Australian Derby Tips & Betting Predictions

The Australian Derby was inaugurated as the AJC Randwick Derby Stakes in 1861 before changing name to the Australian Derby in 1873.

Octagonal set the race record in 1996 when winning in a time of 2:28.41 and the biggest margin of victory came by Trident in 1886 when it scored by 10 lengths.

There hasn't been much controversy in the history of the race, except on one occasion where the wrong horse won the race.

Prince Humphrey was declared the winner in 1928, but a punter pointed out that the horse in the picture had different markings to Prince Humphrey.

The horse turned out to be Cragsman, which was by the same sire but with a different dam.

Bettors should be looking for the New Zealand-bred and New Zealand-trained horses when making their Derby selections.

New Zealand-bred horses won the Australian Derby from 2013 – 2017 which included wins from It's A Dundeel, Criterion, Mongolian Khan, Tavago and Jon Snow.

The dominance of the Kiwi runners is no fluke as they're set for the big staying features every year. New Zealand stud farms are best known for their staying prowess and that's starting to show in Australia, especially in the Derby.

It's always tough to gauge the ability of three-year-old stayers, but history tells us to look for the legitimate distance types.

Milers won't often win the 2400m race and despite the winners being a touch one-paced, that's often what is needed to win a Derby.

It takes a good horse to win the Derby and when past winners include the likes of Bonecrusher, Naturalism, Tulloch, Gloaming and the one and only Phar Lap, you know it's not an easy race to win.

Look for the natural stayers and disregard horses that have more speed and endurance.