Moir Stakes 2023 Barrier Draw & Final Field

Bets.com.au Staff

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Last updated: 27 Sep 2023

Bets.com.au Staff 27 Sep 2023

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The barrier draw has been completed for the Moir Stakes
The 2023 edition will be run on September 29
This 1000m Group 1 headlines Friday's Moonee Valley card
Full field is included below

Imperatriz has drawn barrier five in the Moir Stakes. (Getty)

New Zealand mare Imperatriz (barrier 5) won a Group 1 at Moonee Valley in autumn, with the five-year-old taking out the William Reid Stakes.

A five-time Group 1 winner over varying distances, Imperatriz broke the 1000m Moonee Valley track record (56.68) when winning the Group 2 McEwen Stakes by 2.5 lengths on September 9.

Oppie Bosson is back on Imperatriz, with the Kiwi hoop having been aboard for seven of her 14 career wins.

Following a Group 3 return victory via The Heath at Caulfield, Asfoora (barrier 6) has targeted towards the Moir Stakes, with the Henry Dwyer-trained mare one of the early market elects.

She was very unlucky not to be a Group 1 winner over autumn when luckless in The Galaxy and although Asfoora will drop in trip for the Moir Stakes, 1000m is arguably more suitable.

Uncommon James (barrier 7) is a five-year-old who's been successful in two Melbourne trips, which includes a victory in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate back in February.

The son of Cable Bay is still very lightly raced, having won six races from just 10 starts overall and he did win a Doomben lead-up trial in August.

With Rothfire (barrier 1) and Zoustyle (barrier 3) also accepting, Queensland-based horses make up three of the eight in the final field.

Western Australian sprinter Acromantula (barrier 4) tasted Moonee Valley success when winning the Listed Carlyon Stakes on August 26 under Craig Williams and Willo is back aboard here.

Generation (barrier 2) finished fourth in the 2022 Moir Stakes and he arrives second-up, while The Inferno (barrier 8) resumes, who won his only Australian start over this track/trip before a narrow second in the 2021 Moir Stakes.

Moir Stakes 2023 Barriers & Final Field

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	Rothfire	Robert Heathcote	Blake Shinn	1	58.5kg
2	The Inferno	Cliff Brown	Jake Noonan	8	58.5kg
3	Uncommon James	Steven O'Dea & Matthew Hoysted	Damian Lane	7	58.5kg
4	Zoustyle	Tony Gollan	Damien Oliver	3	58.5kg
5	Generation	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Mark Zahra	2	58.5kg
6	Acromantula	Daniel & Ben Pearce	Craig Williams	4	58.5kg
7	Imperatriz	Mark Walker	Opie Bosson	5	56.5kg
8	Asfoora	Henry Dwyer	Mitchell Aitken	6	56.5kg

Moir Stakes Winners

The Moir Stakes might not be the oldest race on the Melbourne calendar, but it is without question one of the more beloved sprinting events.

The inimitable Black Caviar, Queensland juggernaut Buffering and hall of famer Apache Cat launched big campaigns on the back of AJ Moir Stakes success, while Viddora claimed the prize in 2018 before heading to Hong Kong.

This 1000m race is traditionally run the night before the AFL Grand Final and with that Friday now a public holiday in Victoria, it's now a bigger event.

Pippie (2020), Wild Ruler (2021) and Coolangatta (2022) have won the last three editions of the Moir Stakes.