South Australian Derby Tips, Betting, Odds, Horses & More 2025

The South Australian Derby is one of the biggest Group One races in Morphettville and forms part of Adelaide’s Autumn Racing Carnival. It is a race for 3YOs and is run at set weights. Set at 2,500m, it brings out some of the best South Australian stayers as well as some interstate racehorses.

Some of the other races to take place at Morphettville Racecourse during the Autumn Racing Carnival include the Robert Sangster Stakes, the Australasian Oaks and The Goodwood. With all this epic racing to take place, it’s no wonder that Morphettville is one of the top tracks in the country.

The race has been running since 1860, which makes it one of the longest-running races on the calendar. However, the race was previously run during Spring time and took place just before the Victoria Derby. In 1984, this all changed and the South Australian Derby was changed to be raced during Autumn.

Each year, we see many quality runners line up to tackle the South Australian Derby. This includes both local and interstate runners, with some of them heading to bigger and better things, like the Melbourne Cup, for example.

The team at OnlyRacing.com.au will have you covered for every aspect you could possibly want to learn about the South Australian Derby. Be sure to check back on this page during race week because we will update all the information on this page, including our latest South Australian Derby tips and so much more.

But before we show off our tips for the race, let’s check out the prize money for the South Australian Derby. Recently, the race saw an increase in prize money from $502,250 to an even $1 million. Check out the breakdown of prize money below:

Would you like some South Australian Derby tips? Well, you’re in luck because we’ve got some free horse racing tips just for you! Our experts take their job of providing horse racing tips very seriously and they would never tip a runner they wouldn’t get on themselves! We've got heaps of tips available, like our Morphettville tips, for example, that covers all the main meetings at the track.

Our experts are here to provide you with the best South Australian Derby tips going around. They are waiting until the final field has been confirmed before moving ahead and announcing their top picks for the race. When the time comes, you’ll have all the tips you could ever need.

We know you want some tips, so tips you shall receive! Keep on reading to find out which runners our expert is tipping in the 2024 South Australian Derby below (we’ll replace this with our 2025 tips during race week):

South Australian Derby Best Bet - Warmonger

After careful consideration, my best bet for the South Australian Derby on Saturday is Warmonger, who is currently on the second line of betting at $6.00. He has strung a few good races together so far, including narrowly going down in the Listed Port Adelaide Guineas. 

He stepped out last weekend in the Group 3 Chairman’s Stakes, but it wasn’t a very positive ride by jockey Damian Lane and Warmonger ended up in fifth place, 1.1L off the pace. Damian Lane gets the ride again and I think he will learn from the previous ride. The step up from 2,000m to 2,500m looks ideal as Warmonger had the best late splits in the Chairman’s.

South Australian Derby Next Best - Antrim Coast

The gelding has just two Aussie starts under his belt, but has performed well both times. First off was a win in the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes, then last time out, he finished a close second in the Listed Galilee Series Final. Antrim Coast finished runner up in the New Zealand Derby before making the trip across the ditch.

Love that he is tackling a set-weights race and at $7.00, he presents some decent value. Along with this, he gets the services of Michael Dee, who was on board when he won the Alister Clark Stakes and the barrier draw works well. Antrim Coast could very well go on to win this one.

South Australian Derby Best Roughie - Gold Wolf

The market has completely overlooked him, with Gold Wolf listed at $18 (at the time of writing), but I am more than willing to take a chance on him! Gold Wolf comes from a small Victorian stable but has had the perfect lead-up, winning the Listed Galilee Series Final. Yep, the same race that my next best tip came runner-up in!

Draws the inside barrier, so will do no work at all and jockey Neil Farley knows him better than anyone else. I reckon if he came from a bigger, more well-known barn, Gold Wolf would be well into single digits here. Jump on board each-way and see just how good Gold Wolf is!

Armed with our tips and this South Australian Derby betting information, placing a bet on the race should be as easy as they come. Even if you do bet on horse racing semi-regularly, it can never hurt to brush up on your knowledge! Things change pretty quickly in horse racing, so you don’t want to miss anything.

In Australia, there are many different betting apps available to place your bets with each year on the South Australian Derby. If you already have an account with a bookie, you might think your job is already done. Think not! We actually recommend having accounts with multiple different bookies.

This is because different horse racing betting sites all offer slightly different products as well as betting promotions and odds. You could be missing out on additional value and it’s an easy solution to fix this - open an account with a couple of other bookies!

Some of the Australian betting sites that we like at the moment include; BetGalaxy, Dabble and Winnersbet. These three bookies all have a unique offering, so if you haven’t already considered them, they are worth at least checking out!

There are plenty more bookies floating around in Australia as well, so if the three listed above don’t tickle your fancy, all you need to do is check out our “Betting Sites” section above. We’ve got in-depth bookie reviews on all the best betting apps in Australia.

Something else you need to consider when betting on the South Australian Derby is the market. There could even be some betting sites bonuses for specific markets, so keep your eyes peeled for that. From the simple Win Bet to something more complicated, like a Quaddie, there are plenty of betting markets available for the race each year.

We are still waiting for the 2025 South Australian Derby field to be confirmed. Even though we don’t know which runners will take part, we do know it will be a high-quality field, as we’ve come to expect in recent years.

As well as the field, we will also list the current odds for the South Australian Derby in our “Odds” section below, if the odds are available. It is a good idea to check out the odds for the South Australian Derby well before the race because it will give you an indication of which runners are more favoured in the market.

As we wait for the final field to be confirmed, why don’t you check out to see which runners lined up for the South Australian Derby in 2024 below:

Another year, another jam-packed field! In 2024, we saw a field of 16 runners line up for the South Australian Derby, as well as three emergencies. The emergencies are there just in case there are any scratchings in the race, but there weren’t any scratchings in the end.

It’s unfortunate when a horse is scratched from a race and if you’ve been around the industry for long enough, you’ve probably already realised that scratchings are fairly common. Even in Group 1 races, scratchings can happen, so if you’ve placed a bet on the race, it’s important to keep an eye on things.

Something else you should be aware of is the barrier draw. Before the race, each runner is randomly selected a barrier they will jump from. Some barriers have had more success than others in the past and could potentially influence how the race is run as well as the end result!

Most novices prefer to leave the South Australian Derby form guide to the professionals and we don’t blame them! There is a lot of work that goes into putting together all the key form indicators, especially in a race like the South Australian Derby that has been running for as long as it has. 

So, we’ve got some good news for you. Our experts have done all the heavy lifting. We’ve gone through all the data and pulled out some key patterns that you should be aware of before placing any bets as it could point you in the direction of a winner. Take a look at everything we’ve found below!

As we’ve said previously, we see a mixture of both local and interstate runners compete in the South Australian Derby. This means there could potentially be a couple of different form lines to look into. 

For the local runners, the most popular lead-up race is usually the Chairman’s Stakes (Listed) or the Australasian Oaks (Group 1) for fillies. When looking at interstate runners, the ideal lead-up is usually the Australian Derby. In 2024, South Australian Derby winner, Coco Sun, finished second in the Australasian Oaks,

In the last 35 years, 12 winners have come through the Chairman’s Stakes, which also includes four of the last 11. Interstate runners coming from the Australian Derby don’t have as good of a record as only four South Australian Derby winners contested the Australian Derby as their lead-up run in the past 33 years.

The barrier draw may not be of big concern, especially when compared to other races. Runners that have jumped from wide barriers have seen some success in recent years. Coco Sun, who won in 2024, was the last runner to jump from a barrier in double digits.

While the favourite may not necessarily win the South Australian Derby, look for a runner that has been found in the market. In the past 35 years, we’ve seen 22 winners jump with a price of $5.00 or shorter. 

The South Australian Derby has been running for a very long time now and that means many quality horses have competed and won the race! With so many South Australian Derby horses to choose from, we’ve had to make some tough decisions on which runners to choose to feature.

We only have a certain amount of space, so we’ve picked a handful of the best South Australian Derby horses to feature. Hopefully, you agree with our selections! Check out some of the best-ever horses to compete and win the South Australian Derby below:

Subzero - 1992

The year 1992 was a big year for Suzero. Along with winning the South Australian Derby, the gelding also went on to win the biggest race of them all, the Melbourne Cup. While he may have only won six races throughout his career, with a record of 48:6-6-5, he amassed over $2 million in prize money.

Mummify - 2003

Mummify won a handful of Group 1 races throughout his career, including the 2003 South Australian Derby. Some of the other key races he won included; the Caulfield Cup, the  Underwood Stakes and the Caulfield Stakes. The gelding won over $5 million throughout his career thanks to winning these major Group 1 races.

Rebel Raider - 2009

Rebel Raider created history when he became the longest-priced winner of the Victoria Derby (at 100/1) and it was the first win by a female jockey as well, with Clare Lindop taking the saddle. Rebel Raider won six races throughout his career and retired with a cool $1,408,340 in the prize money bank.

Russian Camelot - 2020

Russian Camelot won two Group 1 races in 2020 which were the South Australian Derby along with the Underwood Stakes. He also ran third in the 2020 Cox Plate and second in the 2021 All-Star Mile. All these wins and placings throughout his career helped him amass a total of $1,626,225 in prize money.

Explosive Jack - 2021

Explosive Jack is a multiple Group 1 winner. Along with the South Australian Derby, he has also won races like the Sydney Cup and the Australian Derby. So far, Explosive Jack has a career record of 20:6-2-2 and has just over $3 million in prize money under his belt.

Another thing you need to do before placing any bets is check out the South Australian Derby odds. You may think you’ve found a runner you want to bet on, but if the odds are really short, there might not be any value in betting on it. Particularly if a runner is a $1.15 chance, for example, you wouldn’t make a lot of money.

This is why the odds are important as they help you determine where value lies in the horse racing markets. While viewing the odds, you may notice them changing. There are many reasons why the odds for each runner or market will change and it’s a good idea to get your bets on as soon as you see a price you like. 

All the best horse racing betting apps will open up markets for the South Australian Derby before the race. As of right now, our favourite bookie, PlayUp, has not released their market, so if you want to place your bets, you’ll have to wait a little longer.

It’s a good idea to place your bets when the market is listed at “Before Noms” as opposed to “All-In” as you will get your stake back if your chosen runner doesn’t end up making it into the final field. As well as this, you’ll usually find that the odds are higher compared to if you placed your bets on the day of the race.

Check out the South Australian odds for the race in 2024, taken just days before the race (we will update the odds information for the race in 2025 when available):

*Odds correct as of 02/05/2024.

The South Australian Derby has a rich and long history with the first running of the race taking place all the way back in 1860 when run at Thebarton Racecourse and won by Midnight. The race takes place now at Morphettville Racecourse and forms part of Adelaide's Autumn Racing Carnival, which is one of the top horse racing carnivals in the country. 

Throughout the years, there have been many changes to the South Australian Derby. The distance of the race has been mostly kept at its current distance of 2,500m, but the race has also been held at distances of 2,400m and 2,600m as well.

During a time in the 1800s, the race was referred to as simply The Derby. But now we all know the race is referred to as the South Australian Derby when it moved to its permanent home of Morphettville Racecourse.

There have been a few years that the South Australian Derby wasn’t held, which include; between 1869 and 1875, between 1885 and 1889, 1942, 1942 and 1983. Like many races of its time, the South Australian Derby was first run as a Principal race before eventually gaining the illustrious Group 1 status in 1979.

As you probably have already figured out by now, there are heaps of Group 1 races on the calendar each year and we have a page on all of them! Check out our Group One races list to find out more information on any of the other key races on the Australian calendar.

As soon as the race has been run, those not lucky enough to watch the race live will be searching online for the results. We have all the South Australian Derby results you’ve been looking for! This section of our page will showcase the finishing order of every runner in the race along with a full race replay. 

The 2024 South Australian Derby was taken out by one of the more fancied runners in the market, Coco Sun, who had just finished second in the Australasian Oaks in the lead-up to this race. She finished 1.3L in front of Warmonger, who was listed at $6.00 before the race.

Filling in the final minor placing was Air Assault, who just couldn’t hold on to first place and ended up finishing 2L off Coco Sun. In 2024, the race was run in a time of 2:41.13 and there was a total of 112.1L that separated first and last, but a total of 13.6L that separated first and second last.

Check out the full South Australian Derby results below:

As promised, we have the full replay of the South Australian Derby for your viewing pleasure. Check out the video below:

There have been some pretty epic editions of the South Australian Derby over the years. If you’d like to learn who won the South Australian Derby in recent years, check out the table below:

While we hope we have answered every question you may have had about the South Australian Derby, we do know that sometimes things can slip through the cracks. In the final section on our South Australian Derby page, we go through some of the most common FAQs. Check out all the details below: