Caulfield Saturday Spotlight
23 September, 2016
With Te Akau trained Xtravagant lining up in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes over 1400m tomorrow at Caulfield, we thought you might find some facts about this prestigious race of interest ...
The Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes has been run under a number of different names, the Invitation Stakes was the inaugural name, but it was changed in 2006 to honour former Victoria Amateur Turf Club (now called the Melbourne Racing Club) chairman Sir Rupert Clarke who died in 2005.
Jovial Lad claimed the inaugural running of the event in 1951. It would remain as a Principal Race until 1978 before receiving Group 1 status from 1979.
There are a number of lead-up races with runners coming through the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m), Group 2 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) or Group 2 Let's Elope Stakes (1400m).
Stratum Star is the most recent winner of the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes when claiming the event in 2015 to deliver trainer Darren Weir consecutive wins in the race - Trust In A Gust had won the race 12 months earlier.
It was the Memsie Stakes that Stratum Star used leading into the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes with the four-year-old entire having run third in the Memsie.
One interesting trend is that a high-number of four-year-olds have won the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes in recent decades with 17 of the past 32 winners saluting at the age of four. In fact, the past six winners have all been four-year-olds.
Notable winners of the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes include Jovial Lad (1951), Tauto (1970-71), Manikato (1978), Mannerism (1992), Poetic King (1994), Encosta De Lago (1996), Testa Rossa (1999 & 2000), Exceed And Excel (2003), Regal Roller (2004), Barely A Moment (2005), Rewaaya (2006), Orange County (2008) and Turffontein (2009).
Lee Freedman is the most successful current trainer having trained four winners and two placegetters from 30 runners, but Darren Weir has won the past two renewals and has only saddled up three runners.
Damien Oliver and Craig Williams dominate this race among the current crop of Jockeys with Oliver booting home six winners and three placegetters from 18 rides, while Williams has five wins from 13 rides.
Interestingly, barrier 15 has been the most successful in the past 30 years with five winners, while there is an even spread among the other gates.
