Flemington is done and dusted for another year, but Melbourne’s Spring carnival rocks on and programming changes continue, with the relocation of the MRC's time honoured G1 CF Orr Stakes from its traditional February slot.
Click here for Breeding to Win - CF Orr Stakes - to see who can win it on Saturday!
Naturally, the inherent nature of the race will not be unaffected, as the 1400m WFA sprint has - until now- primarily been a target of G1 horses at the beginning of their Autumn campaigns.
It now invites the participation of horses in the later stages of their spring preparations who have raced in Sydney as well as Melbourne.
Why this change? Well, the club’s official announcement which accompanied the programming decision reads in part:
“ Acknowledging the value of Caulfield’s feature mid-November meeting over its two editions and a collective desire to maintain Group 1 racing on the day, the Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m, WFA) will shift from its traditional February timeslot…..the move also addresses a point of contention in the Festival of Racing pattern where the Group 1 Sportsbet C.F. Orr Stakes and Group 1 Futurity Stakes are currently run under the exact same conditions at Caulfield just two weeks apart…..the Orr Stakes will join the Memsie Stakes as the only 1400m Group 1 weight-for-age contests during the Spring Racing Carnival”
So pros and cons, as always - but if you're a traditionalist it's impossible not to feel a pang of loss asyet another iconic race undergoes a makeover - we are attached to what we know!
The history of most, if not all our beloved and longstanding races reveals they have each undergone their share of shapeshifting moments through the decades. The CF Orr is no exception.
The CF Orr Stakes was inaugurated in 1925 and it was won by The Night Patrol - the Cox Plate winner of the previous year.
The race - originally run at a mile - is named in honour of Charles F. Orr, former Chairman and Secretary of the long-defunct Williamstown Racing Club.
Its racecourse was opened in Altona in 1869 and closed in 1940, so the Williamstown course hosted the first 15 runnings of the Orr Stakes.
During this period it was won by great horses like Whittier, Heroic, Gothic and High Caste.
Even Phar Lap trod the long-vanished turf at Williamstown, winning the 1931 Underwood Stakes at the venue.
In 1947 both grandstands at Williamstown were completely destroyed by fire. The club could not rebuild from this disaster, and was forced to merge with the Victorian Trotting and Racing Association to survive - and thus was born the MRC.
That old shapeshifting / evolution in action!
From 1973 onwards the CF Orr Stakes has run at 1400m, having been a seven furlong contest since 1957 (except for 1961 through to ‘63 when it briefly reverted to 1600m)
It graduated from G2 status to G1 in 1993 - though truth be told, its roll call of G2 winners leaves those of some present day G1s looking faintly ridiculous by comparison.
After the Williamstown track passed into history the race was on the move between Moonee Valley and Flemington until installed at Caulfield in 1949.
Since then it has run at one of the MRC's two racecourses Caulfield and Sandown, but primarily the former.
The Orr Stakes was envisaged and inaugurated as a WFA race during the war years 1943 - 45 was run as a handicap, reverting to its original form in 1946.
During the 1950s and ‘60s the CF Orr was won by turf legends and crowd - thrillers like Flight, Comic Court, Prince Cortauld, Rising Fast, the “King Of Caulfield” Lord (twice), Wenona Girl, Tobin Bronze, Winfreux and the great West Australian galloper Aquanita.
The 1970s were kicked off by Crewman and Black Onyx, with two of the Australian turf's greatest darlings, Leilani and Surround saluting in the middle of the decade.
Bart's remarkable old rogue Hyperno got his name on the roll in 1978, before the mighty Manikato blitzed them in three consecutive years 79/80/81 to see in the new decade with a bang!
At Talaq got the chockies in 1987 before an unassuming Queenslander with the heart of a dragonslayer took the racing world by storm.
Vo Rogue equalled Manikato's three peat with consecutive Orr Stakes in 1988/89/90, defeating another champion Super Impose to claim the last two.
The 1990s was the era of winners Let's Elope, Jeune and in 1997 Saintly - the last Melbourne Cup winner to have a CF Orr on the CV.
Fittingly, the turn of the century and a new era was heralded by the victory of Redoute's Choice in 2000.
He was followed by another mighty entire who would go on to change the breed, Lonhro, in 2004.
El Segundo, Elvstroem and Maldivian also won in the early 2000s.
Wondermare Typhoon Tracy won back to back Orrs in 2010/11 and was the toast of the turf, but her well earned limelight was about to be stolen by a sprinting mare possessed of speed unearthly - Black Caviar!
The great daughter of Bel Esprit won the Orr Stakes in 2012, and her half-brother All Too Hard claimed the coveted G1 prize the following year - an extraordinary achievement for their legendary dam Helsinge.
Since 2015 the great race has been won by some memorable gallopers - Dissident, Black Heart Bart, Suavito, Hartnell, Alabama Express, Tofane and “Mr Everywhere” aka Mr Brightside, in 2024.
2023 winner Jacquinot will have his first yearlings on offer at the sales in 2026.
The last Autumn running of the CF Orr Stakes in 2025 closed a long chapter when Another Wil narrowly denied Mr Brightside consecutive victories in February this year.
Who will win this historic second Orr of the year - but the first of the new season?
