Underwood Stakes 2026 Betting Tips - Cosmic Crusader Can Strike Back

Alex Marsh

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Last updated: Wed. 16 Sep. 2026 15:02

Alex Marsh 16 Sep. 2026

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The Underwood Stakes brings a handy Group 1 weight-for-age field to Caulfield over 1800m
Cosmic Crusader heads betting after a strong start to his Melbourne preparation
Full betting preview includes our best bet and value selection for Saturday’s feature

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Will Cosmic Crusader bounce back in the Underwood Stakes? (Getty)

The 2026 Underwood Stakes brings together a strong weight-for-age field over 1800m at Caulfield on Saturday, with several runners stepping up in distance as their spring campaigns begin to take shape.

2026 Underwood Stakes Tips
2026 Underwood Stakes - Field & Odds

Cosmic Crusader comes through the Memsie Stakes after winning his first two Melbourne starts this preparation, while Lindermann, Birdman, Aeliana and Buckaroo add further depth to a competitive Group 1.

For the 2026 Underwood Stakes, Cosmic Crusader heads the market at $2.75 with Picklebet.

2026 Underwood Stakes Tips

2026 Underwood Stakes Best Bet - Cosmic Crusader

There was plenty of discussion around William Pike’s ride on Cosmic Crusader in the Memsie Stakes, and while pressing forward from barrier 11 would have suited the way that leader-dominated race unfolded, the gelding still lost little in defeat.

After being taken back to last and inconvenienced around the 600m, he had plenty of ground to make up but closed strongly for third behind Beiwacht, having already won the Bletchingly Stakes and P.B. Lawrence Stakes at his first two Melbourne starts.

Staying at 1400m for the third run of his preparation may also have worked against him, and the step to 1800m fourth-up looks a much better fit, given he followed a seven-furlong-to-1800m pattern when winning the Group 1 Northerly Stakes in Perth last December.

Barrier three gives Pike the chance to have him much closer this time, and with Lindermann drawn inside as the obvious frontrunner, Cosmic Crusader should be able to stay within reach of that leader.

With the right grounding, a more suitable distance and a better draw than he had in the Memsie, Cosmic Crusader gets his chance to convert the strong lead-up form and deserves his position at the head of betting.

2026 Underwood Stakes Value Bet - Pinstriped

After looking out of form for a period, Pinstriped has put together three encouraging runs to begin this preparation and comes into the Underwood with a stronger fitness base than most of his rivals.

The eight-year-old carried a big weight when resuming over 1400m at Caulfield before improving in the P.B. Lawrence Stakes, where he was the pick of the closers behind Cosmic Crusader and recorded the fastest final 200m.

Connections bypassed the Memsie Stakes and instead went to the So You Think Stakes over 1500m at Sandown, where he finished 1.8 lengths behind Evaporate and was still working through the line strongly enough to suggest another rise in distance is worth trying.

He has only raced once previously over 1800m and finished third, but three runs into this campaign should give him the grounding required to see out the trip, particularly against several rivals still building towards later spring targets.

Barrier two should allow Lachlan Neindorf to settle him in the first few pairs without spending much early energy, and at a bigger price, Pinstriped has enough in his recent form to warrant consideration as the value runner.

2026 Underwood Stakes - Field & Odds

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Odds
1	Lindermann	Chris Waller	Blake Shinn	1	59kg	$3.50
2	Buckaroo (GB)	Chris Waller	Mark Zahra	8	59kg	$12
3	Attrition	Mitchell Freedman	Jamie Mott	7	59kg	$126
4	Pinstriped	Enver Jusufovic	Lachlan Neindorf	2	59kg	$34
5	Cosmic Crusader (NZ)	Andrea Leek	William Pike	3	59kg	$2.75
6	Birdman (IRE)	Chris Waller	Ben Melham	4	59kg	$5.50
7	Middle Earth (GB)	Ciaron Maher	Ethan Brown	5	59kg	$67
8	Kingswood (GB)	Gavin Bedggood	John Allen	9	59kg	$19
9	Aeliana (NZ)	Chris Waller	Damian Lane	6	57kg	$6