Derby day generally refers to any sporting event featuring a pair of sports teams engaged in local rivalry. Check out Melbourne races today.
Derby Day 2022 : Melbourne races | Horse races
The 2022 Victoria Derby on Derby Day heralds the start of the Victoria Racing Club’s Melbourne Cup carnival held at the iconic Flemington racecourse in Melbourne.
| Date | Saturday 29th October, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Race Time | 4:20pm (AEDT) |
| Racecourse | Flemington Racecourse |
| Race Distance | 2500 metres |
| Conditions | Set Weights |
| Status | Group I |
| Prize Money | $2,000,000 |
| 2021 Winner | Hitotsu |
| Track Type | Turf |
| Track Direction | Left-Handed (Anti-Clockwise) |
The 2500m distance makes the Victoria Derby a grueling test for spring three-year-olds and the $2 million in prizemoney makes the event one of the key races on the Australian racing calendar.
Derby Day 2022 Melbourne races
One of the greatest days of the racing calendar has arrived: Derby Day at Flemington, heralding the start of the four-day Melbourne Cup carnival.
There are three Group 1s, headlined by Australia’s oldest feature race, the $2 million Victoria Derby (2500m for three-year-olds). In fact, all nine Victoria Derby Day races hold Group Status, the only meeting in Australia where that is the case.
The Group 3 Lexus Archer Stakes was second on the schedule – with the winner traditionally earning a place in the 24-horse Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.
But Chris Waller-trained Surefire, the firm favourite, had not been nominated for the great race, meaning it was ineligible to compete come Tuesday.
Surefire duly won the 2500m run, after six horses were scratched on Saturday morning and two were ruled out on Friday, leaving some to wonder whether it should have been given a chance in the Melbourne Cup.
But foreman Joe Taylor said: “He’s a horse that’s been here a while. And as we’ve seen he just keeps progressing every progression. As you say, he could still be 12 months away.”
Horse races
Way back in 2019, for three years is a long time in Sydney racing, administrators had an idea to put on another new horse race, worth $7.5 million.
Aside from the money it had a few distinguishing features. While the sport’s age-restricted races had always been for ages two and three, this one would be for four-year-olds, based on the widely-held view this is the year thoroughbreds peak.
One of the better days on the racing calendar is Derby Day at Flemington and the 2022 edition rolls around this Saturday. The weather forcast is for showers, the track is soft (7) and the rail is in the true position for the entire circuit.
Like other big races at Rosehill, it’d be over 1500 metres – the track’s dimensions making it unfeasible to have contests over the more classic mile, or 1600m, journey – and, like several other new races in Sydney, it’d have the requisite odd, or non-racing-sounding, name.
The Golden Eagle mightn’t have anything to do with birds of prey, doesn’t have a long history, and may be another weapon in Sydney’s money-addled bid to trump Melbourne, but it has quickly grown in importance to be one of the most keenly sought races in the nation.
It’s now worth $10 million, making it Australia’s second-richest race after Sydney’s $15m Everest, and though its special conditions mean it can’t have Group status – the internationally-recognised top three tiers of races – Sydney administrators and connections reaping its prizemoney, whilst respecting the traditions of this beautiful sport, don’t give a toss.