The Gong Tips, Betting, Odds, Horses & More 2024

As one of the newer races on the calendar, The Gong is raced each year under handicap conditions and there are no gender or class restrictions, which means any horse 3YO or older can take part in this race. The Gong doesn’t have Group 1 status, but the $1 million in prize money on offer is surely enticing enough to bring in some of the best going around.

It is raced each year at Kembla Grange Racecourse, which may not be considered one of the main or top tracks in the country, it is great that Racing NSW is providing a spotlight for provincial racing in the state. The race was created in the hopes that it would attract runners from The Golden Eagle along with The Hunter out to Wollongong. 

Wollongong is one of the biggest cities in the state but rarely gets the spotlight on a Saturday for a major race. The Gong has changed this and we now see local horses, jockeys and trainers fight it out with some of the best going around, both within NSW and interstate.

The Gong was first raced in 2019 and the inaugural winner of the race was Mister Sea Wolf. The race is a part of a raft of new races recently introduced by Racing NSW to revamp their Spring Racing Carnival and compete with Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival. In 2024, The Gong was granted Group 3 status.

The Gong takes place one week after The Hunter, which is another newly introduced race that shines a light on provincial NSW racing. On top of this, The Gong currently shares its race day with the Railway Stakes, which is a Group 1 race at Ascot Racecourse and kicks off Perth’s Summer Racing Carnival.

OnlyRacing.com.au has got you covered for The Gong each year. We provide all the information you’ve been looking for like The Gong tips, betting and odds details. As well as this, we have general information on the field, history and results. This page is updated regularly, so when new information comes in, you’ll be the first to know.

The prize money is one of the major drawcards of The Gong and there’s a cool $1 million on the line in this race. The winner doesn’t walk away with the entire $1 million though, it is split between the top finishers. Here’s the breakdown of the prize money:

If you’re looking for The Gong tips, then you have come to the right place. We provide free horse racing tips for The Gong each and every year, so you never miss out on the action. Not only do we provide tips for races like The Gong, but we also have Kembla Grange tips to keep you going throughout the year.

For The Gong in 2024, our tips are now hot off the presses. It’s race week and our experts know which runners are due to line up in the starting barriers. They have crunched all the numbers and looked at all the data, providing their best bet, next best and best roughie for The Gong. 

Our The Gong tips have landed, so keep reading to see which runners our experts like the look of for the race in 2024:

The Gong Best Bet - Territory Express

Yes, I have been burnt by Territory Express before, but this is his last chance, I promise (I think)! We see another open market for The Gong, with six of the 16 runners in the field listed with odds of under $10 and Territory Express comes in as the narrow favourite at the time of writing with PlayUp, at odds of $4.60.

He has been good without winning so far this prep, including an unlucky second in the Five Diamonds Prelude two runs ago, finishing 0.1L off the leader. Then in the Five Diamonds last time out he was held up massively but still managed to speed home, only 1.5L off Pericles, in fifth place. Territory Express needs to be on point, but he can win this.

The Gong Next Best - Steparty

I do like Gringotts, who is currently the second favourite, but I think there’s a little more value to be had with Steparty, as we are getting $7.00 for the gelding. Steparty is ticking a lot of boxes in my opinion and rose through the ranks quickly, winning his first five races before a respectable third in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas.

His Winter prep didn’t really live up to the hype, but has been gelded since and that looks to have done the trick. He comes into The Gong with back-to-back third places in The Damien Oliver (Group 2) and the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Group 1). Gets in reasonably well in the weights and a soft barrier draw to boot.

The Gong Best Roughie - Encap

Looking at Encap for my best roughie in The Gong for 2024, who is currently going around with odds of $14 with PlayUp. There are several horses that I considered for the honour of the best roughie, but I’ve sided with Encap due to some of his recent performances and I think his fitness level is excellent coming into this one.

We last saw Encap in The Golden Eagle, where he finished middle of the pack, 4L off the leader. However, it was his run in mid-September that caught my eye, winning the Group 2 Theo Marks Stakes. He has a death barrier (19) but I reckon he is well-equipped to overcome that, so I’ll be having a small play on him at great odds.

Even though The Gong is one of the newer races on the calendar, it still attracts many who wish to place bets on the race. Before you place any bets though, it’s a good idea to think about a betting strategy. It doesn’t have to be anything too advanced, but some simple recommendations can make all the difference, especially if you’re not a regular bettor.

One of the things we recommend here at OnlyRacing is to bet on a wide range of markets. There are so many different markets available for The Gong each year and it could be worth trying some of them out, so you get some variety in your betting. 

While we recommend changing things up from time to time, we don’t recommend betting on a market that you don’t fully understand. There are plenty of resources, like here with us at OnlyRacing, that explain the markets, so you can understand how they work before putting any of your hard-earned cash down.

Along with this, another key recommendation is to open accounts with multiple betting sites in Australia. There is no shortage of new betting sites in this country and if you have accounts with multiple bookies, it makes it easier to take advantage of better odds and different betting promotions.

If you’re not sure where to start, a good place is our bookie reviews page. We have in-depth reviews on all the best bookies in the country and look into every aspect, including which has the best horse racing betting apps. Bookies like PlayUp, EliteBet and TopSport have great offerings that are worth checking out.

Each year, The Gong field is announced during race week. It is now race week, so we know exactly which runners are two to take their place in the starting barriers. As we expected, we see a high-quality field with a stack of classy runners ready to fight it out for a massive payday. 

If the odds are available, it’s worth checking them out because the odds usually come out before race week. By looking into the odds, you can get a sneak peek at the type of runners that could be targeting this race (i.e. the runners with the shortest odds). 

The Gong field has now been confirmed. Keep reading to see which runners are due to compete:

For The Gong in 2024, we see another capacity field of 16 runners announced, plus four emergencies. At the time of writing, we haven’t seen any pre-race scratchings, but it is a good idea to keep an eye on this as scratchings can happen at any time between now and the race start time.

Scratchings are a way of life in horse racing and we see them happen all the time. It can be annoying to see the horse you back end up being scratched from the race, but the good news is that you will get your stake back, so you can try again for the race, or bet on something completely different if you wish.

Along with scratchings, it’s a good idea to pay attention to the barrier draw. The bigger the field, the more influence the barrier draw is likely going to have on the race. Some barriers are more successful than others and runners have their running style that is likely better suited to a particular barrier (i.e. an inside or wider barrier).

As The Gong is one of the newer races on the calendar, it is a bit more difficult to find patterns emerging from the form guide. The whole part of putting together a form guide is to look into all the data and statistics and eventually, patterns will emerge that can point you in the direction of the next potential winner.

While we can’t see true patterns emerging just yet in The Gong form guide, it’s still a good idea to look at what’s available so far and there are a few key areas that can provide some level of guidance in this area. We go through some of the key areas you should look into for The Gong form guide in this section.

The barriers are probably one of the first things you should look at. We usually see a capacity field for The Gong, which is capped at 16 runners. The barrier each runner jumps from and the expected race speed can dictate how the race plays out. 

Kembla Grange does have a long home straight, which should give each runner their fair shot if they are good enough. However, if there’s a capacity field, things can always get a little bit dicey and if a runner is checked or blocked in at a critical time, it could spell disaster.

The Gong is raced under handicap conditions, so look how runners have performed previously under those conditions. As well as this, look at runners with proven success at the 1,600m and if they have any experience at the Kembla Grange Racecourse. Runners who have had success at Group level should be seriously considered as well.

Here are some of the key statistics of the winners so far in The Gong:

• Detonator Jack (2023) - 5YO gelding, barrier 8, weight 56kg, starting price $4.60.
• Riodini (2022) - 6YO gelding, barrier 6, weight 53.5kg, starting price $6.50.
• Count De Rupee (2021) - 4YO gelding, barrier 13, weight 57.5kg, starting price $4.80.
• Archedemus (2020) - 7YO gelding, barrier 13, weight 52.5kg, starting price $18.
• Mister Sea Wolf (2019) - 8YO gelding, barrier 8, weight 59kg, starting price $21.

The Gong has already become a race that many quality runners target. This means we see some amazing The Gong horses compete each year. Horses from right around Australia come to Kembla Grange to strut their stuff, but only the best of the best can win.

For The Gong, as it’s only been running for a handful of years, we can feature every winning horse in this section. We go through each of The Gong horses and provide more details on the biggest successes of their careers and more.

Mister Sea Wolf - 2019

Mister Sea Wolf won the first-ever The Gong back in 2019 and he finished his career with a record of 57:12-6-5. Along with winning The Gong, he also won at Group 3 and Group 2 level. He also raced at Group 1 level, with third place being his best result, in the Canterbury Stakes.

Archedemus - 2020

Archedemus won over $1 million in prize money throughout his career and this included a victory in The Gong in 2020. He finished his career with a record of 32:9-2-1 and is a multiple Group 3 winner. He never managed to win a Group 2 or Group 1 in his career though.

Count De Rupee - 2021

Count De Rupee’s home track was Kembla Grange Racecourse, so it was one for the locals in the 2021 edition of The Gong. Throughout his career, Count De Rupee amassed almost $3 million in prize money and finished with a record of 21:7-5-3. He was unplaced in all three Group 1 attempts in his career.

Riodini - 2022

Riodini won The Gong in 2022 and has a career record of 35:5-4-2, at the time of writing. He has contested eight Group One races so far and finished second once and third twice, including in races like the King Charles III Stakes and the Epsom Handicap. In his career so far, he has won $1,227,674 in prize money. 

Detonator Jack - 2023

Detonator Jack has almost $2 million in prize money in the bank, mainly thanks to his victory in The Gong in 2023. He has a career record of 20:6-4-5 at the time of writing and has managed one third place in a Group 1 so far, which was in the South Australian Derby.

The Gong odds tell you which runners are currently more favoured in the market. The shorter the odds, the more likely that the runner will win, according to the bookies. The odds are likely to change very frequently, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on things and if you see a price you like, jump on while you still can.

There will be many horse racing markets to choose from in the week leading up to The Gong. Some of the most common markets that will be available include; Fixed Win/ Place, Exacta, Quinella, Trifecta, First Four and Quaddie. Different bookies may have different odds for the same market as well, so it can pay to shop around for the best odds. 

The Gong odds are now available through our favourite bookie, PlayUp. There are a range of markets currently available with PlayUp, so no matter what you fancy, you’ll find something to bet on with PlayUp! We believe PlayUp also has some of the most competitive odds going around.

If you’re able to, it’s a good idea to get your bets sorted as early as possible. When you bet on the market that is listed as “Before Noms” then you will have an extra layer of protection because if the runner you choose doesn’t make the final field, you will get your stake back.

The Gong odds are now available with PlayUp, so let’s see how the Fixed Win odds for the field stack up:

*Odds correct as of 21/11/2024.

The Gong doesn’t necessarily have the longest history, but it is certainly an interesting one. First running in 2019, The Gong was recently introduced by Racing NSW as part of multiple new races for The Everest carnival. 

So, after the action finishes at Randwick Racecourse and Rosehill Racecourse during Sydney’s Spring Racing Carnival, which is one of the biggest horse racing carnivals on the calendar, horse racing fans move their attention down South. The Gong is raced at Kembla Grange Racecourse, which is in Wollongong, hence the “Gong” part of the race name.

One week before The Gong, The Hunter is raced at Newcastle Racecourse and the addition of these two races means there are nine weeks of million-dollar race days in NSW. The Gong is the final race that wraps everything up for another season. 

The Hunter and The Gong are the two richest races that are held in NSW each year, outside of Sydney. The idea behind The Gong was to bring a boost to the economy and promote quality horse racing in the region. 

So far, The Gong has already been a success as we see horses from right around Australia come and take a crack at winning the race. Kembla Grange is now one of the few regional clubs that host a stand-alone metropolitan event on a Saturday.

As the history of The Gong grows, we will continue to add to this section, so you will always have all the relevant information about this race. We can’t wait to see what the history holds for The Gong and see how it continues to grow over the years.

Want to know who won The Gong in 2024? What about who came second? All The Gong results can be found in this section. As soon as The Gong has been run and won we will provide a table with the finishing order of the entire field, plus a full race replay so you can continue to relive all the action.

For The Gong in 2023, Detonator Jack, who was second favourite in the market, came out on top. Ridden by Jason Collett, Detonator Jack finished 2.3L ahead of Loch Eagle, who jumped from the widest barrier of them all, 13.

The pre-race favourite, Osipenko, finished in third after being near the rear of the field in the middle stages of the race. In 2023, The Gong was run in a time of 1:36.70 and there was a total of 15.5L that split the entire field.

Check out the full results for The Gong:

Ready to relive all the action? We’ve got the full race replay of The Gong for you to feast your eyes on:

The Gong has only been around since 2019, so we’ve put together a table of every single runner to win the race in its entire history. Here are the horses who have previously won The Gong:

Before you go, we have one final section for you, so if you have any last-minute questions about The Gong, they are hopefully answered here. Our The Gong FAQs section features some of the most common questions people have about this race.