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The Caulfield Classic – registered as the Norman Robinson Stakes and currently known as the Neds Classic for sponsorship purposes – is a Group 3 event for three-year-old staying types run at Caulfield Racecourse in mid-late October on the same day as the first leg of the Spring Cups double – Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m).

Run over a testing 2000m, the Caulfield Classic is one of four staying events on the program, making this a great day for staying events. The Caulfield Classic field is comprised strictly of three year olds who compete under set weight conditions. For this reason, high quality horses generally rise to the top of the results.

With $200,000 in prize money on offer, the Caulfield Classic draws three-year-olds that could continue onto the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington on the first day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival. Polanski (2013) was the last horse to complete the Caulfield Classic – Victoria Derby double.

More recently in 2019 (the 100th edition of the event) the Caulfield Classic runner-up Warning went on to take out the VRC Derby next start, while in 2020 Hit The Shot ran third in the Caulfield Classic before a second in that year’s Victoria Derby results.

Three-year-olds in the Caulfield Classic field may be backing-up on the quick turnaround after contesting the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) the Saturday prior.

The form out of the 2021 Caulfield Classic was franked with the second placed filly El Patroness going on to win the following autumn’s Group 1 Australian Oaks (2000m).

Teewaters meanwhile ran third in both the 2021 Caulfield Classic and Victoria Derby results that spring.

The 2022 Caulfield Classic form was franked with the winner Mr Maestro finishing fourth in that year’s VRC Derby.

The 2023 Caulfield Classic ran on Saturday October 21, 2023 at Caulfield Racecourse as the Neds Classic and was won in a narrow upset by the VRC Derby-bound Sunsets ($16) for Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young.  

Caulfield Classic 2023
Date:	Saturday October 21, 2023
Track:	Caulfield Racecourse
Distance:	2000m
Race Type:	3YOs Set Weights
Status:	Group 3
Prize Money:	$200,000

2023 Neds Classic Results

• 1st: #5 Sunsets ($16)
• 2nd: #2 Riff Rocket
• 3rd: #6 Gates

The $2 million Victoria Derby on November 4 is calling for the progressive Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young-trained Dundeel colt Sunsets ($16) who sustained a long run in front to hold off the odds-on favourite Riff Rocket ($1.28) in a sensational upset to the 2023 Neds Classic results on Caulfield Cup Day.

Click here to read more on the narrow upset by Sunsets in the Neds Classic 2023.

2023 Neds Classic Results & Finishing Order

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	5	SUNSETS	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	John Allen		7	57kg		$16
	2	2	RIFF ROCKET	Chris Waller	James McDonald	0.1L	1	57kg		$1.28F
	3	6	GATES	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Damian Lane	2.6L	5	57kg		$26
	4	3	APULIA	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Michael Dee	2.7L	6	57kg		$17
	5	8	TOKYO RUN (NZ)	Dean Mirfin	Opie Bosson	6.45L	4	57kg		$71
	6	4	GOLD BULLION (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Blake Shinn	6.65L	3	57kg		$6
	7	7	TO BE FRANK (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Mark Zahra	8.9L	2	57kg		$21
		1	SUNSOURCE	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Ben Melham		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Caulfield Classic Betting

The Caulfield Classic 2023 odds will be detailed below complete with links to the race sponsor’s markets so you can back your Caulfield Classic Tips in at the best prices this season through Ladbrokes.com.au.

Gunstock ($3.80 in 2021) and Mr Maestro ($1.70 in 2022) are the latest favourites in Caulfield Classic betting to win.

There was a notable upset in 2023 with Sunsets ($26) defeating the odds-on favourite Riff Rocket ($1.28) at big Neds Classic odds.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 NEDS CLASSIC ODDS (Final Field)

2023 Caulfield Classic Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 CAULFIELD CLASSIC FORM GUIDE

2023 Caulfield Classic Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Caulfield Classic 2023 Tips this spring.

• To Win: #2 Riff Rocket ($1.45 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Small but quality field, but the odds-on favourite Riff Rocket is impossible to bet against. He’s zero value now after winning two of his last three starts with the Chris Waller-trained gelding coming off a 5.5 length romp home in Flemington’s Listed Super Impose Stakes (1800m) on October 7. Up to 2000m now, but the distance looks a non-issue, he’ll eat it up. Same weight, similar rivals, inside alley and James McDonald. Back don’t sack with scope to come still.

2023 Caulfield Classic Field

The 2023 Caulfield Classic field and barrier draw is set for release on the Wednesday leading up to Caulfield Cup Day and will be detailed in full below once announced by Racing Victoria.

The Neds Classic 2023 field features just eight final acceptors dominated by Chris Waller’s odds-on favourite Riff Rocket who won the Super Impose (1800m) by 5.5 lengths last start.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	30×4431452	SUNSOURCE	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Ben Melham	7	57kg			73
2	17×121	RIFF ROCKET	Chris Waller	James McDonald	1	57kg			80
3	242×128	APULIA	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Michael Dee	6	57kg			69
4	2311	GOLD BULLION (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Blake Shinn	3	57kg			70
5	4×525124	SUNSETS	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	John Allen	8	57kg			64
6	78×1	GATES	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Luke Nolen	5	57kg			64
7	41	TO BE FRANK (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Mark Zahra	2	57kg			63
8	5×3252	TOKYO RUN (NZ)	Dean Mirfin	Opie Bosson	4	57kg			57

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Caulfield Classic Nominations

Nominations on the Caulfield Classic in 2023 close the Monday of race week and will be published below once announced.

The 2023 Neds Classic nominations are extended until 10:00am (AEDT) on 17/10/2023. 

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp Rating
1	242×128	APULIA	C	3	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	69
2	78×1	GATES	C	3	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	64
3	2311	GOLD BULLION (NZ)	G	3	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	70
4	17×121	RIFF ROCKET	G	3	Chris Waller	80
5	7×431	ROGUERY	G	3	Lloyd Kennewell & Lucy Yeomans	62
6	3×421	SACRED EAGLE	C	3	Symon Wilde	62
7	642	SEKANI	C	3	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	62
8	4×525124	SUNSETS	C	3	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	64
9	30×4431452	SUNSOURCE	C	3	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	73
10	41	TO BE FRANK (NZ)	C	3	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	63
11	5×3252	TOKYO RUN (NZ)	G	3	Dean Mirfin	57

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Caulfield Classic History

Early in 2014, the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) announced that they would be replacing the Norman Robinson Stakes with the Caulfield Classic, a new event that would boast a massive $750,000 prize money with an additional $250,000 to first place if they also won either the Thousand Guineas or the Caulfield Guineas. However, the Caulfield Classic will still share the history of the Norman Robinson Stakes.

Caulfield Classic prize money is currently down to $250,000 for 2020 due to COVID-19 reductions and further reduced in 2021 to $200,000.

When the race was first inaugurated in 1978, it was held over 2000m and ran as a listed race. For 1998 and 1999, the Caulfield Classic ran as a Group 3 event, and then for five years up until the 2005 edition the race held Group 2 status. Since 2005 however, it has remained at Group 3 following a downgrade. It is likely that the new injection of prize money in 2014 will result in the race being upgraded again.

The Caulfield Classic has been known by several other names in the past, including the Norman Robinson Stakes, Wallace Stakes and Steeves Lumley Stakes.

The Caulfield Classic is a good lead-up event to the Victoria Derby.

Notable Caulfield Classic winners include Nothin’ Leica Dame (1995), King Delamere (1983), Hvasstan (2012), Polanski (2013), and Cliff’s Edge (2017).

Caulfield Classic results since 2000 are below.

Caulfield Classic Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2023 Caulfield Classic	1st	Sunsets	2 minutes 05.50 seconds
	2nd	Riff Rocket
	3rd	Gates
2022 Caulfield Classic	1st	Mr Maestro	2 minutes 6.89 seconds
	2nd	Muramasa
	3rd	Distrustful Award
2021 Caulfield Classic	1st	Gunstock	2 minutes 05.52 seconds
	2nd	El Patroness
	3rd	Teewaters
2020 Caulfield Classic	1st	Albarado	2 minutes 7.94 seconds
	2nd	Let’s Karaka Deel
	3rd	Hit The Shot
2019 Caulfield Classic	1st	Thought Of That	2 minutes 2.88 seconds
	2nd	Warning
	3rd	Brilliant Venture
2018 Caulfield Classic	1st	Thinkin’ Big	2 minutes 6.79 seconds
	2nd	Chapada
	3rd	Sikorsky
2017 Caulfield Classic	1st	Cliff’s Edge	2 minutes 2.48 seconds
	2nd	Tangled
	3rd	Main Stage
2016 Caulfield Classic	1st	Good Standing	2 minutres 4.3 seconds
	2nd	Rocketeer
	3rd	Inference
2015 Caulfield Classic	1st	Sacred Eye	2 minutres 3.20 seconds
	2nd	Lizard Island
	3rd	Etymology
2014 Caulfield Classic	1st	Fontein Ruby	2 minutes 3.8 seconds
	2nd	Crafty
	3rd	Firehouse Rock
2013 Caulfield Classic	1st	Polanski	2 minutes 02.5 seconds
	2nd	San Diego
	3rd	Epic Saga
2012 Caulfield Classic	1st	Hvasstan	2 minute 03.8 seconds
	2nd	Honorius
	3rd	Electric Fusion
2011 Caulfield Classic	1st	Sabrage	2 minutes 03.0 seconds
	2nd	Sangster
	3rd	Niagara
2010 Caulfield Classic	1st	Retrieve	2 minutes 08.3 seconds
	2nd	Almindoro
	3rd	Digital Fortress
2009 Caulfield Classic	1st	Shamoline Warrior	2 minutes 03.9 seconds
	2nd	Onemorenomore
	3rd	Gathering
2008 Caulfield Classic	1st	Pre Eminence	2 minutes 04.3 seconds
	2nd	Miss Scarlatti
	3rd	Paddy O’Reilly
2007 Caulfield Classic	1st	Pillar Of Hercules	2 minutes 04.5 seconds
	2nd	Down Under Boy
	3rd	Villian
2006 Caulfield Classic	1st	Get Square	2 minutes 03.6 seconds
	2nd	Ulfah
	3rd	Sir Lago
2005 Caulfield Classic	1st	Pendragon	2 minutes 03.5 seconds
	2nd	Headturner
	3rd	Replicator
2004 Caulfield Classic	1st	Cedar Manor	2 minutes 04.5 seconds
	2nd	Court Ricardo
	3rd	King Durham
2003 Caulfield Classic	1st	Casual Pass	2 minutes 04.5 seconds
	2nd	Our Court
	3rd	Face Value
2002 Caulfield Classic	1st	Platinum Scissors	2 minutes 02.3 seconds
	2nd	Hydrometer
	3rd	Aint Here
2001 Caulfield Classic	1st	Amalfi	2 minutes 05.3 seconds
	2nd	Grey Song
	3rd	Tully Zeal
2000 Caulfield Classic	1st	Royale Exit	2 minutes 01.2 seconds
	2nd	Hit The Roof
	3rd	Adolescence