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South Australian Derby

Australia | FEATURE RACE GUIDE

History

DUNKEL(outer) winning the Thomas Farms South Australian Derby
DUNKEL(outer) winning the Thomas Farms South Australian Derby Picture: Atkins Photography

The South Australian Derby is a Group 1 race for three year olds conducted by the South Australian Jockey Club at Morphettville.

The South Australian Derby was first run in 1860 and was won by Midnight.

The South Australian Derby is run over 2500m under Set Weights conditions.

Fillies don't run often but when they do they are usually competitive (Qafila, Delicacy, Scratchy Bottom/Zarita/Showella/Mapperley Heights/English Wonder) have run well when contesting.

Over the year's Bart Cummings was the hero of the training ranks with ten wins. Cliff Brown had a run of three in six years some 20 years ago. Darren Weir trained three winners of the Derby in a row as well.

Ben Melham, Greg Childs and Danny Nikolic had a couple of wins each in the last 30 years but the jockeys had shared it around. That was until John Allen came along and he has won 4 of the last 8 editions.

Six horses have won the Chairman's Stakes/SA Derby double - Markham (1997), Mummify (2003), Rebel Raider (2009), Howard Be Thy Name (2016), Leicester (2018) and Jungle Magnate (2022).

Tails of Triomphe won the 2005 SA Derby despite never having previously set foot on a metropolitan racetrack to race in eleven starts.

The Derby has produced some decent Melbourne Cup form over the years.

Russian Camelot won brilliantly coming from last in 2020. He was a European bred youngster so gave away six months in experience to his rivals. He was a big player the following Spring too becoming the first SA Derby winner in a long time to win an open age G1 (Underwood Stakes).

Explosive Jack added the South Australian Derby to his Tasmanian and Australian Derby wins with a demolition in 2021. Dunkel was another Tassie Derby winner to win this race in 2023.

The 2023 edition was run for prize money of $502,250.

Notable winners of the South Australian Derby include Gatum Gatum (1961), Ziema (1964), Shiva's Revenge (1991), Subzero (1992), Count Chivas (1995), Showella (1999), Mummify (2003), Rebel Raider (2009), Delicacy (2015), Russian Camelot (2020), Explosive Jack (2021) and Dunkel (2023).

The 2023 South Australian Derby was won by Dunkel from Promises Kept and Aberfeldie Boy.


Racing and Sports

Previous South Australian Derby Winners

Date Horse Jockey WT Trainer BP
DUNKEL (NZ) 3G
DUNDEEL (NZ) - KUDAMM (AUS) CAPE CROSS (IRE)
BILLY EGAN 56.5 PATRICK PAYNE 7
BEAUTYVERSE (NZ) 3G
TARZINO (NZ) - THE LOVE OF MONEY (AUS) CASINO PRINCE (AUS)
M J ZAHRA 56.5 M PRICE & M KENT 9
EXPLOSIVE JACK (NZ) 3C
JAKKALBERRY (IRE) - EXTRA EXPLOSIVE (NZ) EKRAAR (USA)
J ALLEN 56.5 C MAHER & D EUSTACE 10
RUSSIAN CAMELOT (IRE) 3C
CAMELOT (GB) - LADY BABOOSHKA (GB) CAPE CROSS (IRE)
J ALLEN 56.5 DANNY O'BRIEN 7
QAFILA (AUS) 3F
NOT A SINGLE DOUBT (AUS) - ZIGHY BAY (USA) TAPIT (USA)
C J PARISH 54.5 D & B HAYES & T DABERNIG 6
HELENE LEADINGSTAR (AUS) 3G
WANTED (AUS) - DEFY THE ODDS (GB) GALILEO (IRE)
DAMIAN LANE 56.5 DARREN WEIR 7
VOLATILE MIX (NZ) 3C
PENTIRE (GB) - UTOPIA (NZ) HIGH CHAPARRAL (IRE)
J ALLEN 56.5 DARREN WEIR 11
HOWARD BE THY NAME (AUS) 3C
REDOUTE'S CHOICE (AUS) - BELLINI ROSE (NZ) FALTAAT (USA)
J ALLEN 56.5 DARREN WEIR 6
DELICACY (AUS) 3F
AL MAHER (AUS) - SIMPLY WICKED (AUS) SCENIC (IRE)
P HALL 54.5 GRANT WILLIAMS 11
KUSHADASI (AUS) 3G
CHOISIR (AUS) - SHANGHAI MOON (NZ) CARNEGIE (IRE)
S W ARNOLD 56.5 RICHARD JOLLY 3
ESCADO (AUS) 3G
CASINO PRINCE (AUS) - SECRET CAUSE (AUS) GIANT'S CAUSEWAY (USA)
B MELHAM 56.5 MATT LAURIE 1
ZABEELIONAIRE (NZ) 3G
ZABEEL (NZ) - KISUMU (AUS) CARNEGIE (IRE)
DAMIEN OLIVER 56.5 LEON CORSTENS 1
SHADOWS IN THE SUN (AUS) 3G
DANE SHADOW (AUS) - BEST OUT WEST (AUS) BEST WESTERN (AUS)
B MELHAM 56.5 ANTHONY CUMMINGS 10
KIDNAPPED (AUS) 3G
VISCOUNT (AUS) - YOUTHFUL PRESENCE (AUS) DEHERE (USA)
K MCEVOY 56.5 PETER SNOWDEN 16
REBEL RAIDER (AUS) 3C
RESET (AUS) - PICHOLINE (AUS) DEHERE (USA)
C LINDOP 56.5 LEON MACDONALD 5
ZARITA (NZ) 3F
PENTIRE (GB) - GIN PLAYER (NZ) DEFENSIVE PLAY (USA)
G CHILDS 54.0 P T HYLAND 11
LAZER SHARP (AUS) 3G
ZARIZ (AUS) - SCADABBA (AUS) SCENIC (IRE)
B RAWILLER 56.5 JAMIE EDWARDS 5
TESTAFIABLE (AUS) 3C
TESTA ROSSA (AUS) - JAMELDEN ECHO (NZ) PRINCE ECHO (IRE)
G CHILDS 55.5 PETER G MOODY 16
TAILS OF TRIOMPHE (AUS) 3G
ARCHWAY (IRE) - SPINNING HEADS (AUS) BESTEBREUJE (IRE)
P GATT 55.5 TERRY O'SULLIVAN 16
HARD TO GET (AUS) 3G
GEIGER COUNTER (USA) - RARELY CAUGHT (NZ) DANZIG (USA)
J BOWDITCH 55.5 MARK KAVANAGH 2
MUMMIFY (AUS) 3G
JEUNE (GB) - CLEOPATRA'S GIRL (AUS) AT TALAQ (USA)
D NIKOLIC 55.5 D L FREEDMAN 4
PANTANI (NZ) 3G
PENTIRE (GB) - DEWAMAR (AUS) MARSCAY (AUS)
D NIKOLIC 55.5 ROBBIE LAING 10
BIG PAT (AUS) 3G
FULL AND BY (NZ) - PUT IN PLACE (NZ) HYPERBOREAN (USA)
P MERTENS 55.5 PETER TULLOCH 2
BLUE MURDER (AUS) 3G
BLUEBIRD (USA) - FOREST MINT (USA) KEY TO THE MINT (USA)
M GATT 55.5 CLIFF BROWN 1

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