Record breaking Oliver guides Warning to Australia’s Victoria Derby success at Flemington

Oliver and Warning landed the feature in some style coming in comfortably ahead of Southern Moon and Soul Patch which came after the jockey had become the most successful at the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

The Victoria Derby Day is regarded as one of the biggest races on the Australian racing calendar featuring a card of nine Group races, four of which are at the elite Group 1 level. The feature race is the Group 1 Victoria Derby, Australia’s premier staying classic for three year olds which is run over one mile and four and a half furlongs.

Wild weather caused havoc for the field and Oliver had to do a little bit of work to position Warning one off the fence behind the leading pair of Long Jack Thought Of That. But once he got there, Warning went into cruise mode and Oliver was able to bowl along behind a moderate pace.

He held his mount together until 200 metres from home when he asked for more from Warning who duly responded and raced away to win by two lengths from the fast-finishing Southern Moon and the second favourite Soul Patch.

It was Oliver’s sixth victory in the Victoria Derby and 74th in the Melbourne Cup carnival. The 47-year-old champion jockey created history earlier in the day, breaking the record of most Melbourne Cup week wins after he took out the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes on Miami Bound. In doing so it broke Bobbie Lewis’ record of 72 Melbourne Cup carnival winners.

Lewis rode four Melbourne Cup winners with his first in on The Victory in 1902 and last with Trivalve in 1927. Lewis even rode the famous Phar Lap in the 1929 Melbourne Cup.

Oliver said he wasn’t actually thinking about the record until the post-race interview but said it was a great honour.

“It’s a huge thrill. They’ve been racing here for over 150 years and there’s been some amazing jockeys over that period of time.

So I feel pretty honoured to think that you’ve been the most successful jockey in over 150 years.”

All eyes now go forward to Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup at Flemington which many experts are saying promises to be one of the more open races of the ‘race that stops a nation’ for years.