2010 New Zealand Derby

The 2010 New Zealand Derby was a horse race which took place at Ellerslie Racecourse on Saturday 6 March 2010. It was the 135th running of the New Zealand Derby, and it was won by Military Move.[1][2]

The race was one of the most highly anticipated runnings of the New Zealand Derby in years, with a dual Group 1-winning colt seeking to win the VRC Derby-New Zealand Derby double and two high-class fillies entered to take on the males in an attempt to secure a rare win for a filly in New Zealand's most prestigious three-year-old race.

The favourite was Zarzuela, a daughter of Zabeel who in an impressive Derby campaign won the Great Northern Guineas, Waikato Guineas and Championship Stakes.

The other top filly in the race was Katie Lee, a winner of six stakes races who in November made history by becoming the first horse to win both the New Zealand 2000 Guineas and New Zealand 1000 Guineas. Many doubted her ability to stay the 2400m of the race and perhaps that factor, combined with a gruelling 10-race campaign exclusively at stakes level and the slightly shifty track conditions of the Derby, was her undoing.

Of the male horses, the most talked about was VRC Derby winner, Monaco Consul. The son of High Chapparral was seeking to become the first horse ever to win the VRC-New Zealand Derby double. He extinguished his own chances by running out badly at the last turn.

The other highly fancied runner was Corporal Jones, who in five career starts had never finished further back than second. After a memorable two-horse battle down the straight in the Championship Stakes between Corporal Jones and Zarzuela, many predicted a repeat in the Derby and that the same two horses would have the race to themselves.

But in the excitement of the head-bobbing finish between those two horses in the Championship Stakes, many overlooked the strong run from well back in the field by 2000 Guineas runner-up Military Move, who went out on Derby day at 15–1.

It was Military Move who took the honours, though, handling the 2400m of the Derby brilliantly and aided by a perfect ride from Michael Walker. Walker, who in May 2008 was nearly killed when he fell 10m down a bank while on a pig hunting trip, celebrated the win in a memorable and emotional manner. It was his first Group 1 win since his accident, and a race he later said he had always dreamt of winning.