The 89th running of the Irish Derby was held on Wednesday 23rd June 1954 over 1 mile 4 furlongs of The Curragh. Subscriptions were 60 sovereigns with a pot of 4000 sovereigns added, 750 sovereigns to the second and 250 sovereigns to the third. The winner was owned by Mr Terrence Gray, bred in Ireland by the late Mr Harold S Gray, trained by Michael Hurley and ridden by Patrick Powell jnr. The winner won by 1 1/2 lengths, with half a length between second and third. |
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IRISH DERBY 1954
ZARATHUSTRA (Black colt by Persian Gulf out of Salvia) SR 1923
The winning owner won 7096.25 sovereigns, (The equivalent of £184,700 in today's terms based on Bank of England inflation calculator).
Whilst colts continued to be allocated 9 stone, fillies were set to carry 8 st 11 lbs rather than 8 st 10 lbs. |
 
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|
| Pos. |
Horse |
Weight |
Jockey |
Owner |
Trainer |
| 1 |
ZARATHUSTRA |
9.0 |
Patrick Powell jnr |
Mr Terrence Gray |
Michael Hurley |
| 2 |
HIDALGO |
9.0 |
John Power |
Mr E V Kelly |
John Oxx |
| 3 |
TALE OF TWO CITIES |
9.0 |
Billy Nevett |
Mr James McLean jnr |
Hubert M Hartigan |
| 4 |
TOWN'S WALL |
9.0 |
Herbert Holmes |
Mr Owen B Walsh |
P Connolly |
| 5 |
KINGSLEY |
9.0 |
Philip Canty |
Corporal Darby Rogers |
Corporal Darby Rogers |
| 6 |
IRISH SLIPPER |
9.0 |
Douglas Page |
Mrs Anna Maria King |
Sir Hugh Nugent |
| 7 |
ARCTIC WIND |
9.0 |
James Mullane |
Mr John H Thursby |
Michael Rogers |
| 8 |
COURT SPLENDOUR |
9.0 |
Willie Snaith |
Mrs Vera Lilley |
Noel Murless |
| 9 |
BEAU SEJOUR |
9.0 |
T P Burns |
Mr N S Macnaughton |
John Oxx |
| 10 |
SHARRAGH |
9.0 |
Ken Gethin |
Mr Joseph McGrath |
Willie Stephenson |
| 11 |
CALVERO |
9.0 |
Rae Johnstone |
Mr Herbert Kerr |
Kevin R Kerr |
| |
Betting |
RACE REPORT
The strong fancy for the race was the much heralded Tale of Two Cities who had an unblemished record and was made the odds-on favourite. In the end he was sufficiently close to the outsider Zarathustra were he good enough, but with a furlong to run it was clear that he did not stay the distance and had to give best to Zarathustra, owned by Mr Terrence J Gray and ridden by Michael Hurley at Athboy in County Meath. Zarathustra had previously finished fifth in the Irish 2000 Guineas, but captured the Derby by a length and a half from Hidalgo, with the favourite a further half length back in third. |
| 8/15 fav |
Tale of Two Cities |
| 6/1 |
Arctic Wind |
| 8/1 |
Hidalgo |
| 9/1 |
Calvero |
| 20/1 |
Court Splendour |
| 25/1 |
Sharragh |
| 25/1 |
Irish Slipper |
| 50/1 |
Kingsley |
| 50/1 |
Town's Wall |
| 50/1 |
Zarathustra |
| 50/1 |
Beau Sejour |
| |
Over round 121% |
| FORMLINE:- The winner raced off level weights with the favourite and scrambled home by 1 1/2 lengths. None of the field took part in any of the 5 English Classics, although Zarathustra did finish 5th in the Irish 2000 Guineas following on from a successful 2 year old career in which he ran 4 times, winning 3. |
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