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Beiwacht Wins the Memsie — and the Melbourne Spring Gets Its First Answer

Caulfield, 29 August: a four-year-old resuming beat Mr Brightside and Cosmic Crusader, and Chris Waller had his second Group 1 in eight days.

Zac ChristieSports and Racing Analysis(updated 21 September 2026)
A field of thoroughbreds races down the straight
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The Melbourne spring opened at Caulfield on Saturday 29 August, and the Group 1 Memsie Stakes over 1400 metres went to Beiwacht, the Godolphin-owned four-year-old, for Chris Waller and Nash Rawiller.

He started $6.50 and won by three lengths from Mr Brightside, with Cosmic Crusader third. It was a first-up run.

The two who were aimed at it both got beaten

Mr Brightside, ridden by Craig Williams for Ben, Will and J.D. Hayes, had been among the horses openly being readied for this race. He ran second.

Cosmic Crusader came in off a P.B. Lawrence Stakes win on 15 August and started closer to favouritism than the winner. William Pike rode him for Andrea Leek. He ran third — and then went on to finish second in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes at Caulfield on 19 September, so the form has held up.

Beiwacht is not a surprise if you were watching last spring

He won the 2025 Golden Rose at Rosehill as a three-year-old. The Memsie was his four-year-old return, and winning a weight-for-age Group 1 first-up is a different order of performance to winning one fit.

He is now $4.50 favourite for the $2 million Manikato Stakes, which this year is run at Caulfield on Sunday 27 September rather than at Moonee Valley.

Beiwacht Wins the Memsie — and the Melbourne Spring Gets Its First Answer — editorial artwork
Editorial artwork

What the Memsie fed into

The Melbourne spring has run on from here: the Moir Stakes at Sandown on 5 September, won by My Gladiola for John McArdle and Jamie Mott; the Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington on 12 September, won by Sheza Alibi; and a Caulfield double on 19 September in which Waller and Ben Melham took both Group 1s — Birdman in the Underwood and Angel Capital in the Sir Rupert Clarke.

Ahead: the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on 3 October, Caulfield Guineas Day on 10 October, the 150th Caulfield Cup on 17 October, and the Cox Plate at Flemington on 24 October — the first time the race has been run anywhere other than Moonee Valley.

Quick answers

Who won the 2026 Memsie Stakes?
Beiwacht, trained by Chris Waller and ridden by Nash Rawiller, at Caulfield on 29 August 2026. He started $6.50 and won first-up by three lengths from Mr Brightside, with Cosmic Crusader third.
Had Beiwacht won a Group 1 before?
Yes. He won the 2025 Golden Rose at Rosehill as a three-year-old. The Memsie was his four-year-old return.
Where is the 2026 Manikato Stakes being run?
Caulfield, on Sunday 27 September 2026, rather than Moonee Valley, which is closed for redevelopment. Beiwacht is the $4.50 favourite.
Where is the 2026 Cox Plate being run?
Flemington, on Saturday 24 October 2026 — the first time in the race’s history it has been run at a track other than Moonee Valley.
Memsie StakesCaulfieldGroup 1BeiwachtChris Waller

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