Adelaide Cup

Each year Adelaide is host to an excellent range of group races held at the city’s premier racecourse, Morphettville. The feature race of the two-week-long Adelaide Cup Carnival in autumn is the Group 2 Adelaide Cup.

Punters and other racing enthusiasts are entertained with an elite line-up of races on the Adelaide Cup day including the other Group 2 race of the day, the Yallambee Stud Classic, and the Group 3 RN Irwin Stakes.

This exceptional day of racing now takes place on the second Monday of March, which is a public holiday for the state ensuring the crowds are large and the atmosphere thrilling!

The Adelaide Cup is one of the last quality group races run over the traditional cup distance of 3200m. It offers runners a good opportunity to really test their staying ability in a lengthy race run under open handicap conditions.

Despite sharing the same race distance and length as the prestigious Melbourne Cup, the Adelaide Cup is not generally considered a high quality event. The field of runners is typically made up of the leading local gallopers and some interstate horses seeking a two mile run.

However, it is always a competitive field of contenders and the betting markets open on the Adelaide Cup are lucrative and engaging. The race offers prize money of $400 000 and is the only open handicap race held at Adelaide.

In recent years the Adelaide Cup has failed to be a safe indication for the Melbourne Cup. A horse has not won the Adelaide – Melbourne Cups double since Subzero in 1992.

Other notable winners include Our Pompeii (1994 & 1993) and Lord Reims (1989 & 1988) who both managed two consecutive Adelaide Cup victories. There has only been one horse to win three successive Adelaide Cups, the champion gelding Lord Reims who won in 1987, 1988 and 1989.

History:

Conducted by the South Australian Jockey Club (SAJC) the Adelaide Cup is one of Australia’s oldest races, first won by Falcon in 1864.

Beginning as a principal race run over 13 furlongs, the track distance was increased to 16 furlongs in 1945 until 1973 when Australia’s adoption of the metric system saw the Adelaide Cup run over 3200m. The race gained Group 1 status in 1989 and was a Group 1 event until 2007, when it was downgraded to Group 2 status much the same way as the Brisbane Cup was.

Lead-Up Races:

There are a number of races horses can go via in the lead-up to the Adelaide Cup including the Group 2 Perth Cup at Ascot in January, which is also an open handicap event but run over 2400m. Other key lead-up races that are of a shorter distance but run under similar conditions include the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield, the Royal Sovereign Stakes (1200m) at Kensington and the Expressway Stakes (1200m) at Randwick.

Betting:

When betting on the Adelaide Cup it is important to consider not only the form and recent race performances of the runners, but also past trends and statistics surrounding the race. For example, female jockeys have had little success in the Adelaide Cup with only one claiming victory so far, Maree Lyndon.

All good online bookmakers offer a variety of competitive odds and betting options on the Adelaide Cup, and placing a wager on the race is the best way to get involved in one of Adelaide’s premier horse racing events!

Adelaide Cup – Race Details:

Date: Early March

Track Location: Morphettville Racecourse, Adelaide

Distance: 3200m

Race Conditions: Open Handicap

Status: Group 2

Stakes: $400 000

First Run: 1864