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The Victoria Derby is one of the best classic races held at Flemington Racecourse as part of the prestigious and highly anticipated Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

This 2500m staying race, run on a left-handed turf course, takes place on the first day of the first of the four Melbourne Cup Carnival meetings each year on the Saturday before the famous Melbourne Cup. A Group 1 event for three-year-olds at set weights, the race is worth over $2 million and takes place in late October or early November.

The 2021 Victoria Derby form was franked with the winner Hitotsu returning the following autumn to complete the interstate Group 1 Australian Guineas – Australian Derby double in 2022. The 2021 VRC Derby runner-up Alegron also ran third in the Australian Derby results the following year and placed fourth in the 2022 SA Derby that season.

The 2022 VRC Derby form was franked with the runner-up Sharp ‘N’ Smart heading across the Tasman to win the 2023 NZ Derby before a fourth in the ATC Derby in 2023. Aberfeldie Boy meanwhile ran third in both the Victoria Derby (2022) and SA Derby (2023) as a three-year-old.

The 2023 Victoria Derby ran on Saturday November 4, 2023 at Flemington on the opening day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival and saw the Chris Waller-trained favourite Riff Rocket ($2.20F) hold on for a narrow win for the punters. 

Victoria Derby Day

The Victoria Derby is the highlight event on the famous Victoria Derby Day. VRC Derby Day is one of the most exciting and elite meetings of the entire carnival as every race on the card holds group status, including two other fantastic Group 1 races with the running  of the Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) for three-year-olds and the Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) for the fillies and mares.

Victoria Derby 2023
Date:	Saturday November 4, 2023
Racecourse:	Flemington Racecourse
Distance:	2500m
Conditions:	Three-year-olds at Set Weights
Status:	Group 1
Prizemoney:	$2 million

Punters can study the form of the horses in the traditional prep race to the Derby, the Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase (2040m) at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate Day the weekend before. This lead-up event has been an excellent indication for the Victoria Derby in recent years, with many Derby winners coming via this middle distance race. Johnny Get Angry (3rd in 2020) was the last Vase graduate to win the Victoria Derby.

The Victoria Derby attracts a huge number of bets each year, and Derby day boasts the largest crowd attendance of any of the carnival’s race days. With so many spectators and punters, the betting markets on the Derby are always competitive and lucrative. The Victoria Derby also features in a number of popular betting doubles, including the Victoria Derby / Cox Plate double; Red Anchor (1984) was the last horse to take out this double.

2023 Victoria Derby Results

• 1st: #4 Riff Rocket ($2.20F)
• 2nd: #1 Apulia
• 3rd: #5 Sunsets

The Victoria Derby 2023 Results will be announced here naming which horse is the Victoria Derby 2023 winner and the full 2023 VRC Derby finishing order when the event takes place on Saturday November 4, 2023.

Chris Waller’s progressive young stayer Riff Rocket ($2.20F) was brave off a gun ride by jockey James McDonald holding off a late challenge by the flying Apulia to salute for the favourite backers in the Victoria Derby 2023 results.

Click here for more on the narrow win by the favourite Riff Rocket in the 2023 VRC Derby results.

2023 Victoria Derby Results & Finishing Order

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	4	RIFF ROCKET	Chris Waller	James McDonald		5	57kg		$2.20F
	2	1	APULIA	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Mark Zahra	0.1L	3	57kg		$4.20
	3	5	SUNSETS	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	John Allen	1.1L	16	57kg		$13
	4	9	KOSGEI	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Blake Shinn	3.35L	12	57kg		$51
	5	2	VERDAD	Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock	Jye McNeil	7.85L	4	57kg		$12
	6	13	MERCANTE	Nigel Blackiston	Damien Oliver	8.05L	11	57kg		$41
	7	8	GATES	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Luke Nolen	8.8L	14	57kg		$11
	8	15	WARIALDA WARRIOR	John Ramsey	Darryl McLellan	9.1L	9	57kg		$101
	9	6	MAKE A CALL	Peter & Paul Snowden	Ms Jamie Kah	10.1L	15	57kg		$81
	10	10	BULAWAYO	Pat Carey & Harris Walker	Ms Celine Gaudray (a)	12.85L	7	57kg		$81
	11	12	ROGUERY	Lloyd Kennewell & Lucy Yeomans	Billy Egan	13.15L	1	57kg		$41
	12	7	GOLD BULLION (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Opie Bosson	14.4L	13	57kg		$20
	13	3	AIR ASSAULT	Andrew Gluyas	Ben Allen	16.15L	6	57kg		$17
	14	14	TO BE FRANK (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jamie Spencer	19.65L	10	57kg		$91
	15	11	SACRED EAGLE	Symon Wilde	Jordan Childs	20.05L	2	57kg		$101
	16	16	TOKYO RUN (NZ)	Dean Mirfin	Declan Bates	20.25L	8	57kg		$201

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Victoria Derby Tips

Check out all the information on which horses to back and sack in this year’s classic on our Victoria Derby tips page, a guide to using the Derby form and history to uncover the season’s Victoria Derby winner.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR COMPLETE 2023 VICTORIA DERBY TIPS & BEST BETS

To Win: #1 Apulia ($3.90 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Happy to stick with the Vase winner who was so good at The Valley winning over the 2040m by two lengths. The Team Hayes-trained colt is well-bred being a son of a former Melbourne Cup winner (Fiorente) so think the step-up in distance to 2500m is a non-issue. Draws a treat in barrier three for the grand final and Mark Zahra, gearing up for his Melbourne Cup ride aboard Without A Fight on Tuesday, continues associations. Right form, right hoop, good draw, bred to win.

The Danger: #4 Riff Rocket ($2.45 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Excitement machine Riff Rocket is on show again and is looking to get back in favour with the punters after getting rolled by Sunsets as the beaten odds-on pick in the Group 3 Caulfield Classic last start. Prior to that he bolted home with a 5.5 length demolition job in the Listed Super Impose (1800m) here at headquarters where he will appreciate returning to. Needs to get the distance but looks like he is worth forgiving with a gun gate here (5) and J Mac out to produce some magic on a very promising young star in the making.

Best Roughie: #3 Air Assault ($14 at time of publish) – BET NOW

We have a wide-open market outside the dominant two top picks in this year’s Derby with a host of double-figure fancies out for an upset. Sticking with one of the safer roughies and not a rogue outsider though in Air Assault who is has been racing very consistently. The Andrew Gluyas-trained South Australian gets the run of the race from gate six with Ben Allen in the saddle. In easier grade at home he won Morphettville’s Listed Hill Smith Stakes (1800m) by over three lengths two back. Third at his latest in the Vase, well beaten by Apulia but still in touch. Can surprise a few here.

2023 Victoria Derby Betting Odds

If you want to pick the value in this season’s Victoria Derby odds that will pay off the best, then check out our Victoria Derby odds page.

All-in Victoria Derby betting odds are out months in advance of the race at all-in prices.

Riff Rocket ($2.20 in 2023) was the last favourite in VRC Derby betting to salute for the punters.

See below for the latest Victoria Derby 2023 odds along with links to the markets at Ladbrokes.com.au.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST 2023 VICTORIA DERBY ODDS (Final Field)

Victoria Derby Form Guide

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL 2023 VICTORIA DERBY FORM GUIDE

If you don’t know the first thing about using a form guide, then don’t worry – our Victory Derby form guide page is here to help. We tell you about what the many common details included in a form guide mean, and how you can use a Victoria Derby form guide to place more informed Victoria Derby bets.

2023 Victoria Derby Field

The Victoria Derby field attracts a line-up of the best three-year-old stayers of the season. The VRC Derby field rarely features fillies taking on the colts and geldings, the girls saved for the Group 1 VRC Oaks (2500m) the following Thursday.

Good lead-up races into the Victoria Derby field include the previous weekend’s Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase (2040m) on Cox Plate Day and the Listed Geelong Classic (2200m) held in late October.

The 2023 Victoria Derby field is released on the Wednesday of race week and will be published in full below once announced by Racing Victoria.

The Victoria Derby 2023 final field is now out with a capacity line-up of three-year-olds including Moonee Valley Vase winner Apulia in gate three and Chris Waller’s race favourite Riff Rocket to jump from barrier five with James McDonald aboard.

Click here to read more on the key runners in the 2023 VRC Derby field and betting markets.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Probable Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	242×12841	APULIA	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Mark Zahra	3	57kg			88
2	1262	VERDAD	Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock	Jye McNeil	4	57kg			76
3	x6551x4413	AIR ASSAULT	Andrew Gluyas	Ben Allen	6	57kg			74
4	17×1212	RIFF ROCKET	Chris Waller	James McDonald	5	57kg			80
5	4×5251241	SUNSETS	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	John Allen	16	57kg			80
6	2569×80772	MAKE A CALL	Peter & Paul Snowden	Ms Jamie Kah	15	57kg			64
7	23116	GOLD BULLION (NZ)	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Opie Bosson	13	57kg			70
8	78×13	GATES	Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman	Luke Nolen	14	57kg			70
9	1203	KOSGEI	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Blake Shinn	12	57kg			64
10	01054	BULAWAYO	Pat Carey & Harris Walker	Ms Celine Gaudray (a)	7	57kg			63
11	3×4214	SACRED EAGLE	Symon Wilde	Jordan Childs	2	57kg			63
12	7×4311	ROGUERY	Lloyd Kennewell & Lucy Yeomans	Billy Egan	1	57kg			66
13	9612	MERCANTE	Nigel Blackiston	Damien Oliver	11	57kg			63
14	417	TO BE FRANK (NZ)	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Jamie Spencer	10	57kg			63
15	24431	WARIALDA WARRIOR	John Ramsey	Darryl McLellan	9	57kg			60
16	5×32525	TOKYO RUN (NZ)	Dean Mirfin		8	57kg			59