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Irish Derby Festival Betting Guide - Curragh Horse Race | LeoVegas

Irish Derby Festival Betting Guide

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Founded near the turn of the 19th century, the Dubai Duty-Free Irish Derby Weekend is a stand-out occasion in the horse racing calendar. The event will run this year on July 2 at The Curragh Racecourse in County Kildare. Notably, the Irish Derby will take place on a Sunday for the first time in over a decade. Whether that makes any difference to the running is up to you.

Perhaps inevitably, the list of winners is dominated by Ireland native Aidan O'Brien, who has claimed 14 victories on the turf. The Wexford-born trainer posted an especially stellar streak after 2006, winning seven times without fail. Most recently, Ralph Beckett found success at the Curragh with the four-year-old Frankel descendant Westover. What’s going to happen in 2023? Read our full Irish Derby Festival betting guide below.

Irish Derby Horse Race

The Irish Derby Festival is commonly thought of as the Emerald Isle’s own Epsom Derby, a world class racing event that was won in 2022 by Desert Crown. The world-famous Festival involves eight different races, beginning with the Dubai Duty-Free Dash (1:25 pm), the Dubai Duty-Free Summer Fillies Handicap (2:00 pm), and then the Dubai Duty-Free Celebration Stakes (2.35 pm).

From 3:05 pm onwards, the action moves to the Group 2 GAIN Railway Stakes. The day’s main event, the Group 1 Classic Dubai Duty-Free Irish Derby, takes place at 3:45 pm. The Festival is closed out by the ARM Holding International Stakes (4:20 pm), the Dubai Duty-Free Derby Festival Handicap (4:50 pm), and the Dubai Duty-Free Handicap at 5:25 pm.

The Derby is a Group 1 flat race at the Irish Derby at the Curragh for three-year-old boys and girls. As far as prizes are concerned, a pot of around €1m will be shared among the top eight finishes of the 1m 4f Irish Derby. This ranges from €580,000 (first place) to €10,000 (eighth). Special events separate many of the races, such as the Most Stylish Man and Lady contest and an early expert panel entitled From The Horse’s Mouth.

Irish Derby Betting Markets

The Irish Derby may have moved on from its two-century-old roots, but plenty of competitors are still celebrated to this day. Mornington “Morny” Wing - a jockey, not a horse - is arguably the most well-known aspect of the Festival’s lore to date. Wing won six times before 1946 (1921, 1923, 1930, 1938, 1942, 1946), which still stands as the record for most wins by a single jockey at the Irish Derby Festival.

Everybody has ideas about who might win (and how) on the day, so it’s worth looking at some of the more popular Irish derby betting markets. Horse racing fans have the option of betting on several different things, including the ones below:

  • Winner - An easy one, this is a wager on the first horse to cross the line.
  • Place - Will the horse finish first, second, third, or fourth?
  • Each way - This bet describes two separate wagers, namely, one to win and one to place. It’s a combination of the two previous bets.
  • Exacta - Bet on first and second place.
  • Yankee - Pick four events and then make eleven bets from within. These are six double bets, four treble bets, and a fourfold accumulator.
  • Trifecta and Quartet - Like the above, but for places one to three and one to four.
  • Place Accumulator - Wager on seven races at once, picking the first, second, and third-place finishers.

As fans of the Grand National Festival at Aintree will no doubt be aware, the bookmakers’ odds are by no means a guarantee of success. They’re simply educated guesses. In previous years, runners with odds as high as 16/1 (Frozen Fire in 2008) have won at the Irish Derby Festival. That’s not quite as spectacular as the 50/1 win for Sam Waley-Cohen and Noble Yeats at Aintree in 2022, but it has a way of giving all bets some semblance of hope.

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Irish Derby Ante Post Betting

Two different types of wagers can be placed on most horse races - ante-post and/or starting price. In brief, these terms refer to bets made in the days and weeks before a race is expected to run and at some point immediately before the start, respectively.

It’s entirely up to the bettor to decide which of these wagers they’d like to make, and each comes with its own pros and cons.

The idea is that, with ante-post wagers, the punter can get better value odds as less is known about what condition the horse will be in on the day. The downside is that ante-post betting comes with the risk of forfeit, as the competitor may not run at all. The reverse is true of starting price wagers. Almost everything that can be known about a horse is available at the point of purchase, so the odds can be much shorter.

Ante-post betting is usually allowed until the final declaration stage, when all the runners are confirmed to have entered the race. This can be between 24-48 hours before the off. As hinted at, ante-post wagers are subject to certain rules determining what happens if a horse is withdrawn. Generally, something called a rule 4 deduction can be made from a player’s bet if the runner withdraws after the final declaration is made.

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Irish Derby Winners

Let’s introduce some of the previous winners of the Irish Derby, along with any notable trainers, jockeys, and interesting facts.

  • June 25, 2022 - Westover, ridden by C.T. Keane and trained by R.M. Beckett. Sired by legendary racehorse Frankel.
  • June 26, 2021 - Hurricane Lane, ridden by William Buick and trained by C. Appleby. Another Frankel offspring.
  • June 27, 2020 - Santiago, ridden by JA Heffernan and trained by A.P. O’Brien. Born of Authorised and Wadyhatta.
  • June 29, 2019 - Sovereign, ridden by P. Beggy and trained by A.P. O’Brien. Sovereign’s sire is the 2001 Irish Derby winner Galileo.
  • June 30, 2018 - Latrobe, ridden by Donnacha O’Brien and trained by Joseph O’Brien. Latrobe started the race as an outside 14/1 pick.

Other Irish Derby winners include Capri (2017), Harzand (2016), Jack Hobbs (2015), Australia (2014), Trading Leather (2013) and Camelot (2012).

Irish Derby History

We touched upon the history of the Irish Derby briefly earlier, but there’s still plenty more to learn about the annual race. During the 1800s, the Derby had quite a tumultuous time, with its length changed three separate times, from 1m 6f in 1866 to 1m 9f three years later before dropping back to 1m 4f in 1972. Ten years later, “Dearbaí na hÉireann” was combined with the Irish Hospitals’ Sweepstake to create the short-lived Irish Sweeps Derby.

While that move might seem innocuous in the grander scheme of things, it helped to popularise the race in England, forging stronger connections with the Epsom Derby. From 1962 onwards, the Epsom Derby/Irish Derby double became something of an informal achievement. Around twenty different horses now hold that particular accolade, including Camelot (2012), Australia (2014) and Harzand (2016).

If you’re a fan of genealogy, the Irish Derby can be traced back to a trio of aristocrats. These are the 3rd Marquess of Drogheda, the 3rd Earl of Howth and the 3rd Earl of Claremont. This group created the O’Darby Stakes in 1817. Some of the more notable horses to have trod the Curragh track include the legendary pairing of Nijinsky (1970) and Shergar (1981) before the latter’s disappearing act two years later.

FAQs

What is the Irish Derby Festival?

The Irish Derby is a festival of horse racing held annually at the Curragh Racecourse, Ireland. It is an important Irish classic offering top quality racing. The last edition of the main event was won by Westover.

Why is the Irish Derby track called the Curragh?

The name Curragh comes from the local Irish word for ‘plain’ - currach. The venue is a 5,000-acre ancient grassland that also contains Ireland’s oldest golf course, a museum, and the Pollardstown Fen.

Has a filly (female horse) ever won the Irish Derby?

Yes, although it took almost a century for Salsabil to claim the spoils. Salsabil was submitted late for the Irish Derby Festival in 1990 for £60,000 (Irish pounds). Her win was followed by fellow filly Balanchine’s in 1994.

What time is the Irish Derby race?

In 2023, the Irish Derby begins at 3:45 pm. This is unchanged from the 2022 event. The day has moved to Sunday, though.

What was the first horse to complete the Epsom Derby/Irish Derby double?

Orby in 1907. Orby was trained by Fred McCabe. Oddly enough, the double wouldn’t happen again for another half century when Santa Claus finally won both derbies in 1964. Nijinsky, Grundy, and The Minstrel also claimed the double in 1970, 1975, and 1977, respectively.

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