The New Zealand Derby was a set-weights thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses run over a distance of 2400m at Riccarton Racecourse in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The inaugural running of the Derby was in 1860, when racing was held at Riccarton Racecourse. The race was one of the two main races for three-year-olds in New Zealand, the other being the

Great Northern Derby The Great Northern Derby is a harness racing event for 3 year old standardbreds. It is a major event for 3 year old colts and geldings in New Zealand. It is run at Alexandra Park in Auckland, on the same night as the Auckland Cup in early March. ...

at Ellerslie. The two races were effectively combined into one from 1973, again using the name the

New Zealand Derby The New Zealand Derby is a set-weights Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, run over a distance of 2,400 metres (12 furlongs) at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand. It is held on the first Saturday in March, as the opening day o ...

. However the race was moved from Christchurch to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

at Ellerslie Racecourse.Race history of the New Zealand Derby
/ref> The

was discontinued. Two new 1600m races for three-year-olds were then started in Christchurch, in place of its Derby, the

One Thousand 1000 or one thousand is the natural number following 999 and preceding 1001. In most English-speaking countries, it can be written with or without a comma or sometimes a period separating the thousands digit: 1,000. A group of one thousand thi ...

and

Two Thousand Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

. The New Zealand Derby at Riccarton was won by three of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame horses

Gloaming Gloaming may refer to: * Twilight, the period after sunset and before the darkness of night * The Gloaming, an Irish traditional music group ** ''The Gloaming'' (album), their first album * Gloaming (horse) (1915–1932), a Thoroughbred racehorse ...

Nightmarch Nightmarch, foaled in 1925 was an outstanding New Zealand bred Thoroughbred racehorse known as ''The Kiwi''. He won the New Zealand Derby and Dunedin Cup as a three-year-old before going to Australia where he became the first horse to win both ...

and

Desert Gold Desert Gold may refer to: * ''Geraea canescens'', a wildflower also known as Desert Sunflower * Desert Gold (horse), a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse **Desert Gold (1919 film), ''Desert Gold'' (1919 film), an Australian film about the racehorse ...

Winners

* 1860 Ada * 1861 Otto * 1862 Emmeline * 1863 Azucena * 1864 Opera * 1865 Egremont * 1866 Nebula * 1867 Scandal * 1868 Flying Jib * 1869 Manuka * 1870 Envy * 1871 Defamation * 1872 Calumny * 1873 Papapa * 1874 Tadmor * 1875 Daniel O'Rourke * 1876 Songster * 1877 Trump Card * 1878 Natator * 1879 Hornby * 1880 Sir Modred * 1881 The Dauphin * 1882 Cheviot * 1883 Oudeis * 1884 Black Rose * 1885 Stonyhurst * 1886 Disowned * 1887 Maxim * 1888 Manton * 1889 Scots Grey * 1890 Medallion * 1891 Florrie * 1892 Stepniak * 1893 Skirmisher * 1894 Blue Fire * 1895 Euroclydon * 1896 Uniform * 1897 Multiform * 1898 Altair * 1899 Seahorse * 1900 Renown * 1901 Menschikoff * 1902 Orloff * 1903 Roseal * 1904 Nightfall * 1905 Noctiform * 1906 Zimmerman * 1907 Elevation * 1908 Husbandman * 1909 Elysian * 1910 Danube * 1911 Masterpiece * 1912 Bon Reve * 1913 Cherubini * 1914 Balboa * 1915

* 1916 The Toff * 1917 Estland * 1918

(AUS) * 1919 Rossini * 1920 Duo * 1921 Winning Hit * 1922 Enthusiasm * 1923 Black Ronald * 1924 Count Cavour * 1925 Runnymede * 1926 Commendation * 1927 Agrion * 1928

* 1929 Honour * 1930 Cylinder * 1931 Bronze Eagle (AUS) * 1932 Silver Scorn * 1933 Nightly * 1934 Sporting Blood * 1935 Lowenberg * 1936 Wild Chase * 1937 Royal Chief * 1938 Defaulter * 1939 Beaulivre * 1940 Enrich * 1941 Battledress * 1942 Rink * 1943 Tara King * 1944 Pensacola * 1945 Al-Sirat * 1946 Royal Tan * 1947 Liebestraum * 1948 St. Bruno * 1949 Beaumaris * 1950 The Unicorn * 1951

Dalray Dalray was a notable New Zealand thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1952 Melbourne Cup and Mackinnon Stakes. Dalray was also famously a ‘certainty’ beaten in the 1952 Sydney Cup. When his owner was quizzed about the defeat he declared "P ...

* 1952 Programme * 1953 Idaho * 1954 Port Boy * 1955 Syntax * 1956 Passive * 1957 William Paul * 1958 Up and Coming * 1959 Sol d'Or * 1960 Blue Lodge * 1961 Burgos * 1962 Algalon * 1963 Royal Duty * 1964 Trial Offer * 1965 Roman Consul * 1966 Fair Account * 1967 Jazz * 1968 Pep * 1969 Piko * 1970 Fairview Lad * 1971 Master John * 1972 Classic Wave

References

Horse races in New Zealand Flat horse races for three-year-olds {{horseracing-race-stub

Winners

See also

References