Kembla Grange Classic

The Kembla Grange Classic is a Group 3 event run in March at Kembla Grange Racecourse in New South Wales by a field of three-year-old fillies with ATC Oaks potential.

2023 Kembla Grange Classic Results

  • 1st: #6 Pavitra
  • 2nd: #8 So Dazzling
  • 3rd: #3 Pierossa



The Keith F Nolan Classic – now run as the Kembla Grange Classic – is a Group 3 race run at Kembla Grange Racecourse* each March by the Illawarra Turf Club during the autumn.

*Note: The 2022 Kembla Grange Classic ran at Goulburn Racecourse due to the Kembla Grange meeting being abandoned. 

The event is a 1600m mile event for three-year-old fillies at set weights plus penalties and offers $200,000 in total prize money.

Fillies in the Kembla Grange Classic field may come off a Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival lead-up in a race like the recently upgraded Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m).

The best out of the race may back-up in a tougher Sydney race including the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill Gardens at the end of the month and Single Gaze (2016) was the last filly to complete the Keith Nolan Classic – Vinery Stud Stakes double. More recently, Frankely Awesome ran second in both the Kembla Grange Classic and Vinery Stud Stakes in 2019. The Group 1 ATC Oaks (2400m) during Royal Randwick’s The Championships in April is another later option.

The 2022 Kembla Grange Classic form was franked with the runner-up Hope In Your Heart returning in the spring to win a number of races before a fourth in the $10 million The Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill and second in the $1 million The Gong (1600m) which is the richest race held annually at Kembla Grange.

Gin Martini meanwhile ran third in both the Kembla Grange Classic and Group 1 ATC Oaks in 2022.

The Kembla Grange Classic 2023 ran on Friday March 10, 2023 and saw the spring’s VRC Oaks runner-up Pavitra ($3.10) post a runaway four-length victory. 

2023 Kembla Grange Classic
Date: Friday March 10, 2023
Track: Kembla Grange Racecourse
Distance: 1600m
Race Type: 3YO Fillies / Set Weights + Penalties
Status: Group 3
Prize Money: $200,000

2023 Kembla Grange Classic Results

  • 1st: #6 Pavitra ($3.10)
  • 2nd: #8 So Dazzling
  • 3rd: #3 Pierossa

The Richard & Will Freedman-trained American Pharoah filly Pavitra ($3.10) was huge second-up dominating the Kembla Grange Classic 2023 results on Friday with four-length romp home over the 30/1 outsider So Dazzling. It was a massive performance from the spring’s VRC Oaks runner-up who was an easy winner over her less than ideal distance with improvement to come ahead of the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes on March 25.

Finish No. Horse Trainer Jockey Margin Bar. Weight Penalty Starting Price
1 6 PAVITRA Richard & Will Freedman Chad Schofield 7 54kg $3.10
2 8 SO DAZZLING (NZ) John Sargent Tom Sherry 4L 5 54kg $31
3 3 PIEROSSA Peter & Paul Snowden Sam Clipperton 4.2L 10 56kg $21
4 7 CALL DI Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou Tyler Schiller (a) 4.4L 6 54kg $2.40F
5 9 INFINITIVE Chris Waller Regan Bayliss 7.2L 11 54kg $41
6 2 POLYGON (NZ) Lance Noble Kerrin McEvoy 7.7L 9 57kg $7.50
7 14 WHISKER TO WHISKER John Thompson Brock Ryan 7.8L 2 54kg $81
8 10 WHISKY WISDOM Benjamin Smith Ms Rachel King 7.9L 12 54kg $31
9 15 ARTS OBJECT Kurt Goldman Mitchell Bell 8.4L 3 54kg $41
10 12 PETERSHAM Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Tim Clark 8.8L 4 54kg $9
11 11 MARIGOLD’S DREAM Paul & Martha Cave Jeff Penza 11.8L 8 54kg $151
12 13 ARTS Edward Cummings Brett Prebble 15.3L 1 54kg (cd 54.5kg) $31
1 WOLVERINE (NZ) Kris Lees 0
4 A LOT MORE LOVE Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou 0
5 RAZETA Kris Lees Dylan Gibbons (a) 0

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Kembla Grange Classic Betting Odds

The autumn’s best Kembla Grange Classic 2023 betting odds will be available below the week of the race complete with market links to Ladbrokes.com.au.

Pretty Amazing ($2.90 in 2022) was the last favourite in Kembla Grange Classic betting to win.

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

2023 Kembla Grange Classic Form

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 KEMBLA GRANGE CLASSIC FORM GUIDE

2023 Kembla Grange Classic Tips

Stay tuned for our insider Kembla Grange Classic 2023 Tips on the Friday Group 3 this March.

  • To Win: #2 Polygon ($4 at time of publish) 

Happy to stick with the current favourite who is chasing a third win on the trot. The flying Lance Noble-trained filly travels over from New Zealand for the first time looking to frank the Kiwi form down under here. In December she won a Group 3 over a mile before a New Year’s Day Group 2 success over 2000m by nearly three lengths. Presents a danger fresh here over the 1600m with Kerrin McEvoy to ride. Carries a bit of weight with 57kg but has the class to beat this field.

2023 Kembla Grange Classic Field

The Keith F Nolan Classic field – now the Kembla Grange Classic – features a classy line-up of three-year-old fillies progressing to tougher and or longer distance races during the autumn in Sydney.

The official 2023 Kembla Grange Classic field and barriers are set for release the Wednesday before the race and will be published in full below.

Group 2 winning filly from New Zealand, Polygon, heads the 2023 Kembla Grange Classic field and odds racing fresh in the mile feature this Friday.

No Last 10 Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight Probable Weight Penalty Hcp Rating
1 2x2x638x07 WOLVERINE (NZ) Kris Lees 11 57kg 90
2 45x124511x POLYGON (NZ) Lance Noble Kerrin McEvoy 10 57kg 89
3 29x4211x0 PIEROSSA Peter & Paul Snowden Sam Clipperton 12 56kg 76
4 3x22113x00 A LOT MORE LOVE Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou 13 55kg 78
5 13x461x90 RAZETA Kris Lees Dylan Gibbons (a) 1 55kg 78
6 55115322×5 PAVITRA Richard & Will Freedman Chad Schofield 8 54kg 92
7 73×13 CALL DI Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou Tyler Schiller (a) 7 54kg 72
8 5130×8 SO DAZZLING (NZ) John Sargent Tom Sherry 6 54kg 67
9 441361 INFINITIVE Chris Waller Regan Bayliss 14 54kg 65
10 3414 WHISKY WISDOM Benjamin Smith Zac Lloyd (a) 15 54kg 62
11 8213 MARIGOLD’S DREAM Paul & Martha Cave Jeff Penza 9 54kg 60
12 21 PETERSHAM Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Tim Clark 5 54kg 60
13 1 ARTS Edward Cummings Brett Prebble 2 54kg 54.5kg 59
14 75x0305x71 WHISKER TO WHISKER John Thompson Brock Ryan 3 54kg 59
15 9×0211 ARTS OBJECT Kurt Goldman Mitchell Bell 4 54kg 58

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2023 Kembla Grange Classic Nominations

Early nominations for the Kembla Grange Classic in 2023 will be provided below the week of the race.

Last 10 Horse Sex Age Trainer Ballot Weight True Weight Penalty Hcp Rating
1 2x2x638x07 WOLVERINE (NZ) F 3 Kris Lees 1 57kg 90
2 55115322×5 PAVITRA F 3 Richard & Will Freedman 2 54kg 92
3 11×32 RUTHLESS DAME (NZ) F 3 Ciaron Maher & David Eustace 3 56kg 102
4 92x3114x7 ZENNZELLA F 3 Ciaron Maher & David Eustace 4 57kg 84
5 3x22113x00 A LOT MORE LOVE F 3 Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou 5 55kg 78
6 29x4211x0 PIEROSSA F 3 Peter & Paul Snowden 6 56kg 76
7 13x461x90 RAZETA F 3 Kris Lees 7 55kg 78
8 45x124511x POLYGON (NZ) F 3 Lance Noble 8 57kg 89
9 73×13 CALL DI F 3 Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou 9 54kg 72
10 441361 INFINITIVE F 3 Chris Waller 10 54kg 65
11 5130×8 SO DAZZLING (NZ) F 3 John Sargent 11 54kg 67
12 9×0211 ARTS OBJECT F 3 Kurt Goldman 12 54kg 58
13 75x0305x71 WHISKER TO WHISKER F 3 John Thompson 13 54kg 59
14 3414 WHISKY WISDOM F 3 Benjamin Smith 14 54kg 62
15 8213 MARIGOLD’S DREAM F 3 Paul & Martha Cave 15 54kg 60
16 4x312x2 OFFSPRING F 3 Keith Dryden 16 54kg 58
17 21 PETERSHAM F 3 Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott 17 54kg 60
18 1 ARTS F 3 Edward Cummings 18 54kg 59
19 22×83 MOUNTAIN GUEST F 3 John Sargent 19 54kg
20 42 ZARNI F 3 Paul Murray 20 54kg

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Keith F Nolan Classic History

The Keith Nolan Classic – officially the Keith F Nolan Classic – is named in honour of the Illawarra Turf Club’s founding chairman Keith F. Nolan who passed away in 2005. The event has been run and won since 2003 and the inaugural winner was Ain’t Seen Nothing. Since then plenty of quality fillies have won the race including Hot Danish (2007), Allez Wonder (2009), Brazilian Pulse (2011), Appearance (2012) and Single Gaze (2016).

The race began as a Listed event and gained its current Group 3 status in 2010. For one year in 2011 the Keith Nolan Classic ran at Rosehill Gardens due to the unsuitable conditions at Kembla Grange Racecourse, which is one of New South Wales’ leading provincial race tracks.

In 2022 the event was moved to Goulburn Racecourse due to heavy rainfall and an unsuitable track at Kembla Grange.

Recent Keith F Nolan / Kembla Grange Classic Winners

See below for the full list of Keith Nolan Classic winners and results going back to the inaugural edition in 2003.

Year Place Horse Time
2023
Kembla Grange Classic
1st Pavitra 1 minute 34.35 seconds
2nd So Dazzling
3rd Pierossa
2022
Kembla Grange Classic
1st Pretty Amazing 1 minute 39.21 seconds
2nd Hope In Your Heart
3rd Gin Martini
2020
Kembla Grange Classic
1st Miravalle 1 minute 35.76 seconds
2nd Elizabeel
3rd Pippali
2020
Kembla Grange Classic
1st Asiago 1 minute 36.10 seconds
2nd Shout The Bar
3rd All Saints’ Eve
2019
Kembla Grange Classic
1st Pohutukawa 1 minute 37.57 seconds
2nd Frankely Awesome
3rd Scarlet Dream
2018
Kembla Grange Classic
1st Luvaluva 1 minute 35.55 seconds
2nd Torvill
3rd Wedgie
2017
Kembla Grange Classic
1st Dawn Wall 1 minute 36.6 seconds
2nd Lubiton
3rd Faraway Town
2016
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Single Gaze 1 minute 37.3 seconds
2nd Dixie Blossoms
3rd Asinara
2015
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Slightly Sweet 1 minute 35.4 seconds
2nd Wine Tales
3rd Heavens Above
2014
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Zanbagh 1 minute 37.8 seconds
2nd Role Model
3rd Metaphorical
2013
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Cameo 1 minute 35.1 seconds
2nd Royal Descent
3rd Gold Epona
2012
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Appearance 1 minute 38 seconds
2nd She Goes To Rio
3rd Aliyana Tilde
2011
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Brazilian Pulse 1 minute 52 seconds
2nd Fibrilation
3rd Honor Net
2010
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Slapstick 1 minute 35.8 seconds
2nd Mirrasalo
3rd Spinnawitch
2009
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Aleez Wonder 1 minute 34.6 seconds
2nd Above Perfection
3rd Miss Darcey
2008
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Bernicia 1 minute 37.5 seconds
2nd Raise
3rd Heavenly Glow
2007
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Hot Danish 1 minute 37.21 seconds
2nd Miss Pageantry
3rd Rose Of Sharon
2006
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Pasikatera 1 minute 36.81 seconds
2nd No Name For A Lady
3rd China Jade
2005
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Ponte Piccolo 1 minute 36.28 seconds
2nd Pleasure Ground
3rd Villa Bled
2004
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st La Nikita 1 minute 35.21 seconds
2nd Timbourina
3rd Touched By God
2003
Keith F Nolan Classic
1st Ain’t Seen Nothin’ 1 minute 34.80 seconds
2nd Domielle
3rd Huit

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