Horse Racing

The Queensland Derby is a traditional 2400m event held at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane. Raced during June, the Group 1 set weight event is specifically for three year olds horses and offers half a million dollars in prize money. The sunshine state?s Derby brings a lot of interstate horses which are not quite ready for the tougher AJC Derby and Victoria Derby. The best lead-up races are the Group 3 Rough Habit Plate (2020m) at Doomben and the Group 3 Grand Prix Stakes (2100m). Empires Choice won the Plate/Derby double in 2007 while Ice Chariot won the Stakes/Derby double in 2006.

Queensland Derby History:

First run in 1868 in Gayndah, the Queensland Derby was won by Hermit however three years later the race was moved to Eagle Farm and has remained there since. Although the race was not held from 1873-77 and again in 1942-45, it has been won by many legendary horses including Tulloch in 1957, Kingston Town in 1980 and Rough Habit in 1990. When the event was held twice in 1870, Grafton proved just how good a horse he was by winning both races. Since 1988, De Gaulle Lane holds the record for the fastest winning time with 2 minutes 25.2 seconds in 2001. The slowest recorded winning time was 2 minutes 39.3 seconds by Rough Habit in 1990.

Last 10 Years of Queensland Derby Winners: