ORIGIN OF HORSE RACING EVENTS

DERBY

The Derby originated in England in 1780 where the first Derby was held in Surray at Epsom Downs. The race was named after the winner of the toss of a coin between the 12th Earl of Derby and Sir Charles Bunbury. Diomed won the first Derby owned by the steward of the Jockey Club, Sir Charles Bunbury. Traditionally the Derby is the classic race of the turf restricted to three year old horses and run over 1 1/2 miles.

In Australia the first Derby was run in 1861. Kyogle was the first horse to win the 2400m race. In the 1900's the Derby started to become Australia's premier classic horse race. From 1932 to 1956 geldings were banned from the race which led to some barely manageable colts competing in the three-year-old classic. In 141 runnings only 20 geldings have won the race proving that they did not have an advantage.

The Derby changed its name many times, however the biggest change came in 1978. The race was not held that year and all following years it was run in autumn. Many Derby winners feature in the Cox Plate, the Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup.

Name Changes:
- AJC Randwick Derby Stakes 1861 to 1864
- AJC Australia Derby Stakes 1865 to 1872
- AJC Derby 1873 to 1993
- AJC Australian Derby

Fastest/Slowest Derby:
The fastest metric AJC Derby was run by Octagonal in 2:28.4 minutes in 1996, the slowest by Bonecrusher in 1986 in 2:35.6 minutes.

Greatest Winning Margin:
In 1886 Trident won by 10 lengths, the closest was Prince Grant winning by 8 lengths in 1965

Jockey with the most wins:
Tom Hales
- 1875 Richmond
- 1880 Grand Flaneur
- 1882 Navigator
- 1884 Bargo
- 1886 Trident
- 1887 Abercorn

AJC Derby winners from 1861 to 2002 are listed in our category Racing History - Feature Race Winners - AJC Derby.