2400mAustralian Oaks – 2400m
Date: Saturday 8th April 2023
Time: 3:55pm (AEDT)
Prize Money: $1 million AUD
The 2023 Australian Oaks boasted its largest ever prize pool available to its participants thanks in no small part to Racing New South Wales. Racing New South Wales announced an injection of upwards of $20 million to New South Wales Group 1 races’ prize money for the season. As a beneficiary of this, more heads were turned to watch the 2023 Australian Oaks than any other Australian Oaks race before with a whopping $1 million AUD on offer.
See below the distribution of prize money for the 2023 Australian Oaks. Pennyweka took home the gold in the 2023 Australian Oaks, along with a handsome $580,000 AUD payday for its connections (jockey, trainers, and investors).
| Placing | Prize Money |
| 1st | $580,000 |
| 2nd | $190,000 |
| 3rd | $98,000 |
| 4th | $44,000 |
| 5th | $22,000 |
| 6th, 7th, and 8th | $10,000 |
| 9th and 10th | $8,000 |
Whilst we have become accustomed to the prize money in races such as the Queen Elizabeth Stakes or the Doncaster Mile where Racing New South Wales generated prize pools of $5 million AUD, not to mention the most lucrative race in Australia, the Everest. However, $1 million AUD on offer for its runners is nothing to snuff your nose at!
Now that we are well versed in the prize money distribution for the 2023 Australian Oaks, we can take a deep dive into who battled it out for that elusive first prize! Below is a table that includes the most integral information on the field of runners that competed in the 2023 Australian Oaks at Randwick Racecourse on Saturday the 8th of April. This table includes the race number and barrier for each horse, their name and nationality, as well as the fixed win and place odds for the 2023 Australian Oaks according to PlayUp taken as the race jumped.
Please Note: All odds are provided by PlayUp.
| Race Number (Barrier) | Horse Name (Nationality) | Fixed Win Odds ($) | Fixed Place Odds ($) |
| 1 (11) | Pennyweka (New Zealand) | 4.80 | 1.90 |
| 2 (2) | Pavitra (Australia) | 4.80 | 1.90 |
| 3 (4) | Fireburn (Australia) | 6.50 | 2.35 |
| 4 (5) | Polygon (Australia) | 16.00 | 4.00 |
| 5 (10) | Arts (Australia) | 4.80 | 1.90 |
| 6 (7) | Pierossa (Australia) | 11.00 | 3.40 |
| 7 (1) | Soul Choice (Australia) | 20.00 | 5.00 |
| 8 (15) | So Dazzling (New Zealand) | 21.00 | 5.0 |
| 9 (8) | Byron Belle (Australia) | 51.00 | 8.50 |
| 10 (6) | Premise (New Zealand) | 17.00 | 4.40 |
| 11 (9) | Mountain Guest (Australia) | 51.00 | 8.50 |
| 12 (3) | Frankie's Me Dad (Australia) | 61.00 | 11.00 |
| 13 (14) | Jolted (Australia) | 71.00 | 15.00 |
| 14 (12) | Stormy Witness (Australia) | 301.00 | 51.00 |
| 15 (13) | Fay's Angels (Australia) | 301.00 | 51.00 |
From this tough field of competitors, one horse stood alone at the top! Coming in as tied favourite with Pavitra, Pennyweka raced home from the 11th barrier to claim victory in the 2023 Australian Oaks with odds of $4.80 according to PlayUp at the time of the jump.
Whilst Pavitra was nowhere to be seen, a couple of roughies came through to complete the podium for the 2023 Australian Oaks. Cashing my personal $5.00 fixed place bet was the New Zealand native So Dazzling. As the name suggests, he dazzled the field regardless of the pitiful $21.00 according to PlayUp that the market gave to him. A strong race from the 15 barrier will definitely see So Dazzling drop in price for his next race so be warned!
To round out the top 3 in the 2023 Australia Oaks was a horse that (as a roughie loving racing bloke) I never saw coming! Byron Belle, a $51.00 odd roughie flew home to take third place in the 2023 Australian Oaks. Cashing the $8.50 fixed place bet that some lucky punters have probably shared slips of around social media, Byron Belle is definitely one to watch for the future. Also, do not expect to see a similar price for Byron Belle in relation to the 2023 Australian Oaks odds according to PlayUp.
Below is a table of the race information for the placings in the 2023 Australian Oaks race at Randwick Racecourse. This table includes the same information as in the above table that highlights the critical race information for the entire field of the 2023 Australian Oaks race. So, be sure to scroll up a bit further in this ‘The Feature Race – the 2023 Australian Oaks’ section of the 2023 Australian Oaks preview to get a full comprehension of the field that Pennyweka, So Dazzling, and Byron Belle finished ahead of.
Please Note: All odds are provided by PlayUp.
| Race Number (Barrier) | Horse Name (Nationality) | Fixed Win Odds ($) | Fixed Place Odds ($) |
| 1 (11) | Pennyweka (New Zealand) | 4.80 | 1.90 |
| 8 (15) | So Dazzling (New Zealand) | 21.00 | 5.00 |
| 9 (8) | Byron Belle (Australia) | 51.00 | 8.50 |
