Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Written by Bren O'Brien
Explosive Jack's (NZ) (Jakkalberry {Ire}) victory in Saturday's G1 South Australian Derby put him in rare company as one of just eight horses to have won three Derbies in a racing season in Australia.
His comfortable win at Morphettville follows on from his wins in the G1 Australian Derby in April and the Listed Tasmanian Derby in February, becoming the first 3-year-old since Stormy Rex (Storm Ruler) in 1977 to claim a hat-trick of Derbies in Australia.
The Bart Cummings-trained Stormy Rex claimed the South Australian, VRC and WA Derbies in an amazing spring/summer campaign of 1977, but fell short of claiming a fourth, when beaten into second in the Australian Derby, then held in Perth.
Five years earlier, Dayana (NZ) (Oncidium {GB}) created a quartet of historic wins that Explosive Jack can match should he contest and win the G1 Queensland Derby next month. Again, it was Cummings' genius behind the magnificent 3-year-old season by Dayana, who in 1972 won the South Australian Derby in October, the VRC Derby in November, and then both the WA Derby and the Australian Derby at Ascot in December. He then backed up to win the Perth Cup on New Year's Day in 1973.
Explosive Jack (NZ) | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Three years prior to that, it was the Tommy Smith-trained Silver Sharpe (Showdown {GB}) that swept the eastern states Derbies, with victory in the AJC Derby, then the VRC Derby, before backing up quickly to win the Queensland Derby, an achievement that has not been matched since.
The racing schedule in those days saw the major Derby races contested in the spring, meaning a dominant 3-year-old could carry his form across multiple states in the same campaign.
"The racing schedule in those days saw the major Derby races contested in the spring, meaning a dominant 3-year-old could carry his form across multiple states in the same campaign."
Silver Sharpe's feat mirrored that of John Page's champion Royal Sovereign (Chatsworth II {GB}) in 1964, when he won the Derbies in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Ridden by Roy Selkrig, he capped his 'Triple Crown' with a 10l win in the Queensland Derby, then held just 11 days after the VRC Derby.
The Champion Tulloch (NZ) (Khorassan {Ire}) completed the same sequence of Derby wins in 1957. Tommy Smith's superstar kicked his Derby heroics off by winning the AJC Derby by 6l in a track-record time, while he proved 8l superior to the same horse, Prince Darius (Persian Book {GB}) in the VRC Derby. In between those victories, he won the Caulfield Guineas and the Caulfield Cup.
He completed a perfect spring 3-year-old campaign of eight straight wins with victory in the Queensland Derby later in November.
Prior to Tulloch, you have to go back to the 19th century to find a horse that won three Derbies in Australia.
Florence (Boiardo {GB}) is the only filly to have completed a Derby hat-trick, winning the AJC, VRC and Queensland Derbies in the 1870/71 season. She also won the VRC Oaks.
Fireworks (Kelpie {GB}) was the first Australian horse to win three Derbies, albeit in quite unusual circumstances. In a sensational 3-year-old season, he won 12 of his 16 starts, including the 1867 AJC Derby and then the 1867 VRC Derby, the day after he had contested the Melbourne Cup, then held on a Thursday.
"Fireworks was the first Australian horse to win three Derbies, albeit in quite unusual circumstances. In a sensational 3-year-old season, he won 12 of his 16 starts."
The VRC then decided to run a second Derby that season on New Year's Day of 1868, adding a bonus of 500 sovereigns to kick start the Derby concept. Fireworks would also win that race, thus becoming the only horse to win the same Derby twice.
While the above-mentioned horses all hold the esteem of having claimed three Derby victories, it is also worth mentioning the feats of the most recent horse before Explosive Jack to win multiple Derbies in Australia in the same season, Delicacy (Al Maher).
Delicacy (pink and white cap)
Delicacy's achievements in winning the G2 WA Derby and G1 South Australian Derby in 2015 are noteworthy because the Grant Williams-trained and Bob Peters-owned filly also won the G1 Australasian Oaks and G3 WA Oaks in the same campaign. That's four Classic victories in succession.
The same year, the Murray Baker-trained Mongolian Khan completed a G1 Derby double on either side of the Tasman, taking out both the 2015 New Zealand Derby and the 2015 Australian Derby.
The last horse to win multiple Group 1 Derbies in Australia prior to Explosive Jack was Rebel Raider (Reset) for trainer Leon Macdonald, who caused a huge boilover in the 2008 VRC Derby and then backed that up later that season by winning the 2009 South Australian Derby.
