PJ Bell Stakes 2022

The PJ Bell Stakes is a Group 3 sprint race run and won over 1200m at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Day 1 of ‘The Championships’ in April during the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival.

Open only to three-year-old fillies, the event is contested at set weights plus penalties and offers $200,000 in prize money.

It is held on one of the biggest Australian race days featuring four Group 1 races including the $3 million Doncaster Mile (1600m) and the $2.5 million TJ Smith Stakes (1200m).

First held in 1985, the PJ Bell Stakes was originally called the Analie Handicap in honour of the 1973 Doncaster Handicap winning mare Analie.

In 2011 the race was renamed in honour of former the Australian Turf Club Chairman, P J (Jim) Bell who died in 2006.

It has held Group 3 status since 2014 and plenty of classy types have won the race over the years including that year’s Cox Plate champion Dane Ripper (1997) and the ill-fated Ortensia (2009) who won Group 1 races on three continents over her glittering career.

The latest edition of the PJ Bell Stakes ran on Saturday April 2, 2022 on ‘The Championships’ Day 1 at Randwick and was won by the James Cummings-trained favourite Hersey ($5.50).

PJ Bell Stakes Race Info

• Date: Saturday April 2, 2022
• Track: Royal Randwick Racecourse
• Distance: 1200m
• Conditions: Set Weights + Penalties – 3YO Fillies
• Status: Group 3
• Prize Money: $200,000
• First Run: 1985

2022 PJ Bell Stakes Results

The complete PJ Bell Stakes 2022 Results and race finishing order will be available right here once the race is run and won on Saturday April 2, 2022.

• 1st: #5 Hersey
• 2nd: #13 Zapateo 
• 3rd: #1 Arcaded 

PJ Bell Stakes Betting

PJ Bell Stakes betting favours the autumn’s in-form sprinting fillies coming off lead-up runs in similar grade company either in Sydney or Melbourne. 

Last start winners are installed at shorter PJ Bell Stakes odds, as are those proven in Group 3 or higher class. 

Favourites only have a fair recent strike rate with plenty of fillies winning at longer PJ Bell odds over the past decade. 

Rubisaki ($2.70 in 2020) followed by Hersey ($5.50 in 2022) are the last favourites in PJ Bell Stakes betting to salute for the punters. 

2022 PJ Bell Stakes Odds

Betting on the PJ Bell Stakes 2022 and odds for the Group 3 sprint race will be available below the week of the race so stay tuned for markets on the fillies’ showdown.

PJ Bell Stakes Field

The PJ Bell Stakes field attracts promising young fillies that are chasing a feature race win on one of the biggest days of the autumn carnival in Sydney. 

A potential lead-up into the PJ Bell Stakes field is Flemington’s Group 2 Kewney Stakes (1400m) in March, another fillies’ only set weights plus penalties event. Rubisaki (2020) was the last filly to complete the interstate Kewney Stakes – PJ Bell Stakes double. 

The Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) is another good lead-up race and in 2022 Hersey improved on a fourth in that to win the PJ Bell for the Godolphin stable. 

The best fillies out of the PJ Bell Stakes field often back-up in the Group 3 James HB Carr Stakes (1400m) back at the track a fortnight later on All Aged Stakes Day. Rubisaki (2020) was the last to do the PJ Bell Stakes – JHB Carr Stakes double. 

The lucrative Group 2 $1 million Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (1200m) the following Saturday on Day 2 of ‘The Championships’ is another potential next-up option for PJ Bell Stakes graduates. 

PJ Bell Stakes nominations close the Monday before the race runs on the Saturday with the final field and barriers released on the Wednesday.

2020 PJ Bell Stakes winner Rubisaki (pictured at Warwick Farm winning the Inglis Sprint). Photo: Steve Hart.

2022 PJ Bell Stakes Field

The official PJ Bell Stakes 2022 final field and barriers are set to be released by Racing NSW on Wednesday March 30, 2022 and will be announced in full below.

2022 PJ Bell Stakes Nominations

The early PJ Bell Stakes 2022 nominations close the Monday leading-up to Doncaster Mile Day and will be available in full below once released.

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

PJ Bell Stakes Form Guide

The PJ Bell Stakes form guide details all the crucial info punters need before placing a bet like saddlecloth numbers, jockeys, trainers, barriers and lead-up runs.

Looking for fillies coming off a winning lead-up in Group company is key when doing the PJ Bell Stakes form. 

The PJ Bell Stakes form guide often also lists the latest odds on each runner and backing fillies around $8 – $10 in the markets has proved profitable in recent years. 

Looking on the PJ Bell Stakes form guide for fillies drawn in a double-digit barrier is also worth noting as four of the nine winners from 2014 – 2022 jumped from gate 13 or wider most recently Hersey (14 of 15 in 2022).

The PJ Bell Stakes form has gone on to hold in tougher grade races a number of times over the years including when the 2020 winner Rubisaki finished third in the following year’s Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes in Adelaide. 

2022 PJ Bell Stakes Form Guide

A link to our comprehensive PJ Bell Stakes 2022 Form Guide will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

PJ Bell Stakes Tips

PJ Bell Stakes tips favour fillies with proven Black-Type form in Sydney, those around $8 – $10 in betting and the Sydney-trained runners in the mix. 

Since Ortensia (58kg in 2009), just three PJ Bell Stakes winning fillies have carried more than 55.5kg to victory with Houtzen (56kg in 2018), Rubisaki (57kg in 2020) and Hersey (56kg in 2022), so another good tip is to back the lighter-weighted runners. 

2022 PJ Bell Stakes Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ exclusive PJ Bell Stakes 2022 best bets will be detailed below before the race takes place on the first Saturday of April so bookmark this page for the fillies to back and sack this autumn.

• To Win: #10 A Very Fine Red ($6.50 at time of publish) 

PJ Bell Stakes Results

Proven Sydney-trained fillies coming off a top three run and those just under double-figures in betting have dominated the recent PJ Bell Stakes results. 

PJ Bell Stakes winners of note throughout the race’s history include: Snippet’s Girl (1993), Dane Ripper (1997), Ortensia (2009), Red Tracer (2011), Catkins (2013), Houtzen (2018) and Rubisaki (2020). 

PJ Bell Stakes Winners

A list of past PJ Bell Stakes winning fillies from the race’s inauguration in 1985 through to the present date are detailed below complete with the successful jockeys, weights carried to victory and winning times.