---

---

The Australian Derby is a classic Group 1 race for three-year-olds. Held on the first Saturday in April* during the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival, the race takes place at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Day 1 of ‘The Championships’. This is a classic Derby, raced over a distance of 2400 metres (a mile and a half) and offers $2 million in total prize money.

*In 2021 the Australian Derby ran on the second Saturday of April with all race meetings of the autumn in Sydney from Slipper Day onwards postponed a week due to the weather.

The Australian Derby prizemoney for 2020 was reduced to $1 million to help cope with the financial stress on the industry brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but was back to $2 million in 2021.

As a set weights race, colts and geldings must carry 56.5kg and fillies must carry 54.5kg. The ATC Australian Derby is regarded as a prestigious event and attracts some of the greatest emerging stayers from around the country.

Run on Doncaster Mile Day the Australian Derby is one of four Group 1 races on the card along with the: $3 million Doncaster Mile (1600m), $2.5 million TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) and the $1 million ATC Sires Produce Stakes (1400m).

The 2021 Australia Derby ran on Saturday April 10, 2021 and was won in an upset by Explosive Jack at 15/1.  

Australian Derby 2021
Date:	Saturday April 10, 2021
Track:	Randwick Racecourse
Distance:	2400m
Race Type:	3YO Set Weights
Status:	Group 1
Prize Money:	$2,000,000

The key lead up races for the Australian Derby are the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) held two weeks earlier and the Group 2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m) held one week before at Rosehill Gardens.

The Rosehill Guineas – Australian Derby double has recently been achieved by the likes of It’s A Dundeel (2013) and Criterion (2014).

The Tulloch Stakes – Australian Derby was achieved four times in as many years by: Jon Snow (2017), Levendi (2018), Angel Of Truth (2019) and Quick Thinker (2020).

2021 Australian Derby Results

• 1st: #10 Explosive Jack
• 2nd: #7 Young Werther
• 3rd: #1 Lion’s Roar

Explosive Jack ($16) was excellent late continuing his strong form this campaign when franking the Melbourne events with an upset win in the 2021 Australian Derby results in Sydney.

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	10	EXPLOSIVE JACK (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	John Allen		15	56.5kg		$16
	2	7	YOUNG WERTHER (NZ)	Danny O’Brien	Tom Marquand	0.1L	14	56.5kg		$15
	3	1	LION’S ROAR (NZ)	John O’Shea	Brenton Avdulla	0.3L	13	56.5kg		$8.50
	4	16	MONTEFILIA	David Payne	Jason Collett	2.4L	4	54.5kg		$3.30F
	5	8	KHOEKHOE	Matt Cumani	Craig Williams	2.5L	3	56.5kg		$10
	6	12	FAVREAU (NZ)	John Sargent	Tommy Berry	4.5L	16	56.5kg		$21
	7	5	THE FRONTMAN (NZ)	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Hugh Bowman	5.1L	8	56.5kg		$41
	8	2	ROCKET SPADE	Lance O’Sullivan & Andrew Scott	Kerrin McEvoy	5.5L	2	56.5kg		$14
	9	15	OLYMPIC GAZE	Paul Perry	Damian Lane	6.1L	1	56.5kg		$201
	10	11	TOSCANINI	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ms Jamie Kah	6.2L	5	56.5kg		$41
	11	14	ZAKSPEED	Wendy Roche	Andrew Adkins	8.3L	12	56.5kg		$201
	12	13	RONDINO	Gregory Hickman	Keagan Latham	8.9L	11	56.5kg		$151
	13	4	MILFORD (NZ)	Stephen Marsh	Damien Oliver	9L	7	56.5kg		$51
	14	3	SKY LAB	Paul Perry	James McDonald	10.2L	6	56.5kg		$4.20
	15	6	YALETOWN	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	31.6L	10	56.5kg		$21
	16	9	PROMPT PRODIGY (NZ)	Edward Cummings	Ms Rachel King	34.2L	9	56.5kg		$61

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

2021 Australian Derby Betting Odds

Over the autumn the all-in and final field Australian Derby 2021 betting odds courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au complete with market links to the Group 1 staying clash will be available below.

2021 Australian Derby Field

The Australian Derby field attracts a line-up of the season’s best three-year-old stayers. The majority of the horses that run in the ATC Derby field are colts and geldings, with the fillies generally running the following weekend in the Group 1 Australian Oaks (2400m) against their own kind.

The official 2021 Australian Derby field and barriers are set to be released by Racing NSW on Tuesday April 6, 2021 and will be published in full below.

The Australian Derby 2021 field features 14 hopefuls led in betting by the sole filly in the mix, Rosehill Guineas third placed Montefilia drawn well in barrier four.

Click here to read more on the top three-year-olds in the 2021 ATC Derby field and odds this season.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	1x2112x514	LION’S ROAR (NZ)	John O’Shea	Brenton Avdulla	13	56.5kg			104
2	124512111	ROCKET SPADE	Lance O’Sullivan & Andrew Scott		2	56.5kg			104
3	5321×1142	SKY LAB	Paul Perry	James McDonald	6	56.5kg			100
4	53721528	MILFORD (NZ)	Stephen Marsh	Damien Oliver	7	56.5kg			95
5	19238	THE FRONTMAN (NZ)	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman	Hugh Bowman	8	56.5kg			88
6	1×241	YALETOWN	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	10	56.5kg			86
7	123×7523	YOUNG WERTHER (NZ)	Danny O’Brien	Tom Marquand	14	56.5kg			86
8	12x7612x36	KHOEKHOE	Matt Cumani	Craig Williams	3	56.5kg			83
9	4×64531222	PROMPT PRODIGY (NZ)	Edward Cummings	Ms Rachel King	9	56.5kg			78
10	151132	EXPLOSIVE JACK (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	John Allen	15	56.5kg			76
11	22×1132135	TOSCANINI	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ms Jamie Kah	5	56.5kg			75
12	x7345x4114	FAVREAU (NZ)	John Sargent	Tommy Berry	16	56.5kg			72
13	321419	RONDINO	Gregory Hickman	Keagan Latham	11	56.5kg			61
14	64×9431466	ZAKSPEED	Wendy Roche		12	56.5kg			60
15	422×174104	OLYMPIC GAZE	Paul Perry	Damian Lane	1	56.5kg			59
16	x314113x63	MONTEFILIA	David Payne	Jason Collett	4	54.5kg			106

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2021 Australian Derby First Acceptances

About a month out from the race the Australian Derby first acceptances are taken by Racing NSW narrowing down the list of potential young stayers set to contest the Doncaster Mile Day showdown.

The official 2021 Australian Derby First Acceptances closed on Tuesday March 9, 2021 with 51 youngsters still in the mix including Randwick Guineas winner Lion’s Roar.

2021 Australian Derby Nominations

Like all of the Group 1 races run at Randwick Racecourse on Doncaster Mile Day, the Australian Derby nominations close in early February around two months before the race takes place and often attract over 100 early entries.

The 2021 Australian Derby nominations close at midday on Tuesday the 9th of February, 2021. 

The ATC Derby 2021 nominations attracted 129 three-year-old stayers including the undefeated Kiwi raider Aegon, fellow New Zealand-trained Rocket Spade, The Vase winner at Moonee Valley last spring Cherry Tortoni and VRC Derby third-placed Young Werther.

Australian Derby History

With names such as Phar Lap, Tulloch and Kingstown Town included in the list of race winners, it’s little wonder why this race is so highly regarded in the industry. First won by Kyogle in 1861, the event was titled the Randwick Derby Stakes. In 1865, it was changed to the Australian Derby Stakes and in 1994 it was given its current name.

The Derby was originally run over 1 1/2 miles however was changed in 1972 to 2400m to conform to the metric system. Between 1932 and 1956 geldings were banned from competing in the race.

The 2020 Australian Derby results saw Quick Thinker become the fourth horse in as many years to do the Tulloch Stakes – ATC Derby double. The Kiwi also handed co-trainer Murray Baker with his fifth win in the classic.

See below for the full Australian Derby results going back to 2000.

Australian Derby Records
Time Record:	2:28.41 – Octagonal (1996)
Largest Winning Margin:	10 Lengths – Trident (1886)
Most wins by a Jockey:	6 Wins – Thomas Hales (1875, 1880, 1882, 1884, 1886, 1887)

Recent Australian Derby Winners

Year	Place	Horse	Time
2021 Australian Derby	1st	Explosive Jack	2 minutes 34.13 seconds
	2nd	Young Werther
	3rd	Lion’s Roar
2020 Australian Derby	1st	Quick Thinker	2 minutes 34.24 seconds
	2nd	Zebrowski
	3rd	Eric The Eel
2019 Australian Derby	1st	Angel Of Truth	2 minutes 35.67 seconds
	2nd	Madison County
	3rd	Surely Sacred
2018 Australian Derby	1st	Levendi	2 minutes 28.73 seconds
	2nd	Ace High
	3rd	Tangled
2017 Australian Derby	1st	Jon Snow	2 minutes 38.18 seconds
	2nd	Harper’s Choice
	3rd	Hardham
2016 Australian Derby	1st	Tavago	2 minutes 33.6 seconds
	2nd	Jameka
	3rd	Tally
2015 Australian Derby	1st	Mongolian Khan	2 minutes 37.10 seconds
	2nd	Hauraki
	3rd	Volkstok’n’barrell
2014 Australian Derby	1st	Criterion	2 minutes 38.49 seconds
	2nd	Tupac Amaru
	3rd	Hooked
2013 Australian Derby	1st	It’s A Dundeel	2 minutes 33.49 seconds
	2nd	Philippi
	3rd	Kingdoms
2012 Australian Derby	1st	Ethiopia	2 minutes 28.7 seconds
	2nd	Polish Knight
	3rd	Laser Hawk
2011 Australian Derby	1st	Shamrocker	2 minutes 29.4 seconds
	2nd	Retrieve
	3rd	Anacheeva
2010 Australian Derby	1st	Shoot Out	2 minutes 32.68 seconds
	2nd	Descarado
	3rd	Monaco Consul
2009 Australian Derby	1st	Roman Emperor	2 minutes 31 seconds
	2nd	Harris Tweed
	3rd	Predatory Pricer
2008 Australian Derby	1st	Nom De Jeu	2 minutes 36.2 seconds
	2nd	Red Ruler
	3rd	Littorio
2007 Australian Derby	1st	Flumicino	2 minutes 36.4 seconds
	2nd	Ambitious General
	3rd	Tuesday Joy
2006 Australian Derby	1st	Headturner	2 minutes 29.9 seconds
	2nd	De Beers
	3rd	Testafiable
2005 Australian Derby	1st	Eremein	2 minutes 35.8 seconds
	2nd	Stella Grande
	3rd	Railings
2004 Australian Derby	1st	Starcraft	2 minutes 34.8 seconds
	2nd	Braeloch
	3rd	Delzao
2003 Australian Derby	1st	Clangalang	2 minutes 32.3 seconds
	2nd	Strasbourg
	3rd	Mummify
2002 Australian Derby	1st	Don Eduardo	2 minutes 32.7 seconds
	2nd	Carnegie Express
	3rd	Pentastic
2001 Australian Derby	1st	Universal Prince	2 minutes 30.8 seconds
	2nd	Sir Clive
	3rd	Danamite
2000 Australian Derby	1st	Fairway	2 minutes 34 seconds
	2nd	Shogun Lodge
	3rd	Now Voyager