The ATC Australian Derby is a Group 1 race for three-year olds held during the Sydney autumn racing carnival.  This event is run over a distance of 2400 metres and worth $2,000,000 in prizemoney.  The Australian Derby has a long history in Australian racing, and has been held at Randwick Racecourse since 1861 when it was known as the AJC Randwick Derby Stakes.

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The inaugural Randwick Derby Stakes was won by Kyogle, a grandson of the Touchstone who was a four-time Champion sire in Great Britain and Ireland.  This event became known as the AJC Australian Derby Stakes in 1865, and was known simply as the AJC Derby between 1873 and 1993.  While this event became officially known as the AJC Australian Derby in 1994, many people still refer to it as the AJC Derby.

The ATC Australian Derby has been won by some of the countries most notable horses over the years, including Sky Heights in 1999, Octagonal in 1996, Mahogany in 1994, Naturalism in 1992, and Durbridge in 1991.  All of these horses won the ATC Derby before going on to win many of Australia’s premier races time and time again.

If you go back a little further into history, the AJC Australian Derby has also been won by many of the early greats of the Australian turf, including Phar Lap in 1929, Tulloch in 1957, and Kingston Town in 1980.  In more recent times, winners include Roman Emperor in 2009, Shoot Out in 2010, Shamrocket in 2011, Ethiopia in 2012, and It’s A Dundeel in 2013.

The ATC Australian Derby was originally run over a distance of 1 1/2 miles, before being changed to its current distance of 2400 metres in 1972 with the advent of the metric system.  Due to reorganisation of the Randwick racing calendar, there was no race held in 1978, with the Australian Derby changing from a spring event in 1977 to an autumn event in 1979.

In the news:

The horse Peter Snowden rates as his best chance of a farewell Derby win for Darley will figure in a switch of riding tactics.

Tupac Amaru, one of two Darley runners in the $2 million ATC Australian Derby at Randwick on Saturday, will be ridden much closer to the front.

Snowden says this will ensure jockey Kerrin McEvoy can give the colt his optimal chance of winning one of Australia’s oldest Classics.

Snowden will also start Gallatin but he puts Tupac Amaru ahead of the last-to-first Tulloch Stakes winner.

Tupac Amaru has not figured in the finish of the Randwick or Rosehill Guineas but Snowden has seen enough in both runs to declare him a live Derby chance.

Snowden has already told stewards Tupac Amaru will be ridden forward.

“He’s a nice strong horse but he gets too far back and he leaves himself with too much to do,” Snowden said on Melbourne radio station RSN.

“So we are going to be a bit more positive early and have him in the first half of the field instead of the back half.”

Snowden has won the South Australian Derby with Kidnapped in 2010 but recent Derbies have also been littered with close calls for the trainer who is leaving Darley at the end of the month.

His most recent near-miss was Complacent’s second to Polanski in last year’s Victoria Derby.

Induna was runner-up in the 2011 Victoria Derby and Retrieve third in the same race a year earlier.

Retrieve has come closest to giving Snowden an ATC Australian Derby when second to the filly Shamrocker in 2011.

Injury ruled Complacent out of the carnival before the autumn started leaving Tupac Amaru and Gallatin to fly the flag for Snowden on Saturday in the final Derby he will saddle a Darley runner.

Snowden leaves Sheikh Mohammed’s organisation to form a training partnership with his son Paul.

Rosehill Guineas winner Criterion is the $3.20 favourite with Tupac Amaru at $15 and Gallatin $17.

Gallatin enhanced his prospects when he chased down Singing Flame on a heavy track in the Tulloch Stakes.

“He’s good late and he got through the conditions really well (in the Tulloch) which is a plus for tomorrow,” Snowden said.

“You’ve got to ride him the same way. He’s a different horse to Tupac (Amaru) because he’s got a turn of foot.

“Tupac (Amaru) is just a grinder whereas Gallatin can sprint from the back.”