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The Group 3 Fred Best Classic is a 1400m event held annually in late May at Eagle Farm Racecourse. Held during the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival on Kingsford-Smith Cup Day the event is a key lead-up for three-year-olds into Group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) run back at the track a fortnight later on Stradbroke Handicap Day.

Run under set weight conditions, the Fred Best Classic is open only to three-year-olds and now offers $150,000 in total prize money having been moved from Doomben for the 2017 season onwards.

In 2020 COVID-19 saw a number of major changes to the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival including the Fred Best Classic taking place over 1350m at Doomben Racecourse as the key event at the meeting offering a reduced $125,000 in prize money.

The 2020 edition of the Fred Best Classic also offered a ballot exemption to the winner for the following week’s Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m), one of just two elite level races taking place during the carnival due to Coronavirus.

The 2020 Fred Best Classic ran on Saturday May 30, 2020 at Doomben Racecourse and saw the favourite Dawn Passage salute. 

Fred Best Classic Info:
Date:	Saturday May 30, 2020
Track:	Eagle Farm Racecourse (Doomben in 2020)
Distance:	1400m (1350m in 2020)
Race Type:	3YOs – Set Weights
Status:	Group 3
Prizemoney:	$150,000 ($125,000 in 2020)

2020 Fred Best Classic Results

• 1st: #3 Dawn Passage
• 2nd: #12 Exhilarates
• 3rd: #13 Subpoenaed

The Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained favourite Dawn Passage ($2.15) was far too dominant for his rivals over the final 100m in the Fred Best Classic 2020 results, the Hawkesbury Guineas – Inglis Guineas double winner booking his spot in the Stradbroke Handicap field with a win for the punters.

Colour	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	3	DAWN PASSAGE	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Brad Stewart		6	57kg		$2.15F
	2	12	EXHILARATES	James Cummings	Larry Cassidy	0.75L	4	55kg		$6
	3	13	SUBPOENAED (NZ)	Chris Waller	Michael Cahill	1.5L	8	55kg		$4.60
	4	9	SCATHING	Chris Munce	Justin Huxtable (a)	3.75L	3	57kg		$17
	5	4	STAMPE	Chris Munce	Sean Cormack	4.05L	10	57kg		$26
	6	7	GARIBALDI	Tony Gollan	Baylee Nothdurft (a)	4.15L	1	57kg		$31
	7	1	THE ODYSSEY	Kelly Schweida	Ms Stephanie Thornton	4.35L	9	57kg		$10
	8	6	BELLEVUE HILL	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Ryan Maloney	7.6L	7	57kg		$26
	9	11	SHADOW OF TIME	Stewart Barr	Dale Smith	7.9L	5	57kg		$81
	10	14	READY BABE	Mark Currie	Mark Du Plessis	8.4L	2	55kg		$31
		2	HIGHTAIL	Peter & Paul Snowden	Ryan Maloney		0
		8	THE SINNER	Natalie McCall	Daniel Griffin		0

*Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2020 Fred Best Classic Odds

The winter’s latest Fred Best Classic 2020 betting odds and links to the markets at Ladbrokes.com.au will be available below once released.

Dawn Passage ($2.15 in 2020) was the last favourite in Fred Best Classic betting to salute for the punters.

2020 Fred Best Classic Field

The Fred Best Classic field attracts a strong line-up of both local Queensland-trained three-year-olds as well as interstate raiders chasing the Brisbane winter racing riches. The race is a good lead-up to the Queensland Guineas and may be a next-up option for gallopers coming off a run in the Group 3 Gold Coast Guineas (1200m) earlier in the month.

The official Fred Best Classic 2020 final field & barriers are set for release by Racing Queensland on the Wednesday of race week and will be published in full below.

The 2020 Fred Best Classic field features 15 three-year-olds including Doomben specialist The Odyssey, the in-form Gold Coast Guineas winner Hightail whose co-trainer Peter Snowden chases a fourth win in the race and the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Dawn Passage coming off the Hawkesbury Guineas – Inglis Guineas double.

Click here to read more on the top chances in the Fred Best Classic 2020 field and betting markets.

Update: #2 Hightail (11) and #8 The Sinner (5) have been scratched from the Fred Best Classic. Hightail will instead go straight into the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap on June 6.

#	Form (Last 10)	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	6313481112	THE ODYSSEY	Kelly Schweida	Ms Stephanie Thornton	13	57kg		94
2	x28x214x11	HIGHTAIL	Peter & Paul Snowden	Ryan Maloney	11	57kg		96
3	3x156x2811	DAWN PASSAGE	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Brad Stewart	9	57kg		96
4	2×01323140	STAMPE	Chris Munce	Sean Cormack	14	57kg		83
5	4132×11411	GRAND PIANO	John Thompson	James Orman (late alt)	6	57kg		89.5
6	1217x8x9	BELLEVUE HILL	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Matthew McGillivray	10	57kg		84
7	430x50x227	GARIBALDI	Tony Gollan	Baylee Nothdurft (a)	1	57kg		75
8	123×199931	THE SINNER	Natalie McCall	Daniel Griffin	5	57kg		75
9	12223×114	SCATHING	Chris Munce	Justin Huxtable (a)	3	57kg		75
10	2x21x26x21	PETRONIUS	Gary Moore	Luke Dittman	8	57kg		72
11	156×13117	SHADOW OF TIME	Stewart Barr	Dale Smith	7	57kg		72
12	x1127x53x3	EXHILARATES	James Cummings	Larry Cassidy	4	55kg		96
13	160×125924	SUBPOENAED (NZ)	Chris Waller	Michael Cahill	12	55kg		86
14	1×125	READY BABE	Mark Currie	Mark Du Plessis	2	55kg		68

 

Fred Best Classic History

The Fred Best Classic was first run in 1984, when Bonnie Princess seized victory. Initially, the race was run for two-year-olds, and was known as the Courier Mail 2YO Classic. The Fred Best Classic has experienced many name changes over the years. Since 2000, the race has been known variously as the Powerhouse Classic, the Wyndham Estate Classic, the Richmond Grove Classic, the BTC Classic (2006-2009) and finally the Fred Best Classic from 2010 onwards.

The Fred Best Classic is run on Doomben Cup Day alongside the Group 2 Doomben Roses, Group 3 BRC Sprint, Listed Lancaster Stakes and Dalrello Stakes and of course the Group 1 Doomben Cup.

Named after renowned Brisbane trainer Fred Best, the Fred Best Classic always attracts a stellar field. Peter Snowden has had three winners in the race (2008, 2012 and 2019), making him the most successful trainer.

The fastest time is held by Gold Edition, who won the race in 2007 with a blistering 1:17.52. From 2017 onwards the Fred Best Classic will be run at Eagle Farm, moved from Doomben, and raced over 1400m (up from 1350m).

In 2020 the Fred Best Classic ran at Doomben over 1350m due to COVID-19.

Fred Best Classic results since 2000 are listed below.

Fred Best Classic Results

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2020 Fred Best Classic	1st	Dawn Passage	1:18.83 (over 1350m)
	2nd	Exhilarates
	3rd	Subpoenaed
2019 Fred Best Classic	1st	Military Zone	1:22.06
	2nd	Baccarat Baby
	3rd	Krone
2018 Fred Best Classic	1st	Perast	1:19.70
	2nd	Assimilate
	3rd	Mishani Bullitt
2017 Fred Best Classic	1st	Niccanova	1:26.59
	2nd	Sylpheed
	3rd	I Thought So
2016 Fred Best Classic	1st	Counterattack	1:18.86
	2nd	Takedown
	3rd	Perfect Dare
2015 Fred Best Classic	1st	Najoom	1:19.00
	2nd	Miss Cover Girl
	3rd	Awesome Rock
2014 Fred Best Classic	1st	Havana	1:19.2
	2nd	Into The Red
	3rd	Dothraki
2013 Fred Best Classic	1st	Platinum Kingdom	1:19.8
	2nd	Boban
	3rd	Academus
2012 Fred Best Classic	1st	Mental	1:19.3
	2nd	Amah Rock
	3rd	Boys On Tour
2011 Fred Best Classic	1st	Falino	1:18.8
	2nd	Spirit Of Boom
	3rd	Skilled
2010 Fred Best Classic	1st	Stryker	1:19.1
	2nd	Happy Hippy
	3rd	Graceful Anna
2009 Fred Best Classic	1st	Court	1:19.4
	2nd	Leapfrog
	3rd	Geeza
2008 Fred Best Classic	1st	El Cambio	1:19.2
	2nd	Mr Unforgettable
	3rd	Diplomatic Force
2007 Fred Best Classic	1st	Gold Edition	1:8.44
	2nd	Grand Reve
	3rd	J’Adane
2006 Fred Best Classic	1st	La Montagna	1:18.0
	2nd	Century Serb
	3rd	Pasikatera
2005 Fred Best Classic	1st	Gumnuts	1:18.8
	2nd	Rich Megadale
	3rd	Aqua D Amore
2004 Fred Best Classic	1st	Gallieni	1:18.1
	2nd	Drunken Joker
	3rd	Sky Cuddle
2003 Fred Best Classic	1st	Proudly Agro	1:18.9
	2nd	Brief Embrace
	3rd	Charlie Bub
2002 Fred Best Classic	1st	Tellson	1:17.8
	2nd	Gabfest
	3rd	Acadame
2001 Fred Best Classic	1st	Marlina	1:19.2
	2nd	Zariz
	3rd	Johann Lover
2000 Fred Best Classic	1st	Cryptavia	1:20.7
	2nd	Make Mine Magic
	3rd	The Kildare Kid