Manikato Stakes Tips, Best Bets, Odds, Field & More 2025

The Manikato Stakes is one of the biggest Group One races on the Australian calendar. Due to its status as a Group One and the massive amount of prize money attached, we always see some of the best racehorses in the country and even the world compete. Australiabettingsites.net.au has everything you need to know about the race right here.

Best Manikato Stakes Betting Sites

There are some key facts about the Manikato Stakes that you should be across. Here are all the facts you should know:

The Manikato Stakes is one of the biggest races during Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival. The first edition of the Manikato Stakes was in 1968 and the winner was Winfreux. Back then, the race was known as the Freeway Stakes.

It wasn’t until 1984 that the race was renamed to the Manikato Stakes to honour champion racehorse Manikato, who won this race in 1979 and 1982. Manikato ended his career with a record of 29 wins from 47 starts. He won the William Reid Stakes five times in a row and is buried at Moonee Valley Racecourse.

While the Manikato Stakes now holds Group One status, this wasn’t always the case. From 1968 until 1978, the Manikato Stakes was a Principal race. The Manikato Stakes gained Group Two status from 1979 and then from 1989, the race was upgraded to Group One status.

Back in 2009, the race became part of the Breeders Cup Challenge series. This means that the winner of this race automatically qualifies for the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint in the US. In 2024, the Manikato Stakes was moved from October to September, helping the race become an ideal lead-up to The Everest, which is run a couple of weeks afterwards.

Each year, we provide free horse racing tips for all the biggest races on the calendar, including the Manikato Stakes. In the days leading up to the Manikato Stakes, make sure you check out our horse racing tips section for all the latest tips and best bets.

You’ll find that many places will offer horse racing tips for the Manikato Stakes, but it’s important to remember that not all tips are created equal! The team here at Australian Betting Sites are as experienced as they come and would never put forward a tip they wouldn’t get on themselves.

Before you start betting on the Manikato Stakes, here are some tips you should know to make the most of your experience:

• Read the Form - The form guide provides valuable data needed to make a decision about how each runner is expected to perform. Pretty much all betting sites will have at least some sort of form guide information like track/ distance records and more.
• Race Results - Following on from the previous point, it’s a good idea to look into the recent race results for each runner. Not only on face level, i.e. what position that finished the race in. But more in-depth as well, i.e. if they were held up at a critical point, resulting in a down-the-order finish, etc.
• Try Different Bookies - There are new betting sites popping up all the time and you shouldn’t be afraid to try them out. Most of the time, they bring something a little different to you and at the very least, you’ll have more racing promotions to choose from.
• Don’t Avoid Value - It can be easy to fall down the trap of just choosing the favourite. However, the favourite doesn’t always win and you could be missing out on real value by blinding following the favourite. This is where looking into the form guide can help find value.

There are heaps of horse racing betting sites in Australia that are great for betting on the Manikato Stakes. We have experience with pretty much every bookmaker in the country and have put together a short list of options that we think you’ll love.

When you go to bet on the Manikato Stakes, you’ll likely see a whole range of betting markets available to choose from. There are a lot of different options and it can get confusing if you aren’t 100% sure about them.

It is important to understand what you’re betting on, so we have put together this table on all the common bet types for the Manikato Stakes:

As the Manikato Stakes is one of the biggest races of the year, we usually see a high-quality field with star racehorses. The field is confirmed a couple of days before race day, along with the barrier draw. The barrier each runner jumps from can have a fairly significant impact on race tactics.

Along with the field, it’s a good idea to look into any form lines and the form guide in general. With a race like the Manikato Stakes, there are plenty of form indicators that can help point you in the direction of the next potential winner. The field and form information is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle when it comes to betting on the Manikato Stakes.

For the most recent Manikato Stakes, here is the final field:

A quick look around at some of the best betting apps in Australia and you’ll find that there are different odds for the same runners a lot of the time. Different bookies will have slightly different factors that they base their odds on, which is one of the main reasons the odds will be different.

While it might not seem like a big difference, it really does all add up, especially if you’re a regular bettor. So, if you have the time, we recommend checking different bookies to help you nail down the best odds going around. You can use odds comparison tools, but a lot of the time, they won’t have all the bookies.

Therefore, it might mean a bit of manual work is in order. We find the most benefit of shopping around comes when you are thinking about betting on a roughie, as there are usually bigger discrepancies with the odds for the value plays. So, if you’re a roughie bettor, checking for the best odds is a must.

Bookies like PlayUp, Bet365 and Unibet usually have some of the most competitive odds available. So, if you are a little short on time, we would suggest starting with those three. Also, if you’re playing fixed win/ place bets, you are locking in the price, so if the odds drift or shorten, it doesn’t matter.

Massive longshot, Southport Tycoon, claimed victory in the 2024 Manikato Stakes. The 4YO was paying $21 to win the Manikato Stakes at the jump and ended up just edging Growing Empire out for the win, by 0.1L. Southport Tycoon was ridden by Mark Zahra and jumped from barrier 3.

Trainer Ciaron Maher completed the quinella as he trained both Southport Tycoon and Growing Empire. Filling in the final minor placing was I Wish I Win. The gelding finished 2.1L off the pace after jumping from a wide barrier and was paying $5.00 to win the race. The race was run in a time of 1:09.91.

Check out where each runner finished in the latest Manikato Stakes here:

If you weren’t able to watch the race live, or just want to relive all the action from the latest Manikato Stakes, here’s the replay:

Ready to take a step back in time? Check out all the latest Manikato Stakes winners, from 2010 until now:

Now that you’ve reached the end of this page on the Manikato Stakes, you should have a solid knowledge about the race. If you still have some questions about the Manikato Stakes, we have used this final section to answer any final questions.