The press release for the 2017 Epsom Derby entries has just been released: 416 entries for £1.5 million Investec Derby in 2017 Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - The 2017 Investec Derby, with increased prize money of £1.5 million, has attracted 416 yearling entries. The 2017 renewal of the Investec Derby will be the 238th running of the world's most famous Flat race and Britain's premier Classic. The great race, for three-year-old colts and fillies, takes place at Epsom Downs Racecourse on Saturday, June 3, 2017. The yearling entry stage is one of three ways in which to enter a horse for the Investec Derby. Horses can also come in at the second entry stage on April 7, 2017 (costing £9,000) and at the supplementary entry stage on May 29, 2017 (costing £85,000). The fee for a yearling entry for the 2017 Investec Derby was £560. Three of the last four Investec Derby winners have been owned by Coolmore syndicates involving Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith - Camelot (2012), Ruler Of The World (2013) and Australia (2014). There are 59 entries with Coolmore connections for the 2017 Investec Derby including a full-brother to Ruler Of The World, as well as a son of Japanese superstar Deep Impact. High-priced yearlings purchased this autumn also feature among the Coolmore contingent including a 1.25 million guineas Galileo colt out of Alluring Park, a full-brother to 2012 Investec Oaks heroine Was, and a US$900,000 War Front colt purchased at Keeneland. Godolphin, responsible for the 1995 Derby winner Lammtarra, has 54 entries split among trainers in Britain, France and Ireland, including a 2.6 million euro colt by Dubawi out of Group Three winner Pacifique, who is in training with Andre Fabre. Other owners previously successful in the Investec Derby with entries include Hamdan Al Maktoum (32 entries), Khalid Abdullah (17 entries), the Aga Khan (15 entries), Ballymacoll Stud (5 entries), Saleh Al Homaizi & Imad Al Sagar (3 entries) and the Royal Ascot Racing Club (1 entry). Qatar Racing Limited has made 13 entries, including a 1.2 million guineas colt out of 2010 1000 Guineas runner-up Jacqueline Quest and a 1.2 million euro Galileo colt out of Sent From Heaven. The Investec Derby is the only British Classic that Her Majesty The Queen has not tasted victory in. There are two Royal entries for the 2017 renewal, a Galileo colt out of Group Two winner Memory named Call To Mind and a Shamardal colt named Frontispiece. Investec co-founder and managing director Bernard Kantor is responsible for four entries, three of whom are owned in partnership with Markus Jooste. Frankel may not have run in the Investec Derby but he features prominently as a stallion with 24 yearlings from his first crop appearing among the entries, including a 750,000 yearling colt out of dual Group One winner Dar Re Mi, who is one of 13 entries for Al Shaqab Racing and a 700,000 yearling colt out of Group One-producing dam Tariysha, who is owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum. Galileo, the 2001 Derby winner who has sired three Investec Derby winners, is the most-represented stallion with 63 entries, followed by Dubawi (33 entries), Shamardal (26), Frankel (24), New Approach (2008 Derby winner, 22), Nathaniel (20), Dansili (17), Sea The Stars (2009 Derby winner, 15), High Chaparral (2002 Derby winner 14) Teofilo (14) and Cape Cross (12). Other previous Investec Derby winners with progeny entered are the 2006 hero Sir Percy (4), 2011 victor Pour Moi (3) and Sinndar (3), who took the honours in 2000. Look Here, who captured the 2008 Oaks, is represented by a Dansili colt for her owner-breeder Julian Richmond-Watson. Local Epsom interest is provided by trainer Simon Dow, who has two entries, a colt by Australian stallion Lonhro and another by 2008 Investec Derby winner New Approach. The last Epsom-trained horse to win a Derby staged at Epsom Downs was April The Fifth in 1932, although Straight Deal, also trained in Epsom, won a wartime substitute race at Newmarket in 1943. There is one filly among the entries, by four-time Ascot Gold Cup hero Yeats. It is over a century since a filly was successful in the Epsom Derby, while the last to be placed was Nobiliary, runner-up to Grundy in 1975. Andrew Cooper, Jockey Club Racecourses' London Region Head of Racing and Clerk of the Course at Epsom Downs Racecourse, commented: "The level of yearling entries for the 2017 Investec Derby has passed the 400-mark, which is our annual target. "The 2017 Investec Derby will have increased prize money of £1.5 million (up from £1.325 million) and we are grateful for the continued support of owners, both large and small, for the yearling entry stage. "Epsom Downs Racecourse, owned by The Jockey Club, has made a serious commitment to maintaining the Investec Derby as Britain's richest race and it is satisfying to see so many regally-bred yearlings among the entries for the 2017 renewal." The yearling entry numbers for the Investec Derby in recent years have been as follows: 2017-416 2016-475 2015-409 2014-406 2013-442 2012-478 2011-444 2010-388 Please click here for a full list of entries for the 2017 Investec Derby Breakdown of entries by selected owners with past successes in the Investec Derby 59 entries Coolmore (Sue Magnier, Derek Smith, Evie Stockwell, Michael Tabor & partnerships) - 2001 Galileo, 2002 High Chaparral, 2012 Camelot, 2013 Ruler Of The World, 2014 Australia 54 entries Godolphin - 1995 Lammtarra 32 entries Hamdan Al Maktoum - 1989 Nashwan, 1994 Erhaab 17 entries Khalid Abdullah - 1990 Quest For Fame, 1993 Commander In Chief, 2010 Workforce 15 entries H H Aga Khan - 1981 Shergar, 1986 Shahrastani, 1988 Kahyasi, 2000 Sinndar 14 entries Niarchos Family/Flaxman Stables Ireland Ltd 13 entries Al Shaqab Racing Qatar Racing Limited 9 entries Highclere Thoroughbred Racing/Bermuda Thoroughbred Racing 5 entries Ballymacoll Stud Farm (2004 North Light) 4 entries Moyglare Stud Farm George Strawbridge Bernard Kantor (three owned in partnership with Markus Jooste) 3 entries Saleh Al Homaizi & Imad Al Sagar (2007 Authorized) Lady Bamford Bjorn Nielsen Ken & Sarah Ramsey 2 entries Her Majesty The Queen 1 Entry China Horse Club The Royal Ascot Racing Club (2005 Motivator)
Just off the top of your head Princess, who was the last filly to start in the race, and has one ever filled a place?
Off the top of my head I think it was Cape Verdi in the late-90s, she went off favourite but finished near the back. Fillies have certainly filled the places and even won going back many, many years. A quick Google says NOBILIARY was the last to place when second to GRUNDY in 1975
Thankyou very much for this! Very interesting reading and insightful for some one who doesn't even look at racing beyond Cheltenham next year at this time of year
Only one Galileo foal has been offered for sale this year. A filly out of Sogno Verde sold to "Hunday" (no idea who they are!) for €475,000. His highest priced foal to date was a colt later named DEEP CHALLENGER sold to David Redvers for 500,000gns in 2012. Now gelded, he has yet to race. Yearling wise, his most expensive yearling this year was a filly out of A Z WARRIOR, sold to Coolmore for 1,300,000gns. His most expensive yearling to date was the filly AL NAAMAH, sold to Al Shaqab for 5,000,000gns in 2013. She has run 7 times, winning once and her best placing was second in a Group 3 in France.
Rumour is around €300,000, though no one seems to know for sure. It's certainly higher than Sadler's Wells' fee which was IR£250,000 at it's peak. To put it into perspective, the best Galileo's are never going to grace the sales ring. If they did they'd be breaking all sorts of records, but while the majority remain in private (ie non-commercial) hands we won't see prices like those Storm Cat achieved on a regular basis. The same has happened with Frankel and will happen with the Dubawi's going forward.
Yes. Stands to reason really Princess, for long term breeders. Keep the best; sell the rest. Thinking about it, in our world, anyone looking for quality don't go to the Sales as nothing of quality goes to the Sales. People who want good stock and prepared to pay for it basically know what they are looking for and buy direct from breeders. Quite often, the ones they want aren't for sale as they are kept for breeding.
As Princess stated, the last filly to start at Epsom was 1000 Guineas winner Cape Verdi in 1998, well beaten 11/4 favourite behind Luca Cumani’s High Rise, although she did not fair as badly as 2000 Guineas winner King of Kings who came home last. I was at her Guineas and she won very easily, perhaps why they opted for the Derby in what looked an open year rather than the Oaks. I am quite curious why an owner would enter a filly yearling to save £8,440 at the “second entry stage”, for which the date – “April 7, 2017” – is surely incorrect given that it is less than two months before the race. The statement made in the press release is not factually accurate until next year. The last filly to win the Derby was Fifinella in 1916 (although it was run at Newmarket), a fact for which even Wikipedia can be relied upon, and that is not “over a century” ago yet. The pedant rests, m’lud...
No the second entry stage is 2 months before the race. Acceptors have to pay a fee to stay in the race of about £1500 and then there's the 5 day entry fee. From memory it costs about £2,500 in total to put a horse in the Derby if you enter at the first stage, about £11,000 if you wait for the second entry stage and the full £85,000 for final supplementary horses.
I can hardly pick an argument with Princess as she is in the horseracing industry whilst I was in the bookmaking industry years ago. So I will go back to the point that I was trying to make: Why pay £560 to enter a filly yearling for the Derby when history shows us that virtually none show up at the start? This is surely just throwing money away when she may not even make it to the racecourse and would have to turn out to have quite significant racing ability as a two year old to justify thoughts of running in the Derby. From an economic point of view, the second entry stage being so close to the race in the modern era is fiscal madness being openly displayed by the racing authorities. The fairytale of the little man owning a Derby winner disappeared a long time ago as the modern Derby field is populated almost exclusively with animals owned by very wealthy individuals and syndicates. If I had a horse that had run well as a two year old and I was minded to think about Epsom, I could run my horse in Dubai early in the three year old season to see if my aspirations were justified and then pay the second stage entry fee to add it to the Derby. If I can afford to ship my beast to Dubai then the extra money is irrelevant. From the point of view of the racing authorities, they should be looking at how they can boost the second stage entry by the largest number given that the supplementary stage just days before the race will allow the rich owners who have picked up Derby trials (e.g. Golden Horn) to join the fray at the last minute. The second entry stage should be at the end of the two year old campaign as this would encourage more owners to put funds into the coffers, irrespective of whether they subsequently took up that option at the next declaration stage (probably the five day declarations). If you own a one-raced juvenile (e.g. Golden Horn) that the trainer thinks might be good enough as a three year old you could add it to the field, whilst if you choose not to there is still the expensive supplementary stage.
Oddy has it right - it's all about tradition To be fair, the authorities (BHA, Jockey Club Racecourses) know they can't compete with the big money races elsewhere, so they put up what they can and hope the history/prestige of the race will do the rest.
Coolmore have entered 59 at a cost of almost £33k, knowing that at least 58 of these can't possibly win. 2 months before the race they could enter 3 likely winners for a total £27k. Am I being thick?
I don't think the bottom line for them is the initial or second payment savings, it's about numbers. If they could get 10 in the race, they'd do it. They'll keep paying up for as many as they can, for as long as they can, they won't be thinking of trying to save a few thousand here and there.
I always thought there was a different schedule for payments if you went in at this stage or came in later. Those that enter now do not ramp up at such a increased rate as those that enter in April 2017. You can withdraw horses at the acceptance stages that arise throughout the year, so cutting back your investment. Stoute withdrew Kris Kin in the early months of 2003, yet paid to put him back in 3 months later after he won the Dee Stakes. It cost a whole lot more to do that. It's mostly owner/breeders who enter at this first stage. Though there are champion horses singled out at birth I doubt many people thought Golden Horn was one in early April this year.
It has not been run on a Saturday for 200 years and the entry system when it first started and for the best part of the first hundred years will have been nothing like the modern system. Coolmore have had five or more in the race a couple of times in the not-so-distant past as O’Brien will run half the yard in any year where the field is not strong except his own. In 2007, eight O’Brien runners watched Authorized dot up at a respectful distance. He ran six against Sea The Stars in 2009 and had four of the first five home. When he won with Ruler Of The World in 2013 he had four other runners and when New Approach won in 2008 he had five unplaced runners.
The most recent Derby that I could find the entry conditions for was 2007. On 7th December, 2005, the initial entry stage closed with 581 yearlings entered. On 6th March 2007, the first forfeit stage reduced that number to 165 who paid to stay in. On 4th April, the second entry stage allowed any others to enter the fray for £8,000 and just 5 were added. After this there was a second forfeit stage on 18th May, followed by a confirmation stage and supplementary entries on 28th May. Final declarations were on 31st May and the race was on 2nd June. As for Golden Horn, the first entry stage was before he made his seasonal bow at Newmarket and I expect that after that, like me, the owner thought that he was a ten furlong horse. He only opted to supplement him after he won the Dante with a little to spare. Just as well we have supplementary entries here now or he would have possibly gone to Chantilly, ground permitting.
Right, to clear things up I've logged into the BHA site and got the full entry details for the Derby. This is the breakdown of costs to enter for the 2016 Derby: Enter by noon, December 2nd, 2014 and pay £500 stake Scratch by noon, March 1st or pay £1000 Scratch by noon, May 20th or pay £3000 Confirm by noon, May 30th and pay £2500 Total cost: £7,000 Second Entry by noon, April 5th and pay £8000 stake Second Entries Scratch by noon, May 20th or pay £10000 Confirm by noon, May 30th and pay £2500 Total cost: £20,500 Supplementary Entry by noon, May 30th and pay £75,000 stake Declare by 10.00 a.m. June 2nd
