Looking for early info on this year’s PJ Bell Stakes? The experts at Neds have put together everything you need to know on the race.

PJ Bell Stakes Winners (Rubisaki) | Photo: Steve Hart | Neds

The PJ Bell Stakes is a Group 3 race for three-year-old fillies run over 1200m at Randwick Racecourse in April on Day 1 of The Championships.

Contested on one of the biggest race days of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival, the PJ Bell Stakes is run at set weights plus penalties and offers $200,000 in prize money.

The race was inaugurated in 1985 and first won by Deal, with a host of very good fillies subsequently taking out the event including Dane Ripper (1997) who continued on to win that year’s Cox Plate and international Group 1 champion Ortensia (2009).

Originally the event was named after the 1973 Doncaster Handicap winning filly Analie and run as the Analie Handicap, before being renamed in 2011 to honour former ATC Chairman P J Bell (1921–2006).

The best fillies out of the PJ Bell Stakes field may back-up a week later and take on the colts and geldings in the lucrative Group 2 $1 million Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (1200m).

pj bell stakes 2023 – Quick Information

  • Race Day: Saturday, April 1, 2023
  • Track Location: Randwick Racecourse
  • Track Surface: Turf
  • Track Direction: Right-handed
  • Race Distance: 1,200 metres
  • Weight Conditions: Set Weights plus Penalties
  • Qualification: Three year old Fillies
  • Type: Thoroughbred
  • Grade: Group 3
  • Operator: Australian Turf Club
  • Prize Purse: $200,000
  • Inaugural Race: 1985
  • 2023 PJ Bell Stakes Winner: Magic Time

pj bell stakes 2023 RESULTS

The official 2023 PJ Bell Stakes results will be available below once the race takes place on Saturday April 1, 2023. 

  1. #5 Magic Time
  2. #1 Parisal
  3. #10 Lady Laguna

The Grahame Begg-trained 2023 PJ Bell Stakes winner was Hellbent filly Magic Time ($6) who was too strong first-up retaining her unbeaten record with a tidy victory in the last on Day 1 of The Championships when racing for the first time since a Listed win at Flemington last November over the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

pj bell stakes Betting 2023

New Ways to Bet at neds

There are many different ways to bet on the PJ Bell Stakes, we’ve included some of the most popular options below:

Bet Type How To Place This Type Of Bet In This Year’s PJ Bell Stakes
Win Bet Place your bet on the horse you think will take first place in this year’s PJ Bell Stakes. 
Place Bet Place your bet on the horse you think will place in the top three finishers at this year’s PJ Bell Stakes. Pays less than a win bet, but offers safer odds.
Each-Way Bet If your runner finishes 1st in the PJ Bell Stakes, you will collect both the Win and the Place dividend. If your horse finishes 2nd or 3rd you will collect the Place dividend.
Quinella Bet You must select the runners that finish 1st and 2nd in any order, within the PJ Bell Stakes in order to win the Quinella.
Exacta Bet You must select the runners that finish 1st and 2nd in the correct order, within the PJ Bell Stakes to win the Exacta.
Trifecta Bet You must select runners to finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the correct order, within the PJ Bell Stakes to win the Trifecta.
First Four You must select runners that finish 1st, 2nd ,3rd and 4th in the correct order, within the PJ Bell Stakes to win the First 4.
Quadrella Bet (Quaddie) You must select the winners of four nominated races to win the Quaddie. This means you would have to select three other races apart from the PJ Bell Stakes, in order to be eligible to place a Quaddie.

How To Bet On The PJ Bell Stakes in 2023

  1. Login at neds.com.au
  2. Make a deposit, using your credit card, PayPal or other safe electronic method
  3. Make sure to check out form guide, once it’s released
  4. Decide what kind of bet you’re going to place (Win, Place, Each-Way, Trifecta + more betting options, please read our section on PJ Bell Stakes Betting above).
  5. Select the horse(s) for the race.

pj bell stakes 2025 Odds

Early market betting odds on the 2025 pj bell stakes will be displayed below once available. Odds are subject to fluctuation. For current odds on all of our live markets, please visit neds.com.au.

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Timezone: all times are in Australian Eastern Standard Time

Which Horse Will Win The PJ Bell Stakes?

The best way to pick which filly will win the PJ Bell Stakes in 2023 is to take into account their lead-up autumn racing form, assess the barriers, consider the weights and back the proven Group fillies in the mix. 

Additional factors to consider when picking the PJ Bell Stakes winner include: 

  • Sydney Lead-Up: The bulk of the PJ Bell Stakes winners over the past decade have come via a Black-Type Sydney lead-up race over the autumn.
  • Wider Barriers: Five of the 10 PJ Bell Stakes winning fillies from 2014 – 2023 jumped from a wide alley including two from barrier 13 and Heresy (14 of 15 in 2022).

PJ Bell Stakes Favourites 2023

Early favourites in 2023 PJ Bell Stakes betting include Luke Pepper’s last start Listed Darby Munro winning filly Opal Ridge and the flying James Cummings-trained daughter of Astern Parisal chasing her fourth win on the trot. 

Rubisaki ($2.70 in 2020) followed by Heresy ($5.50 in 2022) are the last PJ Bell Stakes favourites to win. 

PJ Bell Stakes 2023 Field

The official 2023 PJ Bell Stakes field of final acceptances is announced on the Wednesday of race week and will be published in full below.

The 2023 PJ Bell Stakes field features a capacity line-up of three-year-old fillies led in betting by the Tapp-Craig winner from the spring Opal Ridge coming off a Listed Darby Munro Stakes success first-up at Rosehill.

PJ Bell Stakes 2023 Tips

Favourite: #2 Opal Ridge ($2.40 at time of publish)

Best Bet: #1 Parisal ($5.50 at time of publish)

Best Roughie: #6 Avebury ($81 at time of publish)

Our insider 2023 PJ Bell Stakes tips will be detailed above the week of the race and a full betting preview published on the Neds Blog.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR COMPLETE 2023 THE CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 1 PREVIEW & TIPS

PJ Bell Stakes Race Day 2023

The 2023 PJ Bell Stakes takes place on Day 1 of ‘The Championships’ at Sydney’s Royal Randwick Racecourse on Saturday the 1st of April, 2023. There are four Group 1 races in total held that day at the track with the running of the:

PJ Bell Stakes Barrier Draw 2023

The 2023 PJ Bell Stakes barrier draw will be released to the public a few days before the race and published in our above PJ Bell Stakes Field section.

PJ Bell Stakes Nominations 2023

2023 PJ Bell Stakes nominations close at 11:00AM on Monday 27th of March, 2023.

Last 10 Horse Sex Age Trainer Hcp Rating
1 223×9121 AVEBURY (NZ) F 3 John O’Shea 74
2 6311 BINDI’S CHOICE F 3 David Pfieffer 65
3 x21133x116 DASHING LEGEND F 3 Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes 83
4 25×21 EAGLE NEST F 3 Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou 61
5 26x233x2 GOLDEN QUEEN F 3 Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott
6 6250×112 ITHADTOBEZOU F 3 John Thompson 71
7 41 LA PITTRICE F 3 Anthony Cummings 64
8 3x42405x53 LADY LAGUNA F 3 Annabel Neasham 80
9 11x MAGIC TIME F 3 Grahame Begg 77
10 1x2610x79 MIDNIGHT IN TOKYO F 3 Kacy Fogden 71
11 48x65235x1 MISS FABERGE F 3 John Sargent 59
12 53x97626x7 MUMBAI JEWEL F 3 Annabel Neasham 76
13 9x2066x434 OJAI F 3 James Cummings 77
14 114x OLENTIA F 3 Chris Waller 67
15 1x128121x1 OPAL RIDGE F 3 Luke Pepper 88
16 27×111 PARISAL F 3 James Cummings 84
17 x11x4817x1 PORTRAY F 3 James Cummings 75
18 40x747x20x RUSSIAN CONQUEST F 3 Peter & Paul Snowden 82
19 2140x5x124 SEVEN SISTERS F 3 James Cummings 71
20 21 SISTERHOOD F 3 Ciaron Maher & David Eustace 61
21 113 SMOOTH SAILING F 3 Mark Newnham 69
22 0x311 SPEAK UP F 3 John O’Shea 66
23 2068x120x SUMATRA F 3 James Cummings 82
24 131 SUMPTUARY F 3 Paul Messara 64
25 1968×2 SWEETENED F 3 Ben & JD Hayes 62
26 1541x TROPICCONI F 3 Matt Laurie 67
27 1×1516 TSARINA SOPHIA F 3 Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou 70
28 x16181x822 WEE NESSY F 3 Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) 82
29 154x4120x8 WILD BOTANICA F 3 Lee & Cherie Curtis 67
30 12x52535x5 WILLINGA BEAST F 3 Kris Lees 84

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

PJ Bell Stakes Weights 2023

The PJ Bell Stakes is run at set weights plus penalties with a base weight of 54kg. Weights must be declared by 4:00pm (AEST) on Tuesday the 28th of March, 2023 with the official 2023 PJ Bell Stakes weights on the final acceptances to be published in our above PJ Bell Stakes Field section. 

2023 PJ Bell Stakes Top-Weight:

  • #1 Parisal (56kg)

PJ Bell Stakes Acceptances 2023

2023 PJ Bell Stakes final acceptances must be declared before 9 AM on Wednesday the 29th of March, 2023 and will be published in our above PJ Bell Stakes Field section. 

PJ Bell Stakes Jockeys 2023

The final riders announcement is at 12 PM on Wednesday the 29th of March, 2023 with the official 2023 PJ Bell Stakes jockeys to be published in our above PJ Bell Stakes Field section. 

PJ Bell Stakes Scratchings 2023

Scratchings close at 7:30 AM on Saturday the 1st of April, 2023. 

PJ Bell Stakes Prize Money 2023

The 2023 PJ Bell Stakes prize purse is worth $200,000 in total, distributed from places first through to tenth.

Place Prize Money
1st $109,350
2nd $36,750
3rd $17,750
4th $8,900
5th $5,250
6th $4,00
7th $3,500
8th $3,500
9th $3,500
10th $3,500 

PJ Bell Stakes Race Number 2023

The 2023 PJ Bell Stakes race number is scheduled as Randwick Race 10 closing the card at 5:50pm (AEDT) on Saturday the 1st of April, 2023. There are 10 races in total that day at Randwick Racecourse.

PJ Bell Stakes Form Guide 2023

The final form guide will be available the week of the race. You can check below for a link to our full 2023 PJ Bell Stakes Form Guide following final acceptances. 

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 PJ BELL STAKES FORM GUIDE

PJ Bell Stakes Live 2023

You can watch or listen to the 2023 PJ Bell Stakes live, across the following mediums.

Pay television: Sky Racing 1 (channel 526 on Foxtel)

Free-to-air television: 7 Network

Radio: Radio Sport National

Streaming: Racing NSW

PJ Bell Stakes Winners

Winners of the PJ Bell Stakes going back to the year 2011 are detailed in the table below. For a complete list of past PJ Bell Stakes winners from 1985 – the present click here

Year Winner Second Third Time
2023 Magic Time Parisal Lady Laguna 1:13.0
2022 Hersey Zapateo Arcaded 1:13.1
2021 Matchmaker Marboosha Geist 1:11.1
2020 Rubisaki Wayupinthesky Akari 1:12.7
2019 Multaja Into The Abyss So Taken 1:12.6
2018 Houtzen =2 Manicure =2 Problem Solver 1:08.6
2017 Diddums Prompt Response Smart Amelia 1:12.3
2016 Tempt Me Not Pearls Egyptian Symbol 1:11.0
2015 Miss Cover Girl Peeping Matilija 1:11.6
2014 Politeness Cosmic Endeavour Miniature 1:12.4
2013 Catkins Diamond Earth Brave Soul 1:10.8
2012 Ever The Same Aerobatics Leviosa 1:10.0
2011 Red Tracer Steps In Time Palomares 1:10.8