Victoria Derby Day is the first of four meetings run at Flemington Racecourse during the annual Melbourne Cup Carnival.

VRC Derby Day runs on the Saturday before Melbourne Cup Day, held on the first Tuesday of November, and features all-Group racing.

All nine Victoria Derby Day races hold Group status making it the only meeting in Australia where every event is a Group race and is dubbed a day for racing purists.

Four Group 1 races headline the Victoria Derby Day program with the meeting’s marquee race being the time-honoured Group 1 $2 million Victoria Derby (2500m) for three-year-olds.

Outside of the Group 1 VRC Derby Day races a key event is the Group 3 Lexus Stakes (2500m) offering the winner a ballot exemption into the official Melbourne Cup Field.

The official Victoria Derby Day flower is the cornflower.

2021 Victoria Derby Day will take place on Saturday October 30, 2021 at Flemington Racecourse, and the official VRC Derby Day 2021 schedule and race program will be published below once released by Racing Victoria.

2021 Victoria Derby Day Schedule

The confirmed VRC Derby Day scheduled, race start times and scratchings will be updated here once announced by Racing Victoria.

2021 Victoria Derby Day Races

• Group 1 $2 million Victoria Derby (2500m)
• Group 1 $1.5 million Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m)
• Group 1 $2 million Kennedy Cantala Stakes (1600m) – Formerly the Cantala Stakes
• Group 1 $1 million Empire Rose Stakes (1600m)
• Group 2 $300,000 Wakeful Stakes (2000m)
• Group 2 $300,000 Salinger Stakes (1200m)
• Group 3 $200,000 Lexus Hotham Stakes (2500m)
• Group 3 $200,000 Begonia Belle Stakes (1100m) – run in 2021 as the Furphy Sprint
• Group 3 $500,000 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m)