Oakleigh Plate

The Oakleigh Plate is a Group 1 Australian thoroughbred open handicap horse race, run over a distance of 1100 metres at Caulfield Racecourse, Melbourne in February. Its prizemoney in 2010 was A$351,000. The Oakleigh Plate forms the middle leg of the autumn sprinting series over the Melbourne Autumn Carnival, preceded by the G1 Lightning Stakes (1000m, WFA, Flemington, on the last Saturday in January, and followed by the Newmarket Handicap, Australia's most famous sprint handicap, run over 1200m at Flemington in the first week of March. The G1 William Reid Stakes is run at Moonee Valley the week before Oakleigh Plate but as it is over 1200m at WFA it tends to attract a better calibre of sprinter, either resuming from a spell or having previously contested races such as the Lightning Stakes, or the Australia Stakes held at the same course and distance around three weeks earlier. The Oakleigh Plate is generally won by a good but not elite sprinter, although greats such as Schillaci (1992) have won this race. Emerging sires Fastnet Rock (2005) and Snitzel (2006) have won this race in recent years. The 2010 edition was won by 2009 G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Starspangledbanner, who also went on to win the 2010 G1 Golden Jubilee Stakes.