William Reid Stakes Tips, Betting, Odds, Horses & More 2025

The William Reid Stakes is one of the biggest feature sprint races that takes place at Moonee Valley Racecourse each year. This race will be run and won in 2025 on the 22nd of March and there is no doubt it is one of the most watched Group One races on the calendar. 

Moonee Valley is one of the most interesting tracks on the calendar and the William Reid Stakes is the only Group 1 in Autumn that is raced at this track. Later in the year, we do see the Cox Plate take place at Moonee Valley, which just cements the racecourse as one of the top tracks in the country.

The William Reid Stakes is raced on one of the biggest days in the Autumn Racing Carnival - Golden Slipper Day. Including the William Reid Stakes, there are a total of six Group 1s run on March 23, with the five other races taking place at Rosehill Racecourse.

This race was named after the former Moonee Valley Racing Club committee member, so it’s no surprise the race takes place at Moonee Valley! Reid was also a prominent racehorse owner, one of the more notable horses he owned was Uncle Sam, who won the Caulfield Cup on two occasions.

Like with many Group 1s, there is a lot of prize money on offer for the William Reid Stakes, $1 million to be exact! With so much at stake, we see some of the best horses giving the William Reid Stakes a crack. So, make sure you tune in here at OnlyRacing on race week to get all the information you need on William Reid Stakes tips, odds and more!

OnlyRacing’s William Reid Stakes page will cover all the details you care about like how and where to bet on the race. We will also get into the race history, as well as previous winners of the race. There’s no excuse to not check back in with us at OnlyRacing.com.au to get your tips and field information!

Before we dig deeper into the William Reid Stakes tips, why don’t we check out the prize money involved in the race? Below is the breakdown of prize money:

Who doesn’t love some free horse racing tips? Well, the team at OnlyRacing don’t just love horse racing tips, they love providing them to our loyal readers as well! Our experts do everything they can to find our readers winners, winners and more winners, so make sure you check out our Moonee Valley tips page for more details.

We love tips and you love tips! We’d love to get cracking with some tips, but we have to wait until race week when more information about the runners has been released. When the time comes, we’ll provide William Reid Stakes tips that we know you’ll love. We will provide our expert’s best bet, next best and best roughie, so there’s something for everyone!

We know you came here for some of the best William Reid Stakes tips, so while you wait, have a read below to find all the tips for the William Reid Stakes in 2024:

William Reid Stakes Best Bet - Imperatriz

She was my best bet for the William Reid Stakes in 2023 and I see no reason to jump off. Imperatriz is the clear favourite once again and I think she can go back-to-back after winning the William Reid Stakes last year. While she is my best bet and I don’t think anyone else can beat her, is there enough value? Not by a long shot!

Listed at $1.50, at the time of writing, I’ll be using her as an anchor in some more exotic plays in the William Reid Stakes. Her winning streak was snapped last time out in the Newmarket Handicap but she just loves Moonee Valley! The clear class runner in the race.

William Reid Stakes Next Best - Bella Nipotina

If anyone is going to give Imperatriz a run for her money, I think the logical choice is Bella Nipotina. Even a Place Bet on Bella Nipotina presents more value than a Win Bet on Imperatriz! She is known to continue to improve throughout her prep, so her tackling this third up is ideal.

She ran second to Imperatriz last year and more of the same could be on order here. She is drawn well and is the biggest danger. Will we see a repeat of the top two finishers as last year? We will have to wait and see, but I think so!

William Reid Stakes Best Roughie - Queman

And now for some value! I’m siding with Queman as my best roughie for the William Reid Stakes. He is in career-best form and while it is a step up in quality for this race, I think he is certainly up to the challenge. He keeps making significant steps forward in terms of performance quality, so let’s see what he can do here.

He has drawn well, suited to his race-style, which is another good tick. He has tasted Group 1 victory, by surprising many and winning the Oakleigh Plate last time out at odds of $17. I will not be making the same mistake again, I think he is capable of winning the race, but just to be safe I’ll be popping a little something on the Place Bet!

If you enjoy having a little dabble here and there, then you’ve come to the right place! Betting on the William Reid Stakes can be a fun experience, especially if you read through some of our tips to make the most out of your betting. 

One quick look at your William Reid Stakes betting options will show you just how many markets are available from several different betting apps. Trying your hand at a few different betting markets will help you get the most out of your betting experience.

Some of the main markets that we think you should look into include:

• Quaddie at Moonee Valley Racecourse. This includes picking the winner of four nominated races at the track.
• Quinella/ Trifecta/ First Four in the William Reid Stakes race. This is where you pick the top two, three and four horses in the race.
• Fixed Win/ Place bets on your favourite runners in the William Reid Stakes as well as across the whole event at Moonee Valley Racecourse.
• Multi bet across multiple races at the track. You’ll find more bang for your buck if you can land a multi!
  

If you like the look of one of those options, now is the time to place your bets! But wait, who should you bet with? In Australia, there are A LOT of horse racing betting sites to sift through and it can be a really time-consuming process. But this is where the team at OnlyRacing comes in handy as we go through all the top  Australian betting sites and provide an in-depth review of them.

All your questions will be answered after checking out our reviews and you’ll find the perfect bookie for you! If one isn’t enough though, you can always open multiple bookie accounts. This is actually something that we recommend because you can easily shop around for betting odds as well as take advantage of all the best betting sites bonuses.

Some of the bookies that we are loving at the moment include BetGalaxy, QuestBet and others. These three are some of the best betting apps going around due to their unique offerings. They all have some pretty awesome betting promotions as well, so you should certainly check them out!

While those are just three of the top bookies that we like, you can always head on over to our “Betting Sites” section above for more recommendations on who to bet with come the William Reid Stakes. We’ve got more bookies than you can poke a stick at!

We all want to know the horses that will line up for the William Reid Stakes in 2025 and right now we just have to continue waiting. We’ll know which runners have made the William Reid Stakes field during race week, but we can certainly expect a bumper field, with some of the best sprinters in the country lineup! 

As well as this, if the odds are available, you can check them out in our “Odds” section below. This will give you an idea of which runners are currently favoured in the market. It’s important to be aware that as the final field isn’t announced, the odds for the William Reid Stakes potential runners will be fluctuating constantly.

Waiting, waiting! But while you’re here, check out the 2024 William Reid Stakes field below (we’ll have the 2025 field come race week):

In the 2024 edition of the William Reid Stakes, we saw 11 runners announced to take part. However, in the end, there was one scratching from the race, King’s Gambit, who took place in 2024 The Galaxy in Sydney instead.

If you are new to the world of horse racing, it’s important to remember that scratchings are fairly common. This is even the case in major Group 1 races like the William Reid Stakes, where there is a lot of prize money up for grabs. Scratchings can take place at any time between when the final field is announced and just seconds before the jump.

Something else that’s worthy of a look when going through the final field is the barrier draw. Some barriers in the William Reid Stakes are more successful than others and the connections of each runner want to ensure they draw a good barrier. The barrier a runner starts fro

Thinking of betting on the William Reid Stakes? Well, you should check out the form guide as this can help point you in the right direction. With a race that has as much history as the William Reid Stakes does, there is simply so much data and stats to go through. 

There is good news though. You don’t have to be the one to sift through all this information to find some key form indicators! The team at OnlyRacing has done all the heavy lifting for you. We’ve found all the information and patterns that are worthy of mention. Hopefully, this William Reid Stakes form guide will point you in the direction of the winner! Check out the key form indicators below!

Firstly, it’s a good idea to check out the best lead-up races. For the William Reid Stakes, look into the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes and the Newmarket Handicap. Since 2002, a total of 14 winners have come from one of those two races. You should also look for horses that were successful in their lead-up run, with just two of the last 22 William Reid Stakes winners finishing worse than third!

When it comes to the battle of the sexes, it’s a pretty even battle. Over the past 33 editions of the William Reid Stakes, fillies and mares have won the race on 17 occasions. It seems as though 3YOs have a good record in the race, with a total of 13 of the past 39 winners.

Favourites have a fair record in the race, with seven favourites getting the chocolates in the past 18 races. The recent favourites that have won the William Reid Stakes include Sunlight in 2019 and Imperatriz in both 2023 and 2024.

It is also best to see clear of horses that have drawn a wider barrier. In the past 32 years, only four winners have crossed the line in first place after starting from a double-digit barrier, with the most recent being September Run in 2022.

When it comes to a race as epic as the William Reid Stakes, it takes a pretty awesome horse to win it! Over the years we have seen amazing fields line up for the race but only the best of the best horses can go on and win the race.

We’ve narrowed down the best William Reid Stakes horses to just six winners. We know we’ve left off some quality horses, but we can’t be typing all day! So, check out the top horses we have picked to feature in this section below:

Heroic - 1927

Heroic won 27 races throughout his career, one of which was the William Reid Stakes in 1927. Some of the other Group 1 races he won throughout his career included; the Australian Derby, the Caulfield Stakes, the Cox Plate and the Underwood Stakes. In 2003, he was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

Gothic - 1929

Just two years after Heroic’s epic win in the William Reid Stakes, we saw another amazing horse grace the winner’s list in Gothic. Gothic also won some other pretty big races which included; the Futurity Stakes, the Memsie Stakes and the CF Orr Stakes.

Manikato - 1979-1983 

Yes, you read that correctly, Manikato won the William Reid Stakes five years in a row! Manikato was named the 1979 Australian Horse of the Year and was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2002. He even has a race named after him, the Manikato Stakes, which races at Moonee Valley Racecourse in the Spring Racing Carnival.

Apache Cat - 2008 & 2009

Another multiple winner of the William Reid Stakes, Apache Cat won the William Reid Stakes in back-to-back years in 2008 and 2009. Apache Cat won a total of eight Group 1s throughout his career, including the T J Smith Stakes and the Doomben10,000 . In 2008, Apache Cat was also named Australian Champion Sprinter.

Black Caviar - 2011 & 2013

Black Caviar just had to be included in the list of the best-ever horses to win the William Reid Stakes. Black Caviar even has a Group 1 named after her, the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes, which takes place at Flemington Racecourse during the Autumn Racing Carnival. She ended her career with a record of 25:25-0-0 and amassed almost $8 million in prize money.

Imperatriz - 2023

One of the more recent winners of the William Reid Stakes, Imperatriz is already a bonafide star! At the time of writing, the mare has a record of 24:18-2-1 which translates to almost $6 million in prize money. She has also won the Moir Stakes and the Railway Stakes, just to name a few. We will be following the career of Imperatriz very closely!

If you’ve found the runner you’re looking to bet on, the next step is to check out the William Reid Stakes odds. The shorter the odds for a particular runner means they are more favoured to win the race.

You’ll find that all the top horse racing betting apps will have markets for the William Reid Stakes a few weeks before the race. This means you can get your bets on sooner if you like! At the moment, our favourite bookie, PlayUp, hasn’t released odds for the big race, but we’ve kept up the odds for the race in 2024, so you can see who was favoured.

Remember, that the odds in the horse racing markets will change all the time, so if you see a price you like, it’s better to jump on while you can. Betting when the market is listed as “Before Noms” means that if your chosen runner doesn’t make the final field, you’ll get your stake back!

Here are the odds of all the confirmed runners for the 2024 William Reid Stakes. We’ll replace this table with the 2025 odds, once they become available:

*Odds correct as of 22/03/2024.

The William Reid Stakes has a long and rich history, with the first running of the race taking place back in 1925 and won by The Night Patrol, who was able to back up and win the race again in 1926. As previously mentioned the race is named after William Reid who was a Moonee Valley Racing Club committee member and racehorse owner.

The race takes place during the Autumn Racing Carnival, which is one of the biggest horse racing carnivals on the calendar. The William Reid Stakes gained Group 1 status back in 1987 and has been known as the William Reid Stakes throughout its history, except between the years of 1994 and 2009, when the race was known as the Australia Stakes.

Previously run on the Australia Day weekend, the William Reid Stakes has been run in Autumn since 2002. Some amazing horses have been victorious in the William Reid Stakes including Manikato and Black Caviar, who both now have Group 1s named after them! For one year in 1995, the race was run at Flemington Racecourse.

As you may already know by now, there are so many major races on the Australian calendar. So, if you want to learn more about some of the other races, be sure to check out our Group One races list. All the races you care about are listed there!

Who wants to know which horse won the William Reid Stakes? You do of course! Were you lucky enough to bag a winner, or is it back to the drawing board? We’ve got all the details you’re looking for in this section including the full finishing position order table and the race replay.

Should we just leave all the information up here from last year? Imperatriz once again won the William Reid Stakes, just like she did in 2023. It was a closer fight than in 2023 though as Imperatriz won by just 0.2L to second-placed Johnny Rocker.

In third place, we saw I Am Me hold on, a total of 2.2L off the pace. It was a hotly contested race with just 6.6L separating the entire field of 10 runners. The 2024 William Reid Stakes was run in a time of 1:09.99.

Let’s check out how each runner fared in the 2024 William Reid Stakes below:

As promised, we have the full video replay of all the action that went down in the William Reid Stakes. Check it out below:

We’ve got all the recent winners of the William Reid Stakes in this section! So, if you want to know which runner took out the race, you’ve certainly come to the right place. Check out all the winners of the William Reid Stakes from 2010 onwards:

Before you become a certified William Reid Stakes expert, we’ve listed some common FAQs that you might be interested in learning about! Any last-minute questions are hopefully answered below: