TJ Smith Stakes Betting Odds

The TJ Smith Stakes has been in operation for nearly thirty years, with Randwick Racecourse hosting an encounter over 1,200 metres. We've seen Nature Strip land a successive hat-trick of victories in the race, with I Wish I Win, Chain Of Lightning and Briasa also having been in the winners' enclosure and taken home a substantial purse.

The 2026 renewal will see Jimmysstar and Tentyris lining up and one of these horses is likely to go off as favourite. There could also be a bold showing from Joliestar who has twice succeeded at Randwick recently and the five-year-old could be an each-way bet to nothing. Tempted and Gigakick are other notable runners lining up.

2026 TJ Smith Stakes Betting Tips

Jimmysstar has passed the last couple of assignments with flying colours. The six-year-old was able to land a victory at Caulfield back in November and hasn't been seen since. On that occasion, the horse travelled well over seven furlongs in the C F Orr Stakes. That was a Group 1 triumph and came after a win in the Russell Balding Stakes over six and a half furlongs.

Tentyris has won three of his past four encounters and has to be respected. The first of these victories came at Caulfield in October over six furlongs, with the horse then going to Flemington in early November and coming away with a success in the Coolmore Stud Stakes. More recently, there was a mid-February win in the Black Caviar Lightning.

On that occasion, the horse was able to score over five furlongs on good ground. However, the runner could only finish fifth in his previous showing. In the Yulong Newmarket Handicap, the 23/20 favourite wasn't able to reward backers but only finished a length and a half off the pace. Perhaps a winning return will happen here.

Joliestar is the other runner that really interests us. There has been a recent double at Randwick and the first of these was in mid-February. The 8/5 favourite was able to emerge victorious in the Group 2 Expressway Stakes, with that coming before obliging in the Canterbury Stakes over six and a half furlongs.

2021 TJ Smith Stakes Betting Tips

The winner of this race not only lands a large sum of prize money and the prestige that goes with it, but there is automatic qualification when it comes to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, with this having been a Listed Race in 1997 before becoming a Group 3 race and that was the case until 2001.

Between 2002-2003, the TJ Smith Stakes was a Group 2 encounter before getting Group 1 accreditation from 2005 onwards, with Nature Strip and Rapid Ruby among the most recent winners, although a number of high-profile horses have also won.

Mahogany was the first ever winner of the TJ Smith Stakes, while Black Caviar is probably the most famous horse to take the glory in this race and this horse was successful in 2011 and 2013 before competing overseas, while Chautauqua claimed a consecutive hat-trick of titles between 2015-17.

Can Nature Strip Win a Second TJ Smith Stakes Title?

Nature Strip landed the spoils in this race twelve months ago and that was actually the horse’s fourth Group 1 success, with the thoroughbred winning the Galaxy at Randwick Racecourse, the Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley Racecourse and the Darley Sprint Classic in 2019.

Therefore, there’s plenty to like about a horse trained by Chris Waller and the six-year-old has to be considered as a leading contender this time around, with the runner winning the Black Caviar Lightning which was another Group 1 success for a horse that could potentially get even better with age.

Interestingly, Bivouac was sent off as favourite to win the Black Caviar Lightning and James Cummings will have high hopes of an improved performance in the 2021 TJ Smith Stakes after previously winning the Darley Sprint Classic and we should also point out that the horse has run in plenty of other big races.

This includes The Everest where Bivouac finished second behind Classique Legend and landed an enormous share of the spoils, with September Run the other horse in the race that needs to be respected and this could be a high-grade tussle in 2021.