LIVE: 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.
That includes the delightful Group 3 Lexus Archer Stakes, where the winner earns the final place in the 24-horse Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.
The $300,000 race takes place at 1pm AEDT. Six horses were scratched on Saturday morning, after two were ruled out on Friday. That has left just a field of seven out of the original 15 runners, with the Chris Waller-trained Surefire firming as a $1.60 favourite.
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One of the biggest names to be scratched was Realm of Flowers trained by Freedman Racing, who looked a strong chance at least year’s Melbourne Cup before falling ill.
The mare is likely to scrape into one of the final spots in the Cup without today’s run, so co-trainer Sam Freedman revealed to Racing.com: “We’re taking a bit of a risk … we wanted to take the punt. She’s very effective off this sort of a break. She’s showed that in the past, she seems to be flying along at home. We had to take the risk, hopefully it pays off.”
“We wanted to give her that break into the Cup (but) she would have been extremely hard to beat today.”
75,000 fans are expected to hit Flemington for the big day. Follow all the action in our live blog below!
READ MORE
ULTIMATE GUIDE: Everything you need to know ahead of the Melborne Cup
SATURDAY: Form guide and tips for Derby Day and the Golden Eagle
WHEN’S IT ON?
Saturday. First race 12.20pm (AEDT), Lexus Archer Stakes at 1pm, Derby at 4.20pm, last race 5.40pm.
WHERE CAN YOU WATCH IT?
Channel 10 will show it, but it’s also on Racing.com and Sky Channel.
Anamoe wins the Cox Plate | 00:27
SCHEDULE
1: Network 10 Carbine Club Stakes
12:20pm 1600 3yo-g3
2: Lexus Archer Stakes
1:00pm 2500 group3
3: Paramount+ Rising Fast Stakes
1:40pm 1200 group3
4: Racing and Sports Wakeful Stakes
2:20pm 2000 3f- g2
5: TAB Linlithgow stakes
3:00pm 1400 group2
6: Coolmore Stud stakes
3:40pm 1200 3yo-g1
7: Penfolds Victoria Derby
4:20pm 2500 3yo-g1
8: TAB Empire Rose stakes
5:00pm 1600 fm-g1
9: Furphy Sprint
5:40pm 1100 ms-g3
Over 70,000 fans expected for Derby Day | 01:47
LIVE BLOG
Follow the action live in our blog below! If you can’t see the blog, click here.
