The $600,000 which will be earned by the winner of the $1 million Vodafone New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie on Saturday is currently the richest prize in New Zealand racing. We look at 10 aspects of the race which is on the wish list of every trainer, jockey and owner.

 

 

The modern New Zealand Derby was established in 1973, when the classic races were revamped. Till then, the New Zealand Derby had been run at Riccarton in the spring, while Ellerslie had been the home of the Great Northern Derby. The Great Northern Derby was discontinued when the NZ Derby was transferred to Ellerslie, while Riccarton Park became the home of the Two Thousand Guineas and One Thousand Guineas. In addition, the NZ Oaks was shifted from Riccarton to Trentham. When first moved to Ellerslie, the NZ Derby was staged on Boxing Day but was switched to a March date in the 2005-06 season.

 

 

Vinnie Colgan, who will partner the favourite Surely Sacred this weekend, has been the dominant Derby rider since 1973. Colgan, 43, has won the classic six times. He recorded his first Derby triumph on Roysyn, in 1995, and has also been successful on Zonda (1997), Hades (1999), Redoute’s Dancer (2007), Habibi (2013) and Rangipo (2016). Colgan has won more than 200 races at Ellerslie, including 14 at Group I level. Grant Cooksley, with three wins, is the only other current rider who has won the NZ Derby more than twice.

 

 

Two horsemen – Nigel Tiley and Chris McNab – have both ridden and trained a New Zealand Derby winner since the New Zealand classics were rationalised. Tiley won the Derby as a jockey on Ring The Bell, in 1980, and 14 years later won the race as a trainer with Look Who’s Talking. McNab rode the 1984 winner Jolly Jake and prepared St Reims to win in 2002.

 

 

Platinum Invador was the cheapest yearling purchase among those to make the 2019 Derby field. The Redwood gelding, who has already won three races, was a $25,000 yearling buy from the festival session at Karaka. More Wonder was a $45,000 buy and Crown Prosecutor cost A$50,000. At the other end of the scale, In A Twinkling and Nobu both cost $250,000 and Lincoln Falls was a $200,000 purchase. Fourteen of the 18 runners went through the sale ring as yearlings.

 

 

Australian-bred horses make up a third of the 2019 Vodafone NZ Derby field. In A Twinkling (by Fastnet Rock), Cutadeel (Dundeel), Crown Prosecutor (Medaglia D’Oro), Lincoln Fallls (Dundeel), Tolemac (Camelot) and Swords Drawn (Camelot) were all bred across the Tasman. Australian horseman and breeders have had a significant impact on the New Zealand Derby. Four Australian-bred horses – Rangipo, Mongolian Khan, Coniston Bluebird and Redoute’s Dancer – have been successful in the last 12 years and Coniston Bluebird and Redoute’s Dancer were also trained in Australia. Sydney trainer Chris Waller will be represented by Nobu and Botti on Saturday.

 

 

Awapuni trainer Lisa Latta will be flying the central districts flag in the 2019 Derby. Latta will be represented by Sir Nate, Lincoln Falls and Platinum Invador. Platinum Invador is the most-favoured of Latta’s trio. He had no luck when unplaced in the Avondale Guineas and only sneaked into the Derby field after winning at Otaki last weekend. Latta has not won the Derby but her big wins at Ellerslie include the Zabeel Classic (twice), Rich Hill Mile and Karaka Million.

 

 

Three New Zealand Derby winners – Jimmy Choux, Puccini and Mongolian Khan – are currently at stud in New Zealand. Jimmy Choux’s oldest crop are five-year-olds while Mongolian Khan went to stud in 2016 and Puccini in 2017. Mongolian Khan also won an Australian Derby and his first crop of yearlings made a good impression at Karaka this summer. More than a dozen NZ Derby winners have stood at stud since 1973, though some had limited opportunities. Balmerino sired seven individual Group I winners, including Bounty Hawk, who won five Group I races.

 

 

Fury’s Order was the first winner of the modern NZ Derby, in 1973. The Taranaki galloper also won the Two Thousand Guineas, Wellington Guineas and Hawke’s Bay Cup that season and beat Show Gate at weight-for-age as a three-year-old. He also starred as an older horse, with his wins including the Cox Plate and New Zealand Cup and he started favourite in a Melbourne Cup. He later stood at stud in Australia.

 

 

Balmerino will always be ranked among the greatest New Zealand Derby winners. The 1975 winner was the dominant three-year-old in New Zealand and Australia and later matched the best gallopers in Europe as an older horse. He had 14 wins and three seconds from 18 starts as a three-year-old. His nine NZ wins at three also included the Two Thousand Guineas, Wellington Derby, Avondale Guineas and Hawke’s Bay Guineas and he won five races in Australia that season, including the 3200m Brisbane Cup. As a five-year-old he ran second in the Arc de Triomphe and was also a Group I placegetter in England, Italy and the United States. He had a Timeform rating of 133 in 1977. He was trained for the bulk of his career at Cambridge, by Brian Smith, who is now based in Brisbane.

 

 

The hardy Whanganui galloper Satisfy was having his 34th start when he won the 1987 NZ Derby. Satisfy was a $600 buy as a young horse for trainer and part-owner Nick Nicoloff. The colt had 23 starts as a two-year-old and another 14 at three. His Derby win came the hard way. He won the race in the judicial room, after he was second across the line, beaten a nose by Accountant. By contrast, Xcellent won the 2004 Derby at just his third start. Xcellent was beaten only once from nine starts in New Zealand