Also known as AJC Derby before 2010
If you are looking for the premier event in Australian horse racing, look no further than the Australian AJC Derby. Held at the Randwick Racecourse in Sydney each March or April, this is a race that has the most attendants, top purses, and one of the biggest international betting pools in Australia. To get a better handle on the best bets, the history of the Australian Derby contains unique clues as to what you can expect as the race day approaches each year.
Australian racing terms make the AJC Derby unique
Horse races take place around the world, but there it is something to the way Australians talk about horse racing that makes them special. For foreign bettors listening in on the Australian Derby, they soon realize that the news commentators have a lingo that is all their own. Of course, local Australian fans understand these terms and use the lingo to figure out how much their bets could win or if they should change horses.
Below, there are a few select Australian horse racing terms that English-speaking foreigners might hear:
- Going: When horses race on a track, the surface is key for predicting the outcome of the race. In Australia, this is referred to as ‘going.’ Descriptions include heavy, dead, slow, good, or fast.
- Colt: A male horse, under four, that is not gelded.
- Hot Pot: The contender of the race that is the favorite.
- Cricket score odds: Long odds of 100 to 1 or more.
- Drift: Before the race, the odds of a horse increase creating a betting ‘drift.’
Is the Australian Derby the oldest?
In the realm of Thoroughbred horse racing, Australia has a unique and extremely distinct past. Before Europeans settled on the continent, historians believe there were no known equine species there. Naturally, the European settlers around 1788 brought various kinds of horses on ships from places like South Africa and started breeding them in Australia.
Beginning with the introduction of Thoroughbreds in the early 1800s, the founding of the Randwick Racecourse and the AJC were soon to follow. AJC stands for the ‘Australian Jockey Club’ and it makes sense that this would be Australia’s historic top Thoroughbred racing event, but it is not the oldest. The Australian Derby was founded in 1861 — and this means the race is younger than the Victoria Derby by 6 years.
Betting and Thoroughbred racing in Australia
In America, there is a long history of banning the acts of betting and drinking alcohol. Does Australia have a similar past or possible future of this nature? After all, it is heartbreaking to get involved with an annual betting event that suddenly bans wagers due to a government with a shaky history of gambling laws. Thankfully, Australia typically followed Britain throughout the past 200 years. If the British changed a gambling law – Australia immediately followed suit.
“Gambling Cultures: Studies in History and Interpretation,” by Jan McMillen discusses the divergence in this pattern around the 1960s. Since Australia had laws that allowed authorities to monitor off-track bookies, they were able to keep betting pools rich and prosperous for gamblers. As a result, there have been recent attendance totals at events like the AJC Derby that are over 130,000.
History of Randwick Racecourse
The racecourse where the Australian Derby takes place has been there since the beginning. While other sports have a history of changing venues, horse racing tends to stay in one place. However, do not assume that the Randwick Racecourse in Sydney is 150 years old. It was founded in the early days of Australia’s history, in 1833. Since the day it opened it’s doors, it has been used for more than racing horses.
For example, many concerts and religious events take place there on a regular basis. In 1970, Pope Paul VI held a Roman Catholic mass with hundreds of thousands of attendance at Randwick. The depending on the event, alterations can allow over 400,000 people into the Randwick racecourse grounds. Despite all of the attention, the Randwick is still best known worldwide for hosting the AJC Derby.
AJC Derby’s history and basic facts
The first AJC Derby was run in 1861 and won by Kyogle. It was first called the AJC Randwick Derby Stakes (1861-1865), AJC Australia Derby Stakes (1866-1873), and the AJC Derby (1873-1993). After all these minor name changes, the modern version is officially the AJC Australian Derby. Naturally, in common usage, most people lean toward the less complicated term, ‘AJC Derby.’
Among the things that bettors should know is that the purse is currently A$1,800,000 ($1,869,660 USD),and that the race was originally 1.5 miles. This changed in 1972 when Australia started using the metric system. Today it is 2,400 meters (11.93 furlongs). One important record concerning the AJC Derby is that the fastest time was by Octagonal at 2:28.41 (1996). Other records are much more historic such as the largest winning margin was in 1886 (Trident, 10 lengths) and the last jockey with the most wins accomplished this between 1875-1887 (Thomas Hales, 6 wins).
Otherwise, the Australian Derby is an extremely reliable race for bettors. For instance, the only time that the race was ever cancelled was in 1978 – and that was due to management restructuring and not bad weather. Finally, due to the betting pool incentives, many punters consider it one of their biggest investments of the year.
Winners of the past 10 Australian Derby races:
- 2012 Ethiopia
- 2011 Shamrocker
- 2010 Shoot Out
- 2009 Roman Emperor
- 2008 Nom Du Jeu
- 2007 Fiumicino
- 2006 Headturner
- 2005 Eremein
- 2004 Starcraft
- 2003 Clangalang
- 2002 Don Eduardo
Sources