Racing: Derby Day a purist's dream

Punters at the Flemington Race Course. Photo / Getty Images.

The Victoria Derby at Flemington is older than the Melbourne Cup and headlines a day of racing regarded as a purist's dream.

Top hats and tails are part of the tradition of Derby Day with the women's fashion on classical lines for a Classic race.

Run over 2500 metres, the Derby is a test of endurance for 3-year-olds, 100 metres longer than most Derbys because of the configuration of the track.

At the other end of the scale, the sprinting 3-year-olds contest one of three other group one races on the programme, the Coolmore Stud Stakes over 1200 metres on the only metropolitan track that still has straight racing. The Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) has been a useful guide to the Melbourne Cup in the past while the final group one, the Myer Classic (1600m), pits the best fillies and mares against one another at weight-for-age.

The support programme includes the Lexus Stakes (2500m) - the last chance for a horse to force its way into the Melbourne Cup - while the Wakeful Stakes (2000m) is the final tune-up for fillies headed towards the Oaks the following Thursday.

The Salinger, a dash down the straight over 1200 metres under handicap conditions, is a lead-up to the group one Patinack Classic at weight-for-age a week later.

VICTORIA DERBY: The Victoria Derby was first run in 1855, six years before the inaugural Melbourne Cup. Its honour roll includes some of the best horses to grace the Australian turf such as Phar Lap (1929), Comic Court (1948), Tulloch (1957), Tobin Bronze (1965), Dulcify (1978), Grosvenor (1982), Red Anchor (1984), Mahogany (1993), Nothin' Leica Dane (1995) and Elvstroem (2003).

MACKINNON STAKES: Traditionally used as the final Melbourne Cup tune-up, particularly by Bart Cummings, the Mackinnon has grown in prestige as a race in its own right and is worth A$1 million this year. Seven of the 12 Mackinnon runners are entered for the Cup including the Cummings-trained So You Think and Faint Perfume.

COOLMORE STUD STAKES: Formerly known as the Ascot Vale Stakes, this 1200m race for three-year-olds was run at group one level for the first time in 2006, when it was won by speed machine Gold Edition.

MYER CLASSIC: The 1600m fillies and mares race was run for the first time in 1988 and upgraded to group one in 2004 when won by New Zealander Miss Potential. There are 12 horses in this year's renewal headed by glamour mare Typhoon Tracy, the reigning Horse of the Year.

- AAP