The Kosciuszko 2022

In a hurry? We’ve listed all the quick facts that you need to know about The Kosciuszko:

One of the more unique races on the calendar, The Kosciuszko isn’t a Group One, but attracts the eyes of many. It is run over 1,200m under set weights and penalties conditions and exclusively for NSW Country or ACT trained horses.

The runners in The Kosciuszko are selected by the 14 winners of a sweepstakes, with anyone in the country able to enter and has a total prizemoney pool of $2,000,000. The 2022 edition of the race, held at Randwick Racecourse, will be run on Saturday, October 15th, and was won by Art Cadeau in 2021.

The Kosciuszko is a 1,200m ‘special conditions’ race exclusively for NSW Country and ACT trained horses, bringing the best of the bush to the city tracks. The entrants in the race are selected by 14 winners of the sweepstakes for The Kosciuszko, with anyone from the public able to purchase a ticket for the sweepstakes for just $5 from TAB.

Being brought on to the racing calendar in 2018, The Kosciuszko follows a similar pathway to The Everest, which is the headline race held on the same day at Randwick. The sweepstakes is a fun way for the public to get better knowledge of the talented horses in country racing.

Given the short history of the race, with just four horses winning, there haven’t been any historic horses to contest the race yet. However, we don’t know how the careers of the winners may end up. Belfyer won the inaugural running of The Kosciuszko, Handle The Truth won in 2019, It’s Me won as a heavily backed favourite in 2020 and then Art Cadeau was backed into favouritism on race-day and got the job done for the punters.

Despite being a very new race, only being run since 2018, The Kosciuszko is becoming a very special and important race in the Sydney Spring carnival, highlighting the talent of country racing.

It’s interesting concept and large amount of prizemoney make it one of the most popular races that most Aussies like to have a casual punt on. Our expert tipsters will put together a short list of The Kosciuszko tips to look out for in the leadup to the big race.

With winners of the sweepstakes not being announced until mid-September, it is hard to get an idea of what horses will contest The Kosciuszko in 2022, especially with horses just coming back to start their Spring preparations.

We will list The Sharks’ The Kosciuszko best tips for the race this year closer to the time of the race. Make sure you check back on this page for updates!

The Kosciuszko Tips From Experts

Our tips are not out for The Kosciuszko in 2022 as it is too far out from the event. But the good news is that when the final field for The Kosciuscko is announced, we will provide guidance on each and every runner in the 2022 The Kosciuscko.

You will find all this information below, when it becomes available. Stay tuned, or alternatively you can chat to The Shark to get the best tips for every day!

We have found some key indicators to look out for in the lead up to the race, when looking for your The Kosciuszko betting tips. Have a read on below to find out more:

Is Previous Form in The Kosciuszko a Good Indicator of Future Success?

While there is yet to be a repeat winner of The Kosciuszko, the best country horses obviously rise to the top and should be considered every year.

While Belflyer won the inaugural running of The Kosciuszko and then came 14th of 14 in the following year, he contested the 2019 race as an eight-year-old and it was his last career race. Handle The Truth won in 2019, came fourth in 2020 and then came second in 2021.

While he is a class horse, it shows that typically the best horses come to the races and rock up when they need to.

Should I Bet On The Favourite in The Kosciuszko?

It is definitely a good tactic to bet on the favourite in The Kosciuszko. The four favourites are yet to finish out of the top four so far, with Don’t Give A Damn ($3.30) in 2018 being the lowest placed.

Victorem ($2.70) finished 2nd in 2019 and would have given punters a bonus bet back for their troubles, depending on their preferred agency, while It’s Me ($2) was very well backed in 2020 and won by just 0.2 lengths.

Art Cadeau didn’t originally open as favourite in 2021 but was by the time they jumped, he was backed in big time. When they jumped, he was $4 favourite, with the next closest in the market sitting at $5.50.

Formlines Heading into The Kosciuszko

Given the nature of the race and how new it is on the schedule, there have been three different paths to success. Belflyer (2018) and Art Cadeau (2021) contested the race first up, while Handle The Truth (2019) was second up after coming 5th in a BM88 two weeks earlier.

It’s Me is the outlier, contesting the race fourth up in her preparation in 2020. She ran her first two races with the regular two weeks break in between, but then had four weeks until her third run and then another four weeks until The Kosciuszko. Her two runs prior to The Kosciuszko were both Highway Handicaps, running in a class 2 and then class 3 race, respectively.

Age

While Art Cadeau won in 2021 as a five-year-old, both Handle The Truth and It’s Me won as four-year-olds, with that age being the clear standout. Belflyer is a bit of an outlier, being seven when he won. However, he was an outlier already, being backed as if he had no chance of winning, at $71.

Gender

It’s Me is the lone mare to win the race, as Art Cadeau, Handle The Truth and Belflyer both won as geldings.

Weight

The set weights and penalties conditions see trends follow the gender path, with It’s Me carrying just 53.5kg to victory as a mare. Meanwhile Handle The Truth was tasked with 57kg and both Art Cadeau and Belflyer carried 57.5kg past the post.

The Kosciuszko Best Bets

Our tips are not out for The Kosciuszko in 2022 as it is too far out from the event. But the good news is that when the final field for The Kosciuscko is announced, we will provide guidance on each and every runner in the 2022 The Kosciuscko.

You will find all this information below, when it becomes available. Stay tuned, or alternatively you can chat to The Shark to get the best tips for every day!

Long before The Kosciuszko field is officially announced – online bookies will open early markets, or all-in markets, for The Kosciuszko betting. This is prime time to bet on your favourite horse, as you might be able to bet on strong contenders for The 2022 Kosciuszko at double-digit odds.

Once the bookies release the 2022 The Kosciuszko odds, they will obviously fluctuate frequently in the lead up to the race, especially when we have a better idea of which horses will be targeting the race and their form leading into the race.

Punting early on these markets can find you a favourite at prices of $10 or more, which will retain you a much higher return on investment. However, there is increased risk with doing this and you should be well aware.

Depending on when you place a futures bet on the 2022 The Kosciuszko, your horse may not even run but you won’t get your money back, occurring when the market is ‘All-In’ or closer to the starting date. If you are betting when it says ‘Before Noms’, you have the security of receiving your money back if your horse doesn’t run.

The 2022 Kosciuszko odds are out, and Front Page is the favourite over Another One and Art Cadeau, who are on the second line of betting. Here are the current odds, courtesy of Neds, as of mid-August:

Given the stage that the country trainers are given with this race, The Kosciuszko field often attracts the best country horses and has quality throughout. Many trainers, including Brett Cavanough in 2020 with It’s Me, think their horses are good enough to compete with the city sprinters, and use this race to argue their case.

That is the sort of quality that the country races have to offer and The Kosciuszko field represents that perfectly. The $1.3M prizemoney pool attracts the best and has the trainers treat this as a grand final for their horses. The final field for The Kosciuszko in 2022 will be announced at the barrier draw, which is set to take place on Wednesday, October 12th.

With the race yet to be run, we still don’t know what The Kosciuszko results for 2022 will be! However, check back in after the race and we will have all of the information on how the big race went and what the results are.

Looking back at the 2021 race, Art Cadeau was backed into favouritism and had the perfect run to salute for the punters. He was one and one, with plenty of cover entering the home straight, powering over the top of Handle The Truth, who was valiant in second.

Handle The Truth looked as if he would be able to win The Kosciuszko for a second time, with Art Cadeau not overtaking him in the straight until there was just 50m left. Spiranac came from near last on the fence, with James McDonald weaving through the traffic for fast-finishing third.

You’ve read the words, now watch the video! Have a squiz below at The Kosciuszko race in 2021:

The Kosciuszko Winners

The results for the upcoming The Kosciuszko are not yet available, but in the meantime, you can have a look below at all the recent past winners: