Golden Gift Tips, Betting, Odds, Horses & More 2025

As the battle continues between Racing NSW and Racing Victoria, it is the punters who continue to win. One of the many races that Racing NSW has introduced to its revamped Spring Racing Carnival includes the Golden Gift. The Golden Gift has been running since 2015 and exclusively features 2YOs.

Raced each year at Rosehill Racecourse, one of the top tracks in the country, the Golden Gift was first won by Yankee Rose. The 1,100m trip is worth a cool $1 million, so while it doesn’t have the prestige of a Group 1 race (it is now a Group 3), there’s still a lot of prize money on the line, which always draws in some of the best horses.

Previously, the best time for 2YOs was in Autumn, but this new race introduced by Racing NSW means 2YOs get their shot in the Spring time as well. The Golden Gift is another million-dollar race, which seems to be popping up more and more, especially in NSW. It wasn’t until 2019 that this race gained million-dollar status though.

Known as Golden Gift Day, the race is strategically placed the week after The Golden Eagle, which is worth a mammoth $10 million. Raced on the same day at Rosehill Racecourse is The Five Diamonds, which is worth $2 million.

Not to be outdone, at Flemington Racecourse, it is Champions Day, with three key Group 1 races taking place; the Champions Stakes, the Champions Mile and the Champions Sprint. There is certainly no lack of high-quality racing to take place on this day!

The team here at OnlyRacing have every aspect of the Golden Gift covered for you. From horse racing betting to form guide information and everything in between. We also update this page multiple times throughout the year, so you always get the most up-to-date information possible.

As we’ve already mentioned, the Golden Gift isn’t a Group 1 race, but the prize money on offer means we always see high-quality runners. The runners in the Golden Gift fight it out for a share in the $1 million on offer. 

When it comes to free horse racing tips in Australia, there is only one place you want to be - OnlyRacing! Our experts are here to provide you with some of the best Golden Gift tips going around. But we don’t stop there, we’ve got tips for all the major races on the calendar, plus Rosehill tips to keep you going.

For the Golden Gift in 2025, our racing tips aren’t available just yet. Our experts want to ensure they have all the information necessary and therefore are waiting until race week for the final field to be revealed. When the time is right, we will provide our best bet, next best and best roughie for the Golden Gift.

While we wait for race week to roll around, you can check out our 2024 Golden Gift tips here:

Golden Gift Best Bet - North England

Form, what form? With most runners only competing in just one (or even none) runs, there’s not a lot to stack up here, making it a little tricky, but I’m siding with the current $3.30 favourite with PlayUp, North England. Expecting a lot of upside from this colt, who finished a close second in the Group 3 Breeders’ Plate.

Jockey Tim Clark retains the ride, which is always a good sign and he has good barrier speed from what I have seen, so he is another candidate for the lead here. After his run in the Breeders' Plate, North England had a nice trial at Hawkesbury, where he won. There are a few that can win this and North England is right up there.

Golden Gift Next Best - O’ Ole

Was a little bit of a toss-up for me regarding who gets the honour of my next best for the Golden Gift, but I sided with O’ Ole in the end. The 2YO has been trialling well, with two trial wins under her belt, including a trial at Kensington just last week. Her first run was in the Gimcrack Stakes, where she finished second by 1.5L.

Rachel King retains the ride from that second place in the Gimcrack Stakes and I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful partnership. It’s difficult to tell, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see O’ Ole leading here and could very well win post-to-post. At the moment, we are getting $4.60 for O’ Ole to take the win.

Golden Gift Best Roughie - Icarian Dream

A tiny field of just nine runners is up for the 2024 Golden Gift, some of them have competed in just one race, while this will be the first race for some! Now, ignore the “best roughie” headline as I couldn’t find a roughie worth backing. Icarian Dream has odds of $6.00 at the moment with PlayUp and is overs in my opinion.

She is one from one so far in her career, after breaking her maiden at Warwick Farm in the Ranvet Maiden Plate. I don’t think soft conditions suited her very well there, but she still managed the win. She’ll get better conditions at Rosehill on Saturday and jumps from barrier four, which sets her up nicely.

The Golden Gift is one of the biggest races on the Australian calendar, so it’s only natural that many want to bet on the race. Before you jump in with both feet, it’s a good idea to have some sort of Golden Gift betting strategy. Think about which one of the many betting sites in Australia you are going to bet with and the market you are going to bet on.

There are so many betting sites to choose from and if you’re interested in opening a new account, there are a few things you should understand. Each bookie has a slightly different offering, so it’s a good idea to check our bookie reviews page. Our reviews have all the important information you need to make the best decision for you.

One of the key areas you should pay attention to is each bookies app. The best betting apps have great user experience and are as seamless as possible. We have a section dedicated to betting apps on our bookie reviews page, so you can see more information about which apps are worth your time.

While you may think about betting with just one bookie, it’s important to remember that you can bet with as many as you like. We even encourage this as you can easily take advantage of things like better odds and different bonus offers. Some bookmakers in particular that you should look into include; PlayUp and PuntNow

You shouldn’t ignore new betting sites either, they are a credible alternative to some of the more established bookies on the market. While they don’t usually have as many markets as some of the more established players, they do excel in other areas, like their betting app and customer service.

Not only do you have to consider which bookie you want to bet with for the upcoming Golden Gift, but you also need to choose the market you wish to bet on. There’s plenty of markets available, but the most popular ones include:

• Quaddie
• Quinella
• Trifecta
• First Four
• Fixed Win/ Place
• Multi 

The Golden Gift field always features a high-quality bunch of 2YOs who fight it out for a mammoth amount of prize money. It’s not race week just yet, so we don’t know which runners are due to line up in the race. We will keep an eye on things and bring you the final field when we can.

A good way to get a sneak peek into the runners that might make an appearance in the Golden Gift is to check out the odds for the race, if available. The odds market will feature all the more favoured runners, who are likely targeting the Golden Gift, which is why their odds are shorter than others.

The 2025 Golden Gift field is not available just yet, but you can check out the runners who took part in the 2024 race here:

We saw a much smaller field for the 2024 Golden Gift compared to 2023, as there were just nine runners that lined up this year. No emergencies were listed either, but this didn’t matter in the end as there weren’t any pre-race scratchings.

Scratchings happen quite regularly in horse racing and it’s something you should keep an eye on, especially if you are betting on the race. If you place a bet on a runner that ends up being scratched, you can rest easy knowing you will get your stake back. 

Something else that is important to note is the barrier draw. The barrier each runner jumps from is known to have a fairly significant influence on how the race unfolds, especially if the field is on the bigger side and if the track has tight turns.

Even though the Golden Gift has only been around since 2015, there’s still a reasonable amount of data and statistics to look into. The Golden Gift form guide is important to look into if you are going to place a bet on the race, as it’s always a good idea to bet with your head and with the backing of facts.

If you don’t have the skills or time to put together some of the key form indicators yourself, you’re in luck as the team at OnlyRacing has done all the work for you. We’ve gone through and found all the key pieces of information you need to know. Here are all the key form indicators we’ve found.

Even though it’s still very early in their respective careers, the $1 million in prize money means we get to see a quality batch of 2YOs each year. It’s a good idea to look into some of the races that occur earlier in the Spring, like the Gimcrack Stakes, Breeders' Plate and the Kirkham Plate.

In 2023, the Golden Gift winner, Shangri La Express, competed and won the Kirkham Plate in his lead-up. In 2024, the Golden Gift winner, North England, finished third in the Breeders’ Plate in his lead-up.

Due to the fact the race is for 2YOs and the timing of the race, we don’t usually see much form, but those three races can be a good starting point. It could also pay to dig into trials as well, as the Golden Gift may be the first race in some runner’s career.

Sydney stables seem to have solid success in the race and it also pays to focus on stables that have produced quality 2YOs in the past. The likes of James Cummings and Gai Waterhouse always need to be considered. 

Fillies have had a good record in the Golden Gift so far, winning five editions of the race, but they haven’t won since 2020. Since 2015, we have seen just one winner jump with double-digit odds. 

Inside barriers are usually ideal, however, three of the last four winners of the Golden Gift have jumped from a double-digit barrier. In 2024, North England won from barrier three (and there were only nine runners in the race in total!).

Even though the Golden Gift has only been around since 2015, there have been plenty of top-notch horses that have competed and won the race. Each year, we see some of the best 2YO horses on offer, but only the best of the best are good enough to go on and win this $1 million race.

We’ve gone through all the Golden Gift horses and found the handful that we want to make special mention of here in this section. Did the horse you are thinking of make our list? All the details are in the section below.

Yankee Rose - 2015

The inaugural winner of the Golden Gift, Yankee Rose is a multiple-Group 1 winner. The lightly raced mare finished her career with a record of 10:4-2-1 and this included wins in the Sires Produce Stakes and the Spring Champion Stakes. We’ve got more details about these races on our Group One races list if you’re interested.

Dame Giselle - 2019

With over $1 million in prize money, Dame Giselle had a very successful career, which included a third place in a Group 1. She finished her career with a record of 17:5-1-2 and was a four-time Group 2 winner. She never contested a Group 3 race in her career.

Sneaky Five - 2020

Sneaky Five won the Golden Gift in 2020 and had a career record of 15:5-1-1. She contested one Group 1 and Group 2 but was unplaced in both races. She had more success at Group 3 level though, winning on one occasion. Sneaky Five amassed a total career prize money of over $1 million.

Sejardan - 2021

Sejardan has over $1 million worth of prize money in the bank, thanks mainly to his victory in the 2021 Golden Gift. With a career record of 12:4-0-1, he was never victorious at Group 1 level but did win at both Group 2 and Group 3 level throughout his career. 

Shangri La Express - 2023

The 2023 winner of the Golden Gift Shangri La Express has a career record so far of 5:2-1-1, which means the colt has only gone unplaced once in his career, at the time of writing, which was when he contested his first Group 1 race. He has $719,950 in prize money at this stage and we expect this to grow in the coming years.

The Golden Gift odds will tell you which runners are currently more favoured in the market. It’s important to remember that the odds are a fickle thing and they will constantly change between when you last look at them and the start of the race. This is why it’s a good idea to place your bets as soon as you see a price you like.

Not only will the odds be constantly changing, but you also may notice different odds for the same runner across different bookies. So, it can really pay to shop around, especially if you’re considering betting on a roughie, where the discrepancy between bookies can be even wider.

Before the Golden Gift, there will be plenty of horse racing markets available to bet on. There’s something for everyone, so if you like to keep things simple with a Fixed Win or like to spice things up with a multi, you’re covered, no matter the bookie you choose to bet with.

Our favourite bookie, PlayUp, hasn’t released their Golden Gift odds just yet. They typically release their odds closer to race day, so we will keep an eye on things and bring you the odds as soon as we can. 

It’s a good idea to look at what stage the market is in as well. You’ll usually find the longer away you are betting the race, the higher the odds are, as there is more uncertainty, which means it’s easy to pick up additional value. 

The 2025 Golden Gift odds from PlayUp aren’t available just yet. While you’re waiting, check out the odds for the 2024 edition here:

*Odds correct as of 07/11/2024.

There isn’t a long history of the Golden Gift, as the race has only been running since 2015. Despite its short history, the Golden Gift has already made its mark on the Spring Racing Carnival in Sydney, which is one of the biggest horse racing carnivals of the year. In 2024, it was announced that the Golden Gift was granted Group 3 status.

One of the things that draws a crowd for the Golden Gift is the fact it is run exclusively for 2YOs. We don’t see many 2YO races in Spring, so it is a nice change from normal viewing. Most of the time, we see premier 2YO racing take place during Autumn, as this allows for juvenile horses to mature a bit before racing for major chunks of coin.

Some of the other 2YO races that are worthy of a watch include the Magic Millions 2YO Classic, which kicks the year off strongly at Gold Coast Racecourse in January. Then, we head into Spring time and major races like the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield Racecourse and the Golden Slipper at Rosehill Racecourse take place.

In 2019, the Golden Gift saw a massive increase in prize money and the race is now worth an even $1 million. Standout filly Yankee Rose won the first edition of the Golden Gift and she went on to finish second in the Golden Slipper the following year. She also won the Sires Produce Stakes and finished third in the Cox Plate.

As more editions of the Golden Gift come and go, we will continue to add to this section. When compared to some of the other major races on the calendar, the Golden Gift doesn’t have a long history, but that doesn’t have any influence over the quality of the race and the type of runners it can attract.

Who wants to know the winner of the latest Golden Gift? You do, of course! Well, good for you because you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got all the latest Golden Gift results information including the finishing order of the entire field, plus a full race replay, so you’re able to relive all the action.

In 2024, the Golden Gift was won by the pre-race favourite, North England. The colt finished third in the Breeders' Plate before winning the Golden Gift and was just 0.53L ahead of West Of Swindon, who finished in second place.

Filling in the final minor placing was Extractor, who was narrowly behind West Of Swindon, just 0.54L off the pace. The 2024 Golden Gift was run in a time of 1:04.10 and there was a total of 7.36L that split the first and last runners across the finishing post.

Here’s the full finishing order of the entire field:

If words aren’t really your thing, then we’ve got you covered as well. The replay of the latest Golden Gift race can be found here:

Over the years, we’ve seen some pretty amazing Golden Gift winners. Every single winner of the Golden Gift can be seen in the table in this section, so check out which 2YOs rose to the top and claimed a high-profile victory.

Before we let you go, if you’ve got any more questions about the race, this is the place for you. We’ve gone through and found some of the most common Golden Gift FAQs and answered them here.