Champagne Stakes 2026 Betting Tips - Salann the Value Play

Alex Marsh

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Last updated: Wed 15 Apr 2026 10:49

Alex Marsh 15 Apr 2026

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Campione D’Italia is the favourite for the 2026 Champagne Stakes
Salann has impressed in both starts, while Sumac looks to overcome previous race challenges
The race is a premier event for two-year-olds at Royal Randwick over 1600m

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Campione D'Italia heads the 2026 Champagne Stakes market. (Getty)

The Group 1 Champagne Stakes rounds out the two-year-old autumn majors on Saturday, April 18, where the juveniles are tested over 1600m at Royal Randwick.

2026 Champagne Stakes Tips
2026 Champagne Stakes - Field & Odds

Early famous winners of the Champagne Stakes include Ajax, Todman and Vain, while Samantha Miss and Pierro are among the more recent champions to have taken out this feature.

Campione D’Italia is favourite for the 2026 Champagne Stakes, with $2.60 his quote via NextBet.

2026 Champagne Stakes Tips

2026 Champagne Stakes Best Bet - Salann

1200m proved too sharp; however, her Flemington debut was still an eye-catching one when getting warm late for second.

That Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes form reads well, with the third-placed Gin Twist saluting at Listed level either side of that Group 3.

Satono Glow, the Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes winner, should have remained undefeated, with that filly a good thing beaten in the Group 2 Percy Sykes Stakes.

Going from six furlongs to a mile is never straightforward, yet Salann caught the eye from the rear in last Saturday’s Fernhill Stakes.

That looks an ideal hit-out for the Champagne Stakes, with both a 1600m run and a clockwise outing now under the belt.

2026 Champagne Stakes Next Best Bet - Campione D'Italia

The Inglis Sires–Champagne Stakes double has been completed 42 times, the latest being Militarize in 2023, who was trained by Chris Waller.

Waller prepares Campione D’Italia, a colt who pulled up with excuses on debut (lame) before winning two of his next three starts.

The only miss among those was an eye-catching fourth in the Golden Slipper, where he recorded the fastest last 800m, 600m and 400m of that feature.

On breeding, 1600m looks the main query in his Champagne Stakes bid, but a soft draw and class still have him as a deserved favourite.

He got the job done in the Inglis Sires, and going off that Group 1 win, firmer ground may be a positive here.

2026 Champagne Stakes Value Bet - Sumac

This Curtis-trained runner comes out of two key lead-up races, being the 1400m Baillieu Stakes and the Fernhill Mile.

The Baillieu Stakes was taken out by Southend, who is one of four runners at single-figure odds in this early market, and Sumac was luckless there.

She was badly held up when tiring rivals fell into her lap at a key stage and, considering that, performed well in a 2.1-length defeat.

Her fortunes were no better in the Fernhill Handicap, where a negative steer saw Sumac settle towards the rear of the field.

The filly found traffic when buried away on the inside in an awkward position, only getting clear in the last 100m when the race was over.

2026 Champagne Stakes - Field & Odds

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Odds
1	Campione D’italia	Chris Waller	James McDonald	4	56.5kg	$2.60
2	Fireball	Chris Waller	Tim Clark	2	56.5kg	$6
3	Zambales	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Kerrin McEvoy	3	56.5kg	$12
4	Southend	Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou	Dylan Gibbons	5	56.5kg	$7.50
5	Diameter	Chris Waller	Adam Hyeronimus	8	56.5kg	$23
6	Persian Wonder (NZ)	David Payne	Chad Schofield	11	56.5kg	$23
7	Don’t Look Back	Paul Perry	Ethan Brown	13	56.5kg	$151
8	Nomadic	John Thompson	Nash Rawiller	9	56.5kg	$71
9	Am I Dreaming	Jack Pilkington	Jamie Melham	10	56.5kg	$91
10	Miss Chanel	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Regan Bayliss	12	54.5kg	$5
11	Grinzinger Heart	Ben Brisbourne	Craig Williams	7	54.5kg	$18
12	Salann	Ben Brisbourne	Jason Collett	1	54.5kg	$17
13	Sumac	Lee & Cherie Curtis	Zac Lloyd	6	54.5kg	$41