HE Tancred Stakes

The HE Tancred Stakes is a Group 1 race for open class horses conducted by the Australian Turf Club at Rosehill Gardens.

The HE Tancred Stakes was first run in 1963 and was won by Maidenhead.

The HE Tancred Stakes is run over 2400m under Weight For Age conditions. At this time it is the only Open WFA 2400m race in Australia run at the elite level.

The race is registered as the HE Tancred Stakes but has had numerous sponsors including the BMW until recently.

In 2024 the Tancred was worth $1.5million.

There have been 11 mare winners with Duais the most recent in 2022.

There have been eleven 3yo winners – most recently Fiveandahalfstar in 2013 but before that it was Grand Zulu in 2004. No 3yo filly has won.

John Hawkes is the most successful trainer with five while Shane Dye has also won on five occasions. They combined with the great Octagonal to win in 1997.

Two main races are the best form guide – it's the Ranvet Stakes or the Australian Cup. In the last 20 years, 10 times the winner has come through the Ranvet Stakes and 7 times the Australian Cup.

Since the race became WFA, only Kingston Town (1980) and Tie The Knot (1999) have done the HE Tancred Stakes/Sydney Cup double.

The HE Tancred Stakes/Queen Elizabeth Stakes double has been done 10 times with Eremein the most recent in 2006.

International trained horses have run in HE Tancred Stakes – Beau Zam defeated Highland Chieftain, Vaguely Pleasant and Le Glorieux in 1988. Our Poetic Prince beat home Top Class in 1989 while Sydeston had Mountain Kingdom and Highland Chieftain in his wake in 1990. In 2015 Hartnell had a great duel with the Japanese runner To The World.

Curata Storm won the 2001 Tancred at $101 beating top stayers like Kaapstad Way, Tie The Knot, Freemason, Sky Heights, Second Coming etc after having prior won a Class 1 at Hawkesbury by over 13 lengths.

Almandin became the fifth winner of the Melbourne Cup to also win the Tancred – Hyperno won it before winning at Flemington but Makybe Diva, Ethereal and Might And Power were successful afterwards.

Verry Elleegant would come back in the Spring to win the Caulfield Cup after winning the Tancred and kept it going in the 2021 Autumn.

Sir Dragonet added to a shortlist of elite horses to win the Tancred having also won a Cox Plate. The most recent to do so, in the same season, was Octagonal when he was a 3yo.

In 2000, Tie The Knot beat Arena and Showella in the Ranvet Stakes. Two weeks later Tie The Knot beat Arena and Showella in HE Tancred Stakes.

They ran the Tancred Stakes on the Monday at Newcastle when Rosehill was abandoned in 2022.

Notable winners of HE Tancred Stakes include Tails (1972), Apollo Eleven (1973), Hyperno (1978), Kingston Town (1980), Bonecrusher (1986), Beau Zam (1988), Our Poetic Prince (1989), Sydeston (1990), Octagonal (1996, 1997), Might And Power (1998), Tie The Knot (1999, 2000), Ethereal (2002), Makybe Diva (2005), Eremein (2006), Hartnell (2015), Preferment (2016), Jameka (2017), Almandin (2018), Avilius (2019), Verry Elleegant (2020), Sir Dragonet (2021) and Duais (2022).

The 2024 Tancred Stakes was won by Kalapour from More Felons and Ashrun.