The Rosehill Guineas is the second leg of the Australian Triple Crown, preceded by the Randwick Guineas and followed by the AJC Australian Derby. The event is hosted at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney during late March, making it a part of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival. This extensive series of autumn thoroughbred race meetings is organised by the prestigious Sydney Turf Club and attracts large numbers of spectators every year.
The Rosehill Guineas extends 2000m (1 mile, 2 furlongs) along a right-handed, turf track at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse. It is open only to Group 1 thoroughbreds aged three and requires each competitor to carry 8st-13lbs (males) or 8st-8lbs (females).
Location: Rosehill Gardens Racecourse
Grade: Group 1
Race Type: Flat
The Rosehill Guineas is considered one of the best events restricted to three-year-old thoroughbreds to take place during the Racing Carnival. In fact, some racing commentators claim the Rosehill Guineas might be the best race for juveniles of the entire season.
The race counts some true legends amongst its winners, including the iconic Australian race horse Phar Lap who took the laurels in the 1929 Rosehill Guineas, six years before the Australian Triple Crown was established. Since the introduction of the Triple Crown, great runners like Sky Chase (1988), Danewin (1995), and Octagonal (1996) have recorded victories at the event.
The purse of the Rosehill Guineas promises AU$600,000. The Rosehill Guineas is one of the longest running races in Australia having been inaugurated in 1910 with the Melbourne Cup having held its first race back in 1861.The Rosehill Guineas has held Group 1 status since 1980 and is immensely competitive.
The records below reflect a century's worth of top-athletic performances by talented competitors (as of 2017).
20 horses have won the Rosehill Guineas/Australian Derby double. These include Biplane (1917), Pharlap (1929), Moorland (1943), Tea Rose (1944), Caranna (1955), Tulloch (1957), Martello Towers (1959), Imagela (1973), Taras Bulba (1974), Battle Sign (1975), Dulcify (1979), Kingston Town (1980), Strawberry Road (1983), Naturalism (1992), Innocent King (1993), Octagonal (1996), Skycap Heights (1999), Eremein (2005), It's A Dundeel (2013), and Criterion (2014).
Currently, the course record holders for the event at a distance of 2000m are Star of Maple (1994) and Danewin (1995) who each completed the event in 1m: 59.99sec.
The past decade has produced some of the finest moments of Rosehill Guineas history (as of 2017).
In 2013, It's A Dundeel became the widest margin winner of the past decade by finishing ahead of Sacred Falls by almost seven lengths. The colt came into the race as the 30/100 favourite having already won the Randwick Guineas. He went on to give an equally dominating performance at the Australian Derby becoming the most recent Australian Triple Crown winner to date.
In 2010, Zabrasive became the shortest margin winner in the recent history of the Rosehill Guineas by finishing a nose ahead of Rock Classic. It was the only win of his short career.
