South Australian Derby attracts capacity field of 16

A capacity field of 16 three-year-olds have accepted for Saturday’s Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) at Morphettville.

Having been recently acquired from the Greg Eurell barn, the now Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Promises Kept will be looking to claim Group 1 glory on his stable debut following a dominant win in the St Leger Trial at Bendigo last month.

The win was his second-straight success at 2200m, and with Mark Zahra on board from barrier nine he is expected to be prominent throughout the 2500m staying event.

Following a narrow defeat in the Group 1 Australasian Oaks a fortnight ago, the Daniel Morton-trained She’s Fit heads the market for Saturday’s Group 1 despite being the lone filly in the race.

With a win in the Listed Natasha Stakes and Group 3 WA Oaks prior to coming to Adelaide, the Pride Of Dubai filly is a $4.50 favourite with online bookmakers but will need to be at her best having drawn barrier 11 under Chris Parnham.

Having been beaten by under a length in the Group 3 Chairman’s Stakes, Suizuro is one of four runners from the Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young barn.

The Real Impact gelding will no doubt appreciate the step back up to 2500m, having gone down by the best part of two lengths in the Group 1 Australian Derby two starts back behind Major Beel and Virtuous Circle.

Red Sun Sensation and Loco look set to appreciate the step up in trip following a ding-dong battle in the Chairman’s Stakes when getting the better of a few their rivals who line up in the SA Derby.

Fresh off a contest with Melbourne Cup favourite White Marlin, Aberfeldie Boy will be out to add a South Australian Derby win to his minor placing in last year’s VRC Derby at Flemington.

The South Australian Derby headlines a nine-race program at Morphettville which includes the Group 3 South Australian Sires’ Produce Stakes and Listed Adelaide Guineas.

2023 South Australian Derby Final Field

No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight
1	Suizuro	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Opie Bosson	20	56.5kg
2	Aberfeldie Boy	Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock	Craig Newitt	16	56.5kg
3	Dunkel	Patrick Payne	Billy Egan	8	56.5kg
4	High Approach	Dan O’Sullivan	John Allen	5	56.5kg
5	Red Sun Sensation	Peter Moody	Luke Nolen	10	56.5kg
6	Bengal Boy	Matt Cumani	Declan Bates	7	56.5kg
7	Loco	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Damien Oliver	15	56.5kg
8	Gottabesavvy	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Todd Pannell	18	56.5kg
9	Promises Kept	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Mark Zahra	9	56.5kg
10	Ain’t He Grand	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Allen	17	56.5kg
11	Dunwoody	Matt Cumani	Jarrod Fry	4	56.5kg
12	Captain Pluto	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Daniel Moor	1	56.5kg
13	Northern Barrage	Michael Kent	TBC	6	56.5kg
14	Reservoir Dog	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Jake Toeroek	14	56.5kg
15	Prince Tikea	Travis Doudle	Dom Tourneur	3	56.5kg
16	She’s Fit	Daniel Morton	Chris Parnham	11	54.5kg
17	Xtrarevz (1E)	John Sargent	Kerrin McEvoy	13	56.5kg
18	Nightsun (2E)	Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock	TBC	12	56.5kg
19	Impending Link (3E)	Greg Eurell	TBC	2	56.5kg
20	Samuel Langhorne (4E)	Michael Kent	TBC	19	56.5kg