CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME
This week we welcome the world to Flemington. VRC Members and other patrons in their tens of thousands on each of our four Melbourne Cup Carnival race days will experience a week of world class racing and the next edition of Australia’s original major event. Millions more worldwide will experience the excitement through our broadcast partners and social and digital platforms.
Penfolds Victoria Derby Day consistently delivers. The emphasis is on the highest level of racing, elegance and style. It’s been called the black- type, blue-ribbon, red-letter day of Australian racing, a spectacle and a perfect scene setter for next Tuesday’s Lexus Melbourne Cup. Every race is at Group level, the highest class in world racing. Four Group 3 races. Two Group 2 contests, including the G.H. Mumm Wakeful Stakes for fillies, so often a predictor for next Thursday’s classic Crown Oaks. And three Group 1 races. The Coolmore Stud Stakes is for three-year-old sprinters down the famous Flemington Straight Six track. The TAB Empire Rose Stakes over 1600 metres is a championship race for fillies and mares. The feature Penfolds Victoria Derby is the classic for three-year-old stayers. Its tradition now stretches back 169 years to the earliest days at Flemington. It pays homage to the English Derby, first run at Epsom 75 years beforehand. Our Derby is the oldest continually run race in Australia. Its list of winners includes some of the greatest champions to have graced the Australian turf, including Phar Lap, Tobin Bronze and Tulloch. Eighteen have a Melbourne Cup victory to their name. This year is the centenary of the brilliant colt Spearfelt’s triumph in the Victoria Derby, two years before he won the Melbourne Cup. Today we will see new champions of the turf and exquisite fashion, hospitality
and entertainment fitting of this special Australian race day. Welcome to Flemington for Penfolds Victoria Derby Day.
Neil Wilson Chairman
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