Christmas for Adults - Five Unforgettable Victoria Derby Days

Kristen Manning

Editor

Last updated: Thu. 29 Oct. 2026 03:39

Kristen Manning 2 hours ago

Share this article

Five unforgettable Victoria Derby Days spanning 1960 to 2010
Legendary performances from Tulloch, Vain, Better Loosen Up and So You Think
Historic Flemington triumphs, remarkable training feats and memorable upsets

Steven Arnold rides So You Think to victory in the Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington on Derby Day 2010. (Getty)

"Christmas For Adults" is how a friend has always described VRC Derby Day, and while the occasion takes a different shape these days, it remains one of Australia's great days of racing - and a fitting way to launch Melbourne Cup week.

1960 - An Established Champion & Rising Stars
1969 - Vain's Big Week Begins
1990 - A Day Out for David Hayes
1995 - A Tiny but Tough Cult Hero & a Star of the Future
2010 - One of Bart's Best
Honourable Mentions - More Derby Day classics

Several races that once featured on the Derby Day program have since been moved, but when they were all staged on the same Saturday, the result was some truly memorable afternoons at Flemington.

We look back at five of the standouts...

1960 - An Established Champion & Rising Stars

"The Victoria Derby this year is overshadowed slightly by the clash of the champions in the Mackinnon Stakes," a newspaper journalist declared on Derby Day eve in 1960.

The weight-for-age contest had attracted a stellar field headed by the champion Tulloch, whose comeback from a near two-year battle with illness had captured the attention of racing fans across the country.

He had won 12 races now recognised as Group 1 contests before his lengthy absence and was again in outstanding form upon his return.

Come the spring of 1960, Tulloch was all the rage for the Melbourne Cup and, fresh from a W.S. Cox Plate victory, he tackled another quality field in the Mackinnon Stakes, leaving the likes of Lord and Dhaulagiri in his wake.

Sadly, he was not to write his name into Melbourne Cup history. Carrying almost 64kg, Tulloch finished an unlucky seventh behind the longshot winner Hi Jinx, with Neville Sellwood's ride attracting widespread criticism.

Remarkably, it was the only unplaced run of Tulloch's 53-start career. He bounced back four days later to win the C.B. Fisher Plate.

As it turned out, the Derby was hardly a race to be overshadowed, with the high-class Sky High - a son of Star Kingdom out of a daughter of Flight - leading throughout to claim the Classic.

Sky High would retire as Australia's second-highest prizemoney earner behind Tulloch, and his versatility was every bit as impressive as his talent.

His record included another 25 stakes victories, among them the Golden Slipper, Epsom Handicap and Mackinnon Stakes.

He later sired stakes winners both in Australia and the United States, having also enjoyed a memorable rivalry with another star of the era, Wenona Girl. The pair met on 20 occasions, with Sky High finishing ahead of her 11 times.

On Derby Day, however, they contested different races, with Wenona Girl taking out the Wakeful Stakes.

Another highlight was the inaugural running of the race that would become the Gadsden Stakes - now the Champions Sprint, staged on the final day of the carnival - won by the talented New Zealander Karina.

1969 - Vain's Big Week Begins

Having won the Maribyrnong Plate at just his second start the previous year, Vain was no stranger to Flemington.

During Melbourne Cup week in 1969, however, he became particularly well acquainted with the famous straight, racing three times in just eight days.

They would prove to be his final three starts before heading to Widden Stud, where he would also make his mark as a stallion. And what a farewell it was.

On Derby Day, Vain produced one of the great sprinting performances in Australian racing history, winning the Craven A Stakes (now the Champions Sprint) by a staggering 12 lengths.

Carrying a record 54kg for a three-year-old, he recorded what was then a record winning margin in a major Australian handicap.

Returning on Oaks Day, Vain captured the Linlithgow Stakes by six lengths in track-record time before completing his extraordinary week with victory in the George Adams Stakes (now the Champions Mile) on the following Saturday, setting another weight-carrying record.

One of Vain's only two career defeats had come at the hands of Daryl's Joy in the Moonee Valley Stakes, and that colt certainly franked the form.

The New Zealand-bred Daryl's Joy followed an easy W.S. Cox Plate victory with a three-length triumph in the Victoria Derby.

It was the last time Australian racegoers would see the outstanding colt, who subsequently enjoyed Group 1 success in America.

Elsewhere on the 1969 Derby Day program, Roman Consul - a horse good enough to have a race named in his honour - won the Mackinnon Stakes.

The Maribyrnong Plate went to Baguette, who would become the first winner of Sydney's two-year-old Triple Crown.

And the Hotham Handicap was won by the tough and popular Tails, who emerged as Melbourne Cup favourite.

He couldn't quite see out the two miles three days later, but would return for another Cup attempt in 1971, finishing a brave third.

1990 - A Day Out for David Hayes

Rookie trainer David Hayes had taken the reins at Lindsay Park at the beginning of the 1990-91 season, and his first spring carnival could hardly have started better.

His champion Better Loosen Up had produced a barnstorming W.S. Cox Plate victory and was on his way to an unforgettable Japan Cup triumph.

Between those two famous performances came Derby Day, and one of the most remarkable training achievements Australian racing has witnessed.

There were eight races on the Flemington card in 1990. Hayes won six of them - despite not having a runner in the other two - and also cheered home three winners at Morphettville.

"His run of wins at Flemington is a record for a single trainer at any metropolitan meeting in Australia, and is believed to be a world record for a major meeting," it was reported the following day.

"I always thought that it would be a thrill to have a winner on Derby Day in my first year," Hayes told the press, "but to have six is just a dream."

"I only know one way to train and that's dad's way," he added. "I suppose if there is a secret, it is Lindsay Park."

The odds-on favourite Raise A Rhythm began the extraordinary afternoon with victory in the Group 3 Maribyrnong Plate.

High-class sprinter Wrap Around took out the Hilton On The Park Stakes, two years before adding the Group 1 William Reid Stakes to her record.

Planet Ruler then delivered another spectacular performance, breaking the Flemington 1200m record for a second time with his second barnstorming victory in the Group 1 Gadsden Stakes.

Better Loosen Up backed up from his Moonee Valley heroics to defeat Stylish Century in the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes, while Mount Olympus won the Group 2 Dalgety Stakes.

That victory secured Mount Olympus a Melbourne Cup berth, and he went on to finish fifth behind Kingston Rule three days later.

Beachside completed the remarkable haul with victory in the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes.

Six winners, including two at Group 1 level, on one of the biggest days of the racing calendar. It was an achievement that established Hayes as a major force in Australian racing.

1995 - A Tiny but Tough Cult Hero & a Star of the Future

He wasn't very big. In fact, he was tiny. And he hadn't cost much either - just $3250.

Plenty of prospective buyers overlooked him at the sales, but renowned judge George Smith spotted the engine hidden inside that little frame.

Brawny Spirit famously won his debut down the Flemington straight at 100-1, beginning a remarkable association with the course.

He added another couple of victories as a two-year-old, including the Ascot Vale Stakes - the race that would eventually become the Coolmore Stud Stakes.

Trained on the track by Mick Winks, Brawny Spirit knew Flemington better than most, and that familiarity would serve him well on Derby Day in 1995.

After performing below his best in his lead-up runs, the diminutive sprinter started at 25-1 but produced a determined finish to land the Salinger Stakes, despite proving a difficult ride for jockey Michael Clarke.

"I had a lot of trouble holding him," Clarke told the press, adding that Brawny Spirit could have won by further had he not wanted to drift across the track.

A popular horse winning a major race is always a highlight, but the 1995 Derby Day program delivered several other outstanding performances.

Octagonal was there, but the champion colt was upstaged in the Victoria Derby by another high-class three-year-old, Nothin' Leica Dane.

Meanwhile, Octagonal's nephew Danewin atoned for an unlucky W.S. Cox Plate run by winning the Mackinnon Stakes as a short-priced favourite.

Another popular galloper from a small stable, Aunty Mary, won the Matron Stakes, while the Pat Hyland-trained Saleous captured the Wakeful Stakes on her way to VRC Oaks success.

The two-year-old and three-year-old contests were won by Flavour and Gold Ace respectively, both of whom would go on to win the Salinger Stakes.

And then there was the Carbine Club Stakes.

It provided the first stakes victory for a member of Bart Cummings' stable who would return to Flemington for much bigger things.

His name? Saintly.

2010 - One of Bart's Best

The Hotham Handicap was traditionally one of the most intriguing races on Derby Day, offering Melbourne Cup hopefuls one final chance to secure a place in the field.

To give those horses as much recovery time as possible, it was usually staged early on the program.

In 2010, it was the second race of the afternoon, and the winner was Maluckyday.

Three days later, he backed up with a gallant Melbourne Cup second, splitting Americain and So You Think in a memorable finish.

Next came the Wakeful Stakes, won by Brazilian Pulse, who went on to claim the VRC Oaks.

Star Witness then captured the Coolmore Stud Stakes, adding another major sprinting success to his record.

He was certainly a handsome horse, but few thoroughbreds commanded attention quite like So You Think.

The striking Bart Cummings-trained star gave his rivals a galloping lesson in the Mackinnon Stakes, producing another commanding performance in front of the Flemington crowd.

It would prove to be his final Australian victory.

Following his third in the Melbourne Cup, So You Think headed overseas, where he added another five northern hemisphere Group 1 victories to his remarkable record.

"Perfection on four legs" was how Bart once described him, and few who saw the champion in full flight would disagree.

Lion Tamer won the Victoria Derby that afternoon, while Sacred Choice claimed the Myer Classic.

And had the traditional Derby Day program remained intact, the afternoon would have been even more extraordinary.

By 2010, the feature sprint had been shifted to the following Saturday, when it was won by a rising superstar named Black Caviar.

Whittling down so many great Derby Days to just five is no easy task, and there are several other memorable editions worthy of recognition.

Honourable Mentions - More Derby Day classics

1989 was another outstanding afternoon, with Group 1 victories for Planet Ruler, Horlicks and Stylish Century, while the Maribyrnong Plate formed part of an impressive winning streak for that season's standout two-year-old, Canny Lad.

And 1978 also deserves a mention, with big wins for Dulcify, Family Of Man and Always Welcome, while Scomeld won the Wakeful Stakes on her way to VRC Oaks success.

Different eras, different champions and countless unforgettable performances - all part of the rich history that makes Victoria Derby Day such a special occasion.

Christmas for adults, indeed.