The greatest flat race on earth, the Gr1 Investec Derby will be run today at 17h30.
Ruler Of The World seen winning the Investec Derby in 2013
The race will be broadcast live on Tellytrack (Dstv 239) and Supersport (Dstv 208).
Here are some facts of interest:
Winning-most trainers: Aidan O’Brien, with six wins from 72 runners since 1998 (2001 Galileo, 2002 High Chaparral, 2012 Camelot, 2013 Ruler Of The World, 2014 Australia, 2017 Wings Of Eagles). John Gosden, trainer of Roaring Lion and Sevenna Star, has won the Investec Derby twice (Benny The Dip, 1997 and Golden Horn, 2015). Dermot Weld (Hazapour) and William Haggas (Young Rascal) are the other two trainers with runners this year to have won the premier Classic before. Weld scored with Harzand in 2016, while Haggas took glory with Shaamit – his first Investec Derby runner – in 1996.
Dermot Weld
Oldest trainer: Dermot Weld, 69
Youngest trainer: Harry Dunlop (Knight To Behold), 42
Derby debutant: Harry Dunlop has his first Investec Derby runner in Knight To Behold.
Winning-most jockey: both Ryan Moore, who rides the favourite Saxon Warrior, and Frankie Dettori, who will be aboard Hazapour, have won the Investec Derby twice. Moore took it in 2010 with Workforce and in 2013 with Ruler Of The World, while Dettori’s victories came courtesy of Authorized in 2007 and Golden Horn in 2015.
Oldest jockey: Frankie Dettori, 47
Youngest jockey: Donnacha O’Brien (Kew Gardens), 19
Most experienced jockey: Frankie Dettori, with 22 previous rides in the race.
Frankie Dettori
First-timers: Richard Kingscote (Knight To Behold), Robert Havlin (Sevenna Star)
Oldest horse: Kew Gardens, born January 20, 2015
Youngest horse: Dee Ex Bee, born May 3, 2015
Most successful owners: The Coolmore partnership (Sue Magnier, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor), with five runners in this year’s Investec Derby (Delano Roosevelt, Saxon Warrior, Kew Gardens, The Pentagon, Zabriskie), have owned all or part of the six of trainer Aidan O’Brien’s winners of the race, plus the 2011 victor Pour Moi, trained by Andre Fabre. The Aga Khan, owner of Hazapour, has owned five Investec Derby winners to date: Shergar in 1981, Shahrastani in 1986, Kahyasi in 1988, Sinndar in 2000 and Harzand in 2016.
Champion sire: Galileo, who won the Investec Derby in 2001 for Aidan O’Brien, has three runners in this year’s race (Delano Roosevelt, Kew Gardens, The Pentagon). He is also broodmare sire of Saxon Warrior – who is the first Japanese-bred horse (by Deep Impact) to run in the Investec Derby – and the John Gosden-trained Sevenna Star.
Classic contender: Saxon Warrior, the winner of the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket last month, bids to become the 38th horse to follow up a 2000 Guineas victory with Investec Derby success. The last was Camelot, also trained by Aidan O’Brien, in 2012.
