Railway Stakes 2025 - Barrier Draw & Final Field

Bets.com.au Staff

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Last updated: Tue 18 Nov 2025 14:44

Bets.com.au Staff 18 Nov 2025

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The barrier draw has been completed for the Railway Stakes
The 2025 edition will be run on Saturday, November 22
Final field is included below

Iowna Merc has drawn barrier nine in the 2025 Railway Stakes. (Getty)

The Railway Stakes is the first Group 1 of The Pinnacles series, with this famous handicap headlining Ascot’s meeting on Saturday, November 22.

Railway Stakes 2025 - Barriers & Final Field
Railway Stakes Winners

Topweights don’t have a strong record in the Railway Stakes, with Luckygray the only horse to carry 58kg to victory under modern handicap conditions.

Despite that trend, Western Empire (barrier 1) was heading a competitive early market for the 2025 Railway Stakes. His Group 1 success came in the 2021 edition when carrying 53kg, and 10 of his 11 career victories have been at stakes level. He also has two wins from three starts over the Ascot mile.

Grant & Alana Williams also prepare Watch Me Rock (barrier 4), with William Pike booked to ride the five-year-old. The Williams–Pike partnership has combined for five previous Railway Stakes wins, and Watch Me Rock drops to 54kg this year after carrying 57kg in the Asian Beau Stakes.

Another from the Grant & Alana Williams stable is Storyville (barrier 13), who won the WA Guineas on this meeting 12 months ago, and she broke a drought last start when successful in the Group 3 RJ Peters Stakes.

Osipenko (barrier 17) travels west for the Chris Waller stable and carries 55kg under the handicap conditions. He brought up win number five last start when lumping 62kg in the Little Dance.

The other interstate acceptors are Iowna Merc (barrier 9), a three-time stakes winner who has mixed his form this spring, and Depth Of Character (barrier 20), who claimed the Group 2 Queensland Guineas in winter over this trip. The latter is trained by Annabel & Rob Archibald, the same partnership who prepared Port Lockroy, last year’s Railway Stakes winner.

Super Smink (barrier 15) recorded a second-up victory in the Group 2 Lee Steere Stakes on November 8th, while last year’s Asian Beau winner and 2024 Railway Stakes third placegetter continues to build through the early part of the campaign for Daniel Morton.

Railway Stakes 2025 - Barriers & Final Field

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	Western Empire (NZ)	Grant & Alana Williams	Billy Egan	1	58kg
2	Magnificent Andy	Stephen Miller	Brad Parnham	10	57.5kg
3	Iowna Merc	Bjorn Baker	Shaun McGruddy	9	56.5kg
4	Super Smink	Daniel Morton	Chris Parnham	15	56kg
5	In Good Order	Daniel Morton	Shaun O'Donnell	2	55kg
6	Osipenko (NZ)	Chris Waller	Tim Clark	17	55kg
7	Comfort Me	Rhys Radford	Holly Watson	6	54.5kg
8	Diamond Scene	Michael Grantham	Clint Johnston-Porter	3	54.5kg
9	Bustler	Neville Parnham	Steven Parnham	14	54kg
10	Let’s Galahvant	Daniel & Ben Pearce	Tash Faithfull	16	54kg
11	Sentimental Hero	Peter Fernie	Craig Newitt	11	54kg
12	Watch Me Rock	Grant & Alana Williams	William Pike	4	54kg
13	Admiration Express	Jason Miller	Lucy Fiore	8	53.5kg
14	Depth Of Character	Annabel & Rob Archibald	Reece Jones	20	53.5kg
15	Ginger Baker	Daniel & Ben Pearce	Joey Azzopardi	18	53.5kg
16	Storyville	Grant & Alana Williams	Fred Kersley	13	53kg
17e	Hemlock Stone (NZ)	Grant & Alana Williams	Joey Azzopardi	5	53.5kg
18e	Yonga Lass	Grant & Alana Williams	—	12	53kg
19e	Aztec Ruler	Stefan Vahala	—	19	53kg
20e	Cosmic Crusader (NZ)	Michael Grantham	—	7	53kg

Railway Stakes Winners

Arguably Western Australia’s most prestigious race, the Railway Stakes carries more than a century of tradition and remains one of the true cornerstones of the local racing landscape.

The Railway Stakes opens the Group 1 programme of the Perth Summer Carnival, leading into the Winterbottom Stakes and the Northerly Stakes across consecutive weeks.

Run over 1600m and offering $1.5 million in prizemoney, the race has regularly acted as a springboard for horses who later make their mark in the eastern states, as demonstrated in recent seasons by Scales Of Justice, Regal Power and Inspirational Girl.

Trix Of The Trade (2022), Bustler (2023) and Port Lockroy (2024) have taken out the past three editions, each adding their name to an honour roll steeped in Western Australian racing history.