2026 Howden Victoria Derby: The bloodlines

Looking into the background of each runner can provide clues to the likelihood of which of them might be best-equipped to run out the distance strongly and below is a look at the field for this year’s Saturday’s edition at Flemington.

1 - CORMIER

3YO Brown Colt

Foaled: 9/8/2023

Maurice (JPN) – Abbey Marie (Redoute’s Choice)

Breeder: Arrowfield Pastoral Pty Ltd

Trainers: Paul Messara & Leah Gavranich

Jockey: Jamie Mott (57kg)

Barrier: 3

Record: 7:1-2-1   $455,150

Distances won: 1100m

Distances placed: 1300m, 1600m, 2000m

The Spring Champion Stakes third placegetter screams Arrowfield, being by its star Japanese shuttler Maurice out of a Group 1-winning mare who resides at the Hunter Valley farm.

There’d be nothing in Abbey Marie’s pedigree that would put you off backing Cormier in a Derby. Her Group 1 win came in the 2000m Australasian Oaks and, being out of the Catrail mare Cat-shaan, the daughter of Redoute’s Choice is a sister to Group 1 ATC Oaks (2400m) winner Absolutely and a three-quarter-sister to Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m) and Listed VRC St Leger (2800m) winner Runaway.

2 - STORMY MARCO

3YO Brown Colt

Foaled: 27/9/2023

Wootton Bassett (GB) – Rose Memory (IRE) (Elusive City (USA))

Breeder: Rathmore Bloodstock

Trainer: Chris Waller

Jockey: James McDonald (57kg)

Barrier: 16

Record: 7:1-1-1    $361,900

Distances won: 1400m

Distances placed: 1600m, 1800m

The colt is a son of the late Coolmore stallion Wootton Bassett, who has thrown Group 1 winners over a range of distances all over the world, including Irish St Leger (2816m) winner and last year’s Melbourne Cup favourite Al Riffa, Almanzor – who is the sire of Victoria Derby winner Manzoice – and this year’s Group 1 Queensland Derby (2400m) winner Providence.

Coolmore sold Stormy Marco at last year’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, where he fetched $300,000, and her is from an Elusive City mare who is a half-sister to Hard Dream, a Group 2 winner at 2100m in France, while his second dam Rose Melody won out to 2000m and is a half-sister to Linamix gelding Golden Marvel, who won out to two miles.

3 - TRUE REBEL

3YO Brown Gelding

Foaled: 17/9/2023

Rebel Dane – Spirit Medium (Helmet)

Breeder: Grant Bloodstock Pty Ltd

Trainer: Danny O’Brien

Jockey: Billy Egan (57kg)

Barrier: 17

Record: 4:2-1-1   $304,200

Distances won: 1525m, 2040m

Distances placed: 1300m, 1600m

The Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase (2040m) winner is the leading Derby fancy that many will struggle to get their head around that he’s even in this weekend’s race.

The $80,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase is by Rebel Dane, whose Group 1 wins came in the Manikato Stakes (1200m) and Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m), and is best known as a sire thanks to Golden Slipper winner Fireburn.

True Rebel hails from a successful Woodlands/Darley family, which is headlined by former wonder filly Unworldly, a Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) winner, but most of the Black Type form comes via sprint races. Spirit Medium, a daughter of Helmet, posted her only win at 1300m, and is a half-sister to Group 2 Sapphire Stakes (1200m) winner Renaissance and Group 2 The Shorts (1100m) winner and Group 1 Manikato Stakes placegetter Sessions.

4 - KING SNITZ

3YO Bay or Brown Colt

Foaled: 8/10/2023

Snitzel – Princess Jenni (NZ) (High Chaparral (IRE))

Breeder: Cape Schanck Stud

Trainer: Shane Jackson

Jockey: Damian Lane (57kg)

Barrier: 6

Record: 4:2-0-1   $201,800

Distances won: 2000m (twice)

Distances placed: 1700m

The Group 3 Norman Robinson Stakes (2000m) winner is one of two in the race by a stallion who has won an Australian Champion Sire award but, it must be said, Snitzel is best known for his deeds with sprinters and he is yet to produce a Derby or Oaks winner.

There is Oaks success on the female side of King Snitz’s page, though, albeit at 2000m. His dam is Group 1 Australasian Oaks winner Princess Jenni, who also won a Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m) and possesses stout bloodlines being by High Chaparral out of a daughter of Zabeel.

5 - MURSHIDI

3YO Bay Gelding

Foaled: 7/8/2023

Maurice (JPN) – Daleelaty (Lonhro)

Breeder: Ciaron Maher Racing

Trainer: Ciaron Maher

Jockey: Blake Shinn (57kg)

Barrier: 18

Record: 5:1-1-1   $135,325

Distances won: 2200m

Distances placed: 1500m, 1765m

Ciaron Maher knows how to win a Derby with a son of Maurice, having put the Japanese stallion on the map in Australia through the deeds of Hitotsu, who won both the Victoria Derby and Group 1 ATC Derby (2400m).

There is not much staying prowess on the dam side of the Geelong Classic winner’s pedigree page, however, with Daleelaty a daughter of Lonhro and Reemah, who was runner-up in the Group 1 Blue Diamond (1200m). She is out of Vormista, a Group 2 winner at 1400m who was three times placed at Group 1 level at 1200m.

6 - VALLICE

3YO Bay Colt

Foaled: 20/11/2023

Maurice (JPN) – Moselle Valley (GER) (Guiliani (IRE))

Breeder: Aristia Park Bloodstock Pty Ltd

Trainer: Ciaron Maher

Jockey: Mark Zahra (57kg)

Barrier: 14

Record: 7:1-2-0   $144,100

Distances won: 1400m

Distances placed: 1800m, 2000m

Not content with one son of Maurice in the Derby, Maher also has the Caulfield Classic winner, who was a $200,000 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale buy.

Vallice has a 4x3 cross to Sadler’s Wells, who is the sire of his granddam Montfleur. She is also the dam of Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) winner Mawingo (Tertullian) and Monsun mare Mystique, who has produced Listed Warrnambool Cup (2350m) winner Mystery Island.

7 - SKUA

3YO Brown Colt

Foaled: 15/9/2023

Ghaiyyath (IRE) – Dowitcher (USA) (Lonhro)

Breeder: Godolphin Australia

Trainer: Ciaron Maher

Jockey: John Allen (57kg)

Barrier: 13

Record: 6:1-2-1   $134,450

Distances won: 1600m

Distances placed: 1300m, 1400m, 2040m

Last week’s Moonee Valley Vase runner-up is a homebred for the Godolphin operation and is Sheikh Mohammed’s shot at a second-straight success with a son of their former superstar racehorse Ghaiyyath, who produced last year’s winner Observer.

Like Observer, Skua is from a daughter of Lonhro with his dam Dowitcher out of the Blue Diamond winner Danelagh. Her biggest success might have come in one of Australia’s premier juvenile races, but she has been responsible for horses who have got out over a trip at the highest level.

Her first foal was former Hong Kong superstar Vengeance Of Rain, while her second was Dizelle, who won the Group 1 ATC Oaks (2400m) in 2005 and produced an Oaks winner of her own, 2017 VRC Oaks heroine Pinot.

8 - CIGNETTI (NZ)

3YO Bay Gelding

Foaled: 8/10/2023

Super Seth – Touting (NZ) (Savabeel)

Breeder: Waikato Stud Ltd

Trainers: Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young

Jockey: William Pike (57kg)

Barrier: 12

Record: 6:1-1-3   $96,150

Distances won: 1400m

Distances placed: 1200m, 1500m, 1800m, 2000m

An NZD$220,000 buy out of the New Zealand Ready To Run Sale, Cignetti is by one of Australia’s most promising stallions who was a miler, but is a son of Dundeel, who was a beaten favourite in the Victoria Derby and won an ATC Derby, and has already produced a Derby winner in Maison Louis, who won last year’s Group 1 Queensland Derby (2400m).

Cignetti is from a female family whose best efforts have been up to a mile, but his damsire is Savabeel, who has produced a swag of Derby and Oaks winners, including Sangster, who won the 2011 Victoria Derby for Trent Busuttin.

9 - ICY YOU

3YO Bay Gelding

Foaled: 27/8/2023

Pinatubo (IRE) – El Daana (Redoute’s Choice)

Breeder: Three Bridges Thoroughbreds

Trainers: Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young

Jockey: Craig Williams (57kg)

Barrier: 10

Record: 5:1-3-0   $102,235

Distances won: 1600m

Distances placed: 1600m, 1800m, 2200m

The gelding is a product of a Darley shuttler who is a son of Shamardal who was a two-time Group 1 winner over 1400m at two and added another at three, but has demonstrated an ability to produce horses who can get out over a little further with last Saturday’s Spring Champion Stakes runner-up Global Goal and Group 1 Tattersall’s Gold Cup (2112m) placegetter Saddadd among his progeny.

A $200,000 Magic Millions weanling who later sold for $250,000 as a yearling at Magic Millions, Icy You is out of the Group 2 Edward Manifold Stakes (1600m) winner El Daana, who did run in a VRC Oaks (2500m), but could manage only sixth position. Most of El Daana’s progeny have been at their best up to a mile, headlined by her Group 1 winner, Al Muthana, who won over 1600m at the top level in South Africa.

10 - TRUE TONE

3YO Bay Colt

Foaled: 9/9/2023

Dundeel (NZ) – Tune Doubt (Not a Single Doubt)

Breeder: Gilgai Farm

Trainer: Chris Waller

Jockey: Jason Collett (57kg)

Barrier: 15

Record: 5:1-1-1   $92,500

Distances won: 1600m

Distances placed: 1500m, 2200m

The Gilgai-bred colt that was a $600,000 buy at last year’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale is by the ATC Derby winner, who has produced Group 1 winners over a range of distances, including Dunkel, who won the Group 1 SA Derby at 2500m.

True Tone, an unraced daughter of Not A Single Doubt, is from a family that is dominated by sprinters, being a three-quarter-sister to Jukebox and the dam of Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Bruckner. The outlier is Ihtsahymn, winner of a Group 1 Northerly Stakes (1800m) and Group 2 C B Cox Stakes (2100m), who is a half-sister to Tune Doubt’s dam Jestatune.

11 - HIERARCHY

3YO Bay Colt

Foaled: 10/9/2023

Dubawi (IRE) – Colette (Hallowed Crown)

Breeder: Godolphin Australia

Trainers: Anthony & Sam Freedman

Jockey: Ben Melham (57kg)

Barrier: 4

Record: 4:1-0-1   $51,380

Distances won: 1400m

Distances placed: 1200m

The Godolphin colt is a strong contender for the best-bred horse in this year’s Derby.

He’s by champion European stallion Dubawi, one of the world’s great stallions who has thrown Group 1 winners over a variety of distances and is the sire of Ghaiyyath, who produced last year’s Derby winner Observer.

Colette is a daughter of Hallowed Crown, a top miler, and she herself was a Group 1 winner on Derby Day – claiming the 1600m Empire Rose Stakes in 2021. She stretched her brilliance out to 2400m at three, however, to win the Group 1 ATC Oaks (2400m).

12 - WRITTEN EMPIRE

3YO Bay or Brown Colt

Foaled: 16/10/2023

Written Tycoon – Altea (FR) (Siyouni (FR))

Breeder: Yulong Investments Yulong Stud

Trainers: Ben, Will & JD Hayes

Jockey: Harry Coffey (57kg)

Barrier: 2

Record: 4:1-0-1   $47,000

Distances won: 1500m

Distances placed: 1600m

The other product of an Australian Champion Sire award winner and, like King Snitz, his sire is better known for the deeds of his stock over shorter trips than the Derby, yet to produce a Group 1 winner beyond 1600m.

From a Siyouni mare who won out to 1700m and traces back to a French family with form out to 2800m, while the Champion Stayer of India from 2007 – Listed Indian Derby winner Aperitivo – also appears on the page, which is not something you see every year in the pedigree of a Victoria Derby runner.

13 - RUSSIAN ROCK

3YO Brown or Black Gelding

Foaled: 31/10/2023

Russian Camelot (IRE) – Rocka Mirage (Fastnet Rock)

Breeder: Mr D Barclay

Trainer: Michael Trotter

Jockey: Michael Dee (57kg)

Barrier: 7

Record: 4:1-0-1   $40,850

Distances won: 1450m

Distances placed: 1400m

Michael Trotter was only too happy to end up with Russian Rock, who was offered for sale as a weanling, but passed in after failing to reach $25,000 reserve at the 2024 Great Southern Sale.

His father’s staying credentials are not for question, having brilliantly won the Group 1 SA Derby (2500m), but he is from a Fastnet Rock mare whose immediate family are all sprinters.

There is some impressive Derby form further back on the maternal page, though, with Rocka Mirage a great-granddaughter of Tidal Light, who upstaged the boys in the Group 1 NZ Derby (2400m) in 1987 and was a winner of the NZ Horse of the Year award.

14 - COLD SHOWER

3YO Bay or Brown Gelding

Foaled: 27/9/2023

Too Darn Hot (GB) – Seracena (So You Think (NZ))

Breeder: Contract Racing Pty Ltd

Trainers: Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott

Jockey: Jett Stanley (57kg)

Barrier: 5

Record: 3:1-0-1   $45,200

Distances won: 2270m

Distances placed: 2000m

The most expensive yearling in the race as a $650,000 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale purchase, he is by the boom Darley shuttle stallion, who was a superstar miler best known in these parts as the sire of Broadsiding, who placed in a Cox Plate and won Group 1s out to the 2000m of the Rosehill Guineas.

Few in the race have as strong a link to the Victoria Derby through the female side, with Seracena a daughter of So You Think and Picholine. That daughter of Dehere is the dam of Rebel Raider, shock winner of the 2008 Derby, but also Shamoline Warrior, who was raging favourite for the following year’s Derby before being scratched on race morning.

15 - KING WINSTON

3YO Bay Gelding

Foaled: 6/10/2023

Churchill (IRE) – Royal Reset (Reset)

Breeder: Pretty Hill Pastoral

Trainer: Greg Eurell

Jockey: Daniel Stackhouse (57kg)

Barrier: 9

Record: 4:0-1-0   $22,025

Distances won: Nil

Distances placed: 1600m

The Derby is a family reunion of sorts for the $40,000 Inglis Premier buy and Cignetti, who both trace back to the Charicles mare Scale Fee. She is the mother of Cignetti’s third dam Isla Bijou, who is a sister to King Winston’s fourth dam Daisy Dotes.

Like Cignetti, there is not a lot of staying form in King Winston’s past three generations but Royal Reset is also by a staying sire, a son of Reset, who is by the mighty Zabeel.

16 - QUICK FINISH

3YO Bay Filly

Foaled: 8/10/2023

Grunt (NZ) – Gentle Strokes (Golden Horn (GB))

Breeder: Yulong Investments Yulong Stud

Trainers: Tony & Calvin McEvoy

Jockey: Jye McNeil (55kg)

Barrier: 11

Record: 4:3-0-0   $275,125

Distances won: 1500m, 1800m, 2000m

Distances placed: Nil

The first filly in 36 years to contest the Derby was bred by Yulong, which offered her at last year’s Premier Sale, but ended up taking her home after she failed to reach her meagre reserve of $25,000.

A daughter of Yulong’s foundation stallion Grunt, a son of the renowned sire of stayers O’Reilly, out of an unraced Golden Horn mare whose standout relation from a staying perspective is Listed winner Universal Order, a son of a half-sister to Gentle Strokes’ dam, who won out to a mile-and-a-half.

17 - MEET THE PRINCE (1st EM)

3YO Brown Gelding

Foaled: 21/9/2023

Royal Meeting (IRE) – Hallowell Lane (Lonhro)

Breeder: Mr R Dunnett

Trainer: Patrick Kearney

Jockey: Jackson Radley (a) (57kg)

Barrier: 1

Record: 5:0-2-0   $12,015

Distances won: Nil

Distances placed: 1550m, 2100m

Gelding by a stallion whose claim to fame is producing Blue Diamond winner Kayasugi, out of an unraced Lonhro mare from a sprinter/miler family, the best of whom is Golden Rose (1400m) and Caulfield Guineas (1600m) winner Court Command, who is a half-brother to Hallowell Lane’s dam Rose Of Hallowell.

18 - LOCKED IN (2nd EM)

3YO Bay Gelding

Foaled: 3/10/2023

Shamus Award – God Bless Us (Flying Spur)

Breeder: Armidale Stud Pty Ltd

Trainers: Ken & Kasey Keys

Jockey: Ben Allen (57kg)

Barrier: 8

Record: 4:0-0-0   $3,825

Distances won: Nil

Distances placed: Nil

Yet to place in four career runs, but from a family who has impacted the Derby before. By Shamus Award out of the Flying Spur mare God Bless Us, he is a brother to Soul Patch, who carried the same colours Locked In will race under into third placing in the 2019 Derby.