenge Stakes 2025 Odds

Early market betting odds on the 2025 Challenge Stakes will be displayed below once available. Odds are subject to fluctuation. For current odds on all of our live markets, please visit neds.com.au.

BET NOW
Timezone: all times are in Australian Eastern Standard Time

Which Horse Will Win The Challenge Stakes

The best way to pick which sprinter will win the Challenge Stakes in 2024 is to take into account their lead-up autumn form, assess the barrier draw and back those with a previous win at the track/distance. 

Additional factors to consider when picking the Challenge Stakes winner include: 

  • Short Specialists – Look for the proven short-distance specialists at the 1000m distance. 
  • Group 1 Stars – Any star Group 1 winners down in grade make an excellent bet in the Challenge Stakes.
  • Returning Runners – In recent years the same star sprinters have dominated the Challenge Stakes trifecta season after season so looking for returning runners is a key tip. Eduardo (2021-22) followed by Passive Aggressive (2023-24) both went back-to-back in the Challenge Stakes meaning there has been just two winners of the race in four years.

Challenge Stakes Favourites 2024

Early favourites in 2024 Challenge Stakes betting include the Joe Pride-trained dual The Everest place-getter Private Eye coming off a Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning second to Imperatriz in Melbourne, the rails-drawn Remarque for Team Hawkes, and the Godolphin-raced Aft Cabin

Nature Strip ($3.10 in 2020) was the last Challenge Stakes favourite to win. Nature Strip returned to run second as the beaten favourite to Eduardo in the 2021 Challenge Stakes results and third as the beaten odds-on favourite to the defending champion in 2022. Eduardo jumped the $3.30 favourite in 2023 Challenge Stakes betting by finished second by the barest of margins behind Passive Aggressive ($7.50).

Passive Aggressive won the Challenge Stakes again in 2024 at the same price in betting – $7.50.

Challenge Stakes 2024 Field

The official 2024 Challenge Stakes field of final acceptances is announced on the Wednesday of race week and will be published in full below once announced. 

Challenge Stakes 2024 Tips

Favourite: #1 Private Eye ($2.15 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Best Bet: #1 Private Eye to salute for the punters (see above) – BET NOW

Best Roughie: #5 Zapateo ($17 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Our insider 2024 Challenge Stakes tips will be detailed above the week of the race and a full betting preview published on the Neds Blog.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR COMPLETE 2024 RANDWICK GUINEAS DAY PREVIEW & TIPS

Challenge Stakes Race Day 2024

The 2024 Challenge Stakes takes place on Saturday, the 9th of March, 2024 as part of 2024 Randwick Guineas Day. There are two Group 1 races on the card with the running of the Group 1 $1 million Randwick Guineas (1600m) for three-year-olds and the Group 1 $750,000 Canterbury Stakes (1300m). Supporting the two Group 1 races are the:

  • Group 2 $300,000 Reisling Stakes (1200m),
  • Group 2 $300,000 Todman Stakes (1200m),
  • Group 3 $250,000 Wenona Girl Quality (1600m), and the
  • Group 3 $250,000 Aspirational Quality (1600m).

Challenge Stakes Barrier Draw 2024

The 2024 Challenge Stakes barrier draw will be released to the public a few days before the race and published in our above Challenge Stakes Field section. 

Challenge Stakes Nominations 2024

2024 Challenge Stakes nominations close at 11 AM on Monday the 4th of March, 2024. 

Challenge Stakes Weights 2024

Weight for age conditions apply to this race. Final weights are announced at 4 PM on Tuesday the 5th of March, 2024 with the official 2024 Challenge Stakes weights on the final acceptors to be published in our above Challenge Stakes Field section. 

Challenge Stakes Acceptances 2024

2024 Challenge Stakes final acceptances must be declared before 9 AM on Wednesday the 6th of March, 2024 and will be published in our above Challenge Stakes Field section. 

Challenge Stakes Jockeys 2024

The final riders announcement is at 12 PM on Wednesday the 6th of March, 2024 with the official 2024 Challenge Stakes jockeys to be published in our above Challenge Stakes Field section. 

Challenge Stakes Scratchings 2024

2024 Challenge Stakes scratchings close at 7:30 AM on Saturday the 9th of March, 2024. 

Challenge Stakes Prize Money 2024

The 2024 Challenge Stakes prize purse is worth $500,000 in total, distributed from places first through to tenth.

Place Prize Money
1st $287,000
2nd $94,000
3rd $49,500
4th $22,250
5th $12,250
6th $5,000
7th $5,000
8th $5,000
9th $5,000
10th $5,000

Challenge Stakes Race Number 2024

The 2024 Challenge Stakes race number is scheduled as Randwick Race 6 at 3:25pm (AEDT) on Saturday the 9th of March, 2024. There are ten races in total that day at Randwick Racecourse.

Challenge Stakes Form Guide 2024

The final form guide will be available the week of the race. You can check below for a link to our full 2024 Challenge Stakes Form Guide following final acceptances. 

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2024 CHALLENGE STAKES FORM GUIDE

Challenge Stakes Live 2024

You can watch or listen to the 2024 Challenge Stakes live, across the following mediums.

Pay television: Sky Racing 1 (channel 526 on Foxtel)

Radio: Radio Sport National

Streaming: Racing NSW

Challenge Stakes Winners

Winners of the Challenge Stakes going back to the year 2000 are displayed in the table below. For a full list of winners going back to 1906, please check our Challenge Stakes winners page.

Year Winner Trainer/s Jockey Weight Time
2024 Passive Aggressive Grahame Begg Jordan Childs 56.5 kgs 0:56.61
2023 Passive Aggressive Grahame Begg Jordan Childs 56.5 kgs 0:57.19
2022 Eduardo Joe Pride Nash Rawiller 58.5 kgs 0:59.06
2021 Eduardo Joe Pride Nash Rawiller 58.5 kgs 0:55.20 (R)
2020 Nature Strip Chris Waller James McDonald 58.5 kgs 0:56.87
2019 Ball Of Muscle Joesph Pride Glyn Schofield 58.5 kgs 0:55.78
2018 Redzel Peter & Paul Snowden Kerrin McEvoy 58.5 kgs 0:55.73
2017 English Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Blake Shinn 56.5 kgs 0:59.99
2016 English Gai Waterhouse Tommy Berry 54 kgs 0:56.57
2015 Miracles Of Life Paul Snowden Hugh Bowman 56.5 kgs 0:56.72
2014 Villa Verde Anthony Cummings James McDonald 54 kgs 0:57.30
2013 Snitzerland Gerald Ryan Corey Brown 54 kgs 0:56.16
2012 Rain Affair Joseph Pride Corey Brown 58.5 kgs 1:03.73
2011 Hay List John McNair Glyn Schofield 58.5 kgs 0:56.89
2010 De Lightning Ridge Joseph Pride Glyn Schofield 56.5 kgs 0:55.92
2009 Olonana John O’Shea Tim Clark 54 kgs 0:56.92
2008 Hurried Choice David Payne Jeff Lloyd 53.5 kgs 0:57.35
2007 Spark Of Life Allan Denham Zac Purton 58.5 kgs 0:56.89
2006 Snitzel Gerald Ryan Craig Newitt 55.5 kgs 0:56.80
2005 Impaler David Atkins Dale Spriggs 57.5 kgs 0:56.25
2004 Star Of Florida Pat Duff Patrick Payne 57.5 kgs 0:56.39
2003 Star Of Florida Pat Duff Patrick Payne 55.5 kgs 0:56.58
2002 Bomber Bill Russell Cameron Damien Oliver 57.5 kgs 0:56.54
2001 Pimpala Prince Gordon Yorke Shane Treweek 57.5 kgs 0:59.24
2000 Easy Rocking Ron Quinton Darren Beadman 54.5 kgs 0:56.90