Riff Rocket Roars Back in Rosehill Guineas Victory, 2024 Australian Derby Next Target

[Wandering Eyes]

Chris Waller‘s VRC Derby champion, Riff Rocket, has set his sights on the Australian Derby after a dominant victory in the 2024 Rosehill Guineas results.

2024 Rosehill Guineas winner Riff Rocket posted his second Group 1 success with a big run down the outside. Photo: Steve Hart.

This win ties Waller with Gai Waterhouse for the most career Group 1 victories (159).

The talented American Pharoah gelding spearheaded a successful Golden Slipper Day for Waller, following Via Sistina’s win in the Ranvet Stakes.

Riff Rocket, a surprise winner in the CS Hayes (1400m), came off a third-place finish in the Australian Guineas (1600m) before returning to winning form here.

Nash Rawiller delivered a perfectly judged ride, settling Riff Rocket near the back of the pack before making his move with 800m remaining.

The colt surged around the field down the outside, showcasing his powerful closing speed.

Riff Rocket crossed the finish line comfortably ahead of the Joe Pride-trained Ceolwulf and another Waller runner, Cap Ferrat, to secure his second Group 1 win.

This victory positions him as the clear favourite for the $2 million Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick on April 6th, aiming to emulate Criterion’s feat of completing the Rosehill Guineas-Australian Derby double in 2014.

Ladbrokes has installed Riff Rocket as the short favourite at $2.50 to win the 2024 ATC Derby.

2024 Rosehill Guineas Results

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	2	RIFF ROCKET	Chris Waller	Nash Rawiller		8	56.5kg		$2.70F
	2	9	CEOLWULF (NZ)	Joseph Pride	Blake Shinn	0.76L	11	56.5kg		$15
	3	8	CAP FERRAT	Chris Waller	Ryan Moore	1.08L	9	56.5kg		$18
	4	6	GANBARE	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	1.34L	4	56.5kg		$14
	5	7	IMMEDIACY (NZ)	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Luke Currie	1.41L	12	56.5kg		$7.50
	6	4	TOM KITTEN	James Cummings	Hugh Bowman	1.59L	2	56.5kg		$3.30
	7	10	DUCASSE	Michael Freedman	Tyler Schiller	3.42L	1	56.5kg		$61
	8	5	KING COLORADO	Ciaron Maher	Mark Zahra	5.59L	3	56.5kg		$10
	9	12	STEEL BLAZE	Brett Lazzarini	Reece Jones	5.89L	5	56.5kg		$201
	10	3	CAFE MILLENIUM	John O’Shea	Tom Marquand	9.32L	6	56.5kg		$21
	11	11	COSMIC LAD	Edward Cummings	Chad Schofield	14.27L	10	56.5kg		$101
		1	MILITARIZE (NZ)	Chris Waller	James McDonald		0

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

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