Naturalism Stakes

Race Preview

The Naturalism Stakes is a Group 3 race held each September a Caulfield as part of the Melbourne spring racing carnival. It was named after champion New Zealand gelding of the same name who won three Group 1 races in Australia in the early 1990’s.

The race itself is an open handicap race held over a distance of 2000 metres and some pretty handy horses have gone on to win over the past few years with names such as Rainbow Styling, Zagreb, Zipping and Pentastic some of the recent winners.

The race is held on the same day as the Underwood Stakes which is in fact the first Group 1 race of the new Melbourne racing season.

Trainers will often use the Naturalism Stakes as a launching pad for Group 1 races such as the Caulfield Cup or the Yalumba Stakes held later on in the carnival. So you can expect some pretty handy types of horses to contest this year’s race.

Spotting Winners

The race was recently upgraded to Group 3 status in 2009 due to the quality of horses contesting the race and the fact it is an ideal lead up to the Caulfield Cup, or even the Cox Plate. So it can often be a pretty tricky race to pick winners in.

There appears to be no specific race which produces winners, so look at horses with good records at handicap conditions and also who can handle the 2000 metre distance. It seems a pretty obvious comment, but pay close attention to track and distance form, more so in this race.

Previous Naturalism Stakes Winners