Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2020 i Turf Monthly

Coronavirus has been a devastating time. With all things though, we need to learn from our challenges, and as a society we have had few bigger than this pandemic. We know that there will be another one even if we don’t know when. We need to be prepared and have the right safety nets in place when the next one does happen. Our role here at Turf Monthly isn’t to be political so we are going to stay away from the big picture and look at some of the lessons that racing needs to learn from Coronavirus. Keeping racing open was a great move. It proves a few things. Firstly, punters are the backbone of the industry. Gambling turnover is king, and we need to ensure that the product we…

The George Ryder Stakes is one of Sydney’s premier races. It was won this year by Dreamforce, a 7yo gelding who notched up his 12th win and first Group 1 victory in the 1500m event at Rosehill. The event was first run as the George Ryder in 1973 when won by All Shot over 1400m. The distance was changed in 1985 to 1450m for Hula Drum’s victory, but the following year it found its mark at 1500m and under those conditions was first won by Heat Of The Moment. Campaign King won the race the following two years and the only two runners since who have won the race in consecutive years are Lonhro and Winx. Prior to the change of distance, multiple winners were Manikato and Emancipation making it…

“A horse gallops with his lungs, perseveres with his heart, and wins with his character.”- Federico Tesio - In this our first edition, it is fitting that we have a look at some of the history of the thoroughbred. It is a unique animal, and one that we need to know the origins of if we want to understand it better. The thoroughbred is unique in that the breed was established fundamentally for one purpose, and that was to race. Almost any individual horse can be traced back to its original foundations of a handful of ancestors that were specifically brought to Britain in order to introduce characteristics that were considered important to racing ability. The first edition of the General Stud Book which is the means by which all…

Over the next couple of editions, we will be looking at some of the first season sires for the 2020 season. We are starting with the most expensive and working our way through. We will try to cover as many as we can. Our apologies for those that don’t get a run but if there are some that you think we really should include, please get in touch. One quick observation about first season stallions though. We seem to be seeing more and more each year which is probably not a great thing for the breed. Quite a few will serve huge numbers in their first few years before largely dropping out of sight. Breeders should realise that they are responsible for the health of the breed, and we think…

Australian racing is often criticised for being insular, and we don’t want to have this charge laid against us. There are incredible moments in history, most of which are coloured by personal preference. It is hard to argue with most of America who would tell you that the 1973 Belmont Stakes was the greatest race ever run. It certainly wasn’t because it was a close race, but it did have an important place in history. The race was the final leg of the US 3yo Triple Crown and won by one of the greatest horses to grace the track in Secretariat. The official margin was 31 lengths, and yes that is not a misprint. Secretariat had won the first two legs of the Triple Crown. He won the Kentucky Derby…

George Moore is undisputedly one of the world’s great jockeys. He was one of the original inductees into the Racing Hall of Fame and not one person would dispute his selection. “Cotton Fingers” was simply without peer on the Australian racetracks of the 1950’s and 60’s, and right up there with the best in the world. While Australian racing rightfully reveres Moore the jockey, it is interesting to see how Moore is remembered internationally. He is often referred to as Australia’s Lester Piggott, and is ranked alongside Scobie Breasley as the greatest jockey in the history of racing in Australia by our European counterparts. Many Australians know relatively little of the overseas success of many of our top jockeys, and the fact that Breasley and Moore are held in such…

This month we feature some of the new sires to Australia in 2020. Whenever we look at new sires we cannot help to note their racing performances, and it is often the 2 and 3yo seasons that are critical. We are reminded of one of the greatest 3yo seasons that we may ever see on the Australian turf. Phar Lap, Tulloch, Red Anchor all were remarkable at that age, but before them was a horse called Trivalve. By Cyklon, an imported son of Spearmint, Trivalve was out of a mare by The Welkin. Trivalve first appeared at the races on 2 October 1926 in the Maribyrnong Trial, the first of the 2yo races in Melbourne. He was unplaced but won his fourth start in November, a little over a month…

Subzero captured our imagination and our hearts like few other horses ever have. He did not quite have the talent of some of our more famous racehorses, but there was always something special about the wonderful grey. He was a good racehorse and most know how he won the 1992 Melbourne Cup, but it was what he did after he raced that endeared him to a nation. Let’s go back to the beginning though and find out what made Subzero what he was. It was New Year’s Day 1991 when a grey 2yo gelding by Kala Dancer out of the US bred daughter of To Market, Wiley Trade first stepped out in a race for his young trainer Lee Freedman. Ridden by Wayne Treloar the grey finished 8th behind Maritima…