Clear favourite to win the Victoria Derby 2016 this weekend Sacred Elixir has drawn the inside alley with Victoria Derby barriers for the Flemington classic now out.
A genuine staying test is set to play out as Flemington Race 7 at 3:50pm (AEDT) this Saturday at the opening Melbourne Cup Carnival meeting with a capacity field of three-year-olds to face off in the $1.5 million Group 1 AAMI Victoria Derby (2500m).
Heading the markets at Ladbrokes.com.au post-Victoria Derby barrier draw at $3.40 after drawing the inside alley is the Tony Pike-trained Kiwi Sacred Elixir.
As a two-year-old in the winter he won Brisbane’s Group 1 J.J. Atkins (1600m) and he has won twice more in Melbourne as a three-year-old this campaign.
He raced only last weekend winning the Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase (2040m) ahead of the step up in distance this weekend.
Sacred Elixir jumps from barrier one in the Victoria Derby field, a gate that has produced two winners in the past decade with Monaco Consul (2009) and Polanksi (2013).
Barrier one is also the most successful in recent Victoria Derby history producing a total of five winners since 1983.
It is an even spread across all Victoria Derby barriers outside of gate one with gates two, five, six, 10, 11 and 14 all producing three winners each in that time.
The only other single-figure hope in the updated Victoria Derby odds at $9.50 is So Si Bon, the Robbie Laing-trained So You Think colt coming off a third in the Vase.
So Si Bon is drawn in barrier 11, but could come into nine if the four emergencies fail to get a run.
Last year’s Victoria Derby winning barrier (10 of 16) is drawn this year by the Team Hawkes-trained Swear, but he will come into eight if the spares don’t line-up.
Redoute’s Choice colt Swear comes off a second to star filly Yankee Rose in Sydney’s Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) last start.
He is one of two chances in the VRC Derby field for the stable along with Inference.
Another So You Think colt in the race, he ran third to the 2016 Emirates Stakes-bound Good Standing in the Group 3 Ladbrokes Stakes (2000m) on October 15.
The Ladbrokes Stakes – formerly the Norman Robinson Stakes – form has stacked up in the Victoria Derby results in recent years most recently in 2013 when Polanski completed the double.
Inference however has drawn the far outside Victoria Derby barrier (20 into 16) for Saturday, which hasn’t produced a winner in over 30 years.
In the past 10 years, just three Victoria Derby winners jumped from a double-digit barrier: Rebel Raider (15 of 15 in 2008); Lion Tamer (14 of 16 in 2010); Tarzino (10 of 16 in 2015).
Also drawn wide this year are the likes of the Mick Price-trained Ladbrokes Stakes runner-up Rocketeer (19 into 15), the Chris Waller-trained Geelong Classic fourth-placed Fastnet Rock colt Tumultuous (18 into 14) and stablemate Wine Bush (17 into 13) who won the UCI Stakes at Flemington two back.
See below for the full 2016 Victoria Derby barriers and final field before heading to Ladbrokes.com.au to check out the updated VRC Derby odds.
2016 Victoria Derby Barriers
# | Form (Last 10) | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Br. | Weight | Hcp. Rating |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16x161x181 | SACRED ELIXIR (NZ) | Tony Pike | Zac Purton | 1 | 55.5kg | 99 |
2 | 3211×46335 | PRIZED ICON | James Cummings | Glyn Schofield | 5 | 55.5kg | 95 |
3 | 1×162 | SWEAR | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Tommy Berry | 10 | 55.5kg | 90 |
4 | 6×512222 | ROCKETEER | Mick Price | Mark Zahra | 19 | 55.5kg | 74 |
5 | x7431x2232 | MORVADA | Peter Jolly | Steven Arnold | 12 | 55.5kg | 78 |
6 | 21×1143 | INFERENCE | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Dwayne Dunn | 20 | 55.5kg | 72 |
7 | 7415×9601 | CAPTAIN DUFFY | Phillip Stokes | TBA | 2 | 55.5kg | 72 |
8 | 1127 | SILVERA | Tony McEvoy | Kerrin McEvoy | 13 | 55.5kg | 73 |
9 | 73×37515 | WINE BUSH | Chris Waller | Joao Moreira | 17 | 55.5kg | 72 |
10 | 26×1653 | SO SI BON | Robbie Laing | Hugh Bowman | 11 | 55.5kg | 75 |
11 | 2x21x6258 | KENT | John O’Shea | James McDonald | 4 | 55.5kg | 68 |
12 | 1139 | HIGHLAD | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Craig Williams | 15 | 55.5kg | 73 |
13 | 26×6194 | BEACH LIFE | Ciaron Maher | Nicholas Hall | 8 | 55.5kg | 65 |
14 | 51546564 | TUMULTUOUS | Chris Waller | Ben Melham | 18 | 55.5kg | 65 |
15 | 8×535332 | HOLLYWOOD MO | Paul Perry | Stephen Baster | 6 | 55.5kg | 67 |
16 | 7103×985 | ALL OUT OF LOVE | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Blake Shinn | 9 | 55.5kg | 63 |
17e | 1×5441 | PETER JOHN (NZ) | John Sargent | Michael Walker | 3 | 55.5kg | 65 |
18e | 32321 | ANAHEIM | Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young | TBA | 14 | 55.5kg | 61 |
19e | 09541 | SHINE TAK STAR | John Sargent | TBA | 16 | 55.5kg | 61 |
20e | 06×5316 | ZOFFMAN | Aaron Purcell | TBA | 7 | 55.5kg | 61 |