Zipping Classic 2023

Ladbrokes Tip: Spring Cup contenders often finish their preps in the Zipping Classic

The Zipping Classic, formerly the Sandown Classic, is a Group 2 race previously held at Sandown’s Ladbrokes Park in mid-November at the end of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

2022 Zipping Classic winner Vow And Declare. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

In 2021 the Zipping Classic Day card was moved to late November and took place at Caulfield Racecourse where it remained for the 2022 edition.

In 2023 the Zipping Classic ran on the first Saturday in December.

Zipping Classic Day features two Group 2 races with the Sandown Guineas (1600m) for three-year-olds and the Zipping Classic for the stayers run over a mile and a half (2400m).

Other key support races on the card include the Group 3 Summoned Stakes, Group 3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes, and the Group 3 Eclipse Stakes.

Named in honour of the race’s four-time winner Zipping (2007-10), the Zipping Classic traditionally takes place on the second Saturday of November a week after the Melbourne Cup Carnival concludes at Flemington with Mackinnon Stakes Day.

Offering $750,000 in prize money having had stakes boosted in 2021, the weight-for-age race makes a nice final spring run for gallopers coming off races like the iconic Melbourne Cup.

The latest edition of the Zipping Classic ran on Saturday December 2, 2023 at Caulfield Racecourse and was won in style by the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained grey Military Mission ($13) in an impressive upset.  

2023 Zipping Classic Results

The full Zipping Classic 2023 Results & Finishing Order will be provided below once the race is run and won on Saturday December 2, 2023 .

2023 Zipping Classic winner Military Mission came from well back to take out the Group 2 by nearly three lengths. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

• 1st: #4 Military Mission
• 2nd: #5 Bankers Choice
• 3rd: #7 Duke De Sessa

The Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Melbourne Cup graduate Military Mission ($13) was huge down in grade and distance coming from a long way back with a furlong to go to run over the top of his rivals and post an impressive 2.75 length victory in the 2023 Zipping Classic results at Caulfield.

2023 Zipping Classic Odds

The season’s top Zipping Classic 2023 odds and betting market links will be available below the week of the race so stay tuned for access to the top odds on the last of the spring staying races.

Zipping Classic Race Info

• Date: Saturday December 2, 2023
• Former Race Name: Sandown Classic
• Track: Caulfield Racecourse (moved from Sandown Racecourse in 2021)
• Distance: 2400m
• Conditions: Weight-for-age
• Status: Group 2
• Prize Money: $750,000
• First Run: 1888

Zipping Classic Betting

Zipping Classic betting is open at the start of race week and markets are led by proven stayers with winning form over the mile and a half.

Previous experience at the racetrack is not essential, but past Melbourne form helps determine the order of the Zipping Classic odds as does the runners’ abilities at weight-for-age.

Any Caulfield and Melbourne Cup graduates dropping in class also sit high up the markets and double-figure winners are rare.

Sound ($20 in 2021) successfully defended his Zipping Classic title as a nine-year-old and was the first winner at double-figure odds in over a decade.

There was also an upset in 2023 with Military Mission improving on a Melbourne Cup 10th to win at Zipping Classic odds of $13. 

Zipping Classic Tips

Good Zipping Classic tips include backing the proven stayers in the field with winning form over the mile and a half, graduates from the Melbourne Cup (3200m) held on the first Tuesday of November and runners with weight-for-age form.

Vow And Declare (10th in 2022) and Military Mission (10th in 2023) are the latest Melbourne Cup graduates to back-up and win the Zipping Classic. Vow And Declare’s 2022 Zipping Classic win was also his first victory since the 2019 Melbourne Cup!

Another top Zipping Classic betting tip is to not back a runner over $10 in betting as Sound ($20 in 2021) was the first winner at double-figures in over a decade.

2023 Zipping Classic Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ exclusive Zipping Classic 2023 betting tips and exotic Melbourne racing selections will be detailed below the week of the race so bookmark this page for the staying horses to back and sack in the $750,000 feature.

• To Win: #10 Muramasa ($5 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Open top-half of the market and happy to stick with the in-form four-year-old Muramasa who is narrow favourite at time of publish. This progressive son of Deep Impact has won his last three on the trot including the Group 3 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) at Flemington last time out by 2.5 lengths. Up in grade and weight here but is a previous Group 1 performer with winning form at the track.

Zipping Classic Field

The Zipping Classic race field attracts a strong line-up of spring stayers that are just off the best long distance performers of the season.

Horses in the Zipping Classic field often back-up from a run in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) in October and the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) on the first Tuesday of November, but place-getters in these major Spring Cups rarely continue onto the second-tier event.

The Zipping Classic was renamed in honour of four-time Sandown Classic winner Zipping (2007-10). Photo Credit: Taron Clarke.

The 2015 Zipping Classic winner Who Shot Thebarman was unplaced in that year’s Caulfield Cup (7th) and Melbourne Cup (11th), but did run third in the previous year’s Melbourne Cup. The year before Au Revoir (2014) won the Sandown Classic on the back of a Melbourne Cup eighth. In 2016 the international UK visitor for Godolphin, Beautiful Romance, improved on a Melbourne Cup seventh first-up in Australia to win the Sandown Zipping Classic narrowly next-up.

Back in 2011 American won the Zipping Classic following a Melbourne Cup fourth when narrowly missing out on his second win in the ‘race that stops a nation’.

Zipping also won his first of four Sandown Classic titles in 2007 following a Melbourne Cup fourth, the same form for his last victory in 2010. In 2008 he came off a Melbourne Cup ninth, while in 2009 the champ won the Sandown Classic on the back of a Cox Plate third.

Most recently, the 2019 Zipping Classic winner Southern France improved on a 19th in the Melbourne Cup results that spring, while in 2021 the Melbourne Cup third place-getter Spanish Mission finished fourth as the beaten favourite in the Zipping Classic results that saw three roughies run the trifecta.

One of the earlier lead-up races into the Zipping Classic field is Moonee Valley’s Group 3 JRA Cup (2040m) run in late September and The Taj Mahal (2018) was the last to do the double.

Zipping Classic nominations are taken the Monday before the race runs on the Saturday with final acceptances and the barrier draw released on the Wednesday.

2023 Zipping Classic Field

The official Zipping Classic 2023 Field & Barriers will be published in full below once announced on the Wednesday of race week so stay tuned to see what end-of-spring stayers make the starting line-up in the time-honoured race.

The Zipping Classic 2023 final field features an open field of stayers including the defending champion Vow And Declare.

2023 Zipping Classic Nominations

The official Zipping Classic 2023 Nominations close the Monday leading-up to the last of the major spring race days and the full list of early entries will be available below.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Zipping Classic Form Guide

The Zipping Classic form guide details all the need-to-know facts and stats including the jockeys, trainers, barriers, weights and lead-up runs of the horses in the field.

Most stayers go out to the paddock after a run in the Group 2, but the Zipping Classic form has stacked up in lower class summer races a number of times including in 2015 when the runner-up Tall Ship won the Listed Werribee Cup (2635m) the following month. The best Zipping Classic form race to follow is the Melbourne Cup, graduates out of the two mile classic suited to the drop in distance / grade.

2023 Zipping Classic Form Guide

A link to the comprehensive Zipping Classic 2023 Form Guide will be provided below the week of the race.

Zipping Classic Results

The past Zipping Classic race results of the race have been dominated by single-figure fancies and Melbourne Cup horses stepping back in class and distance for a final spring run in easier company.

Notable recent Zipping Sandown Classic winners include former Melbourne Cup winner Vow And Declare (2022), the latest back-to-back winner Sound (2020-21), fellow dual champ the Taj Mahal (2017-18), Who Shot Thebarman (2015), American (2011), four-time champ Zipping (2007-10) who the race is now named after, and Sky Heights (2001).

Beautiful Romance (2016) was the last Zipping Classic winning mare.

The Taj Mahal (2017) for the first of his two victories was the last three-year-old Zipping Classic winner.

Past Zipping Classic Winners

Zipping Classic winners and place-getters dating back to the year 2000 are detailed in the below table.