December 2020

Turf Monthly

Turf Monthly - Australia's racing heritage

Turf Monthly2 min read
Editor’s Letter
The Melbourne Spring has just finished, and we have seen an unusual one with COVID disrupting the crowds to the lowest level in history. TV figures will show that the world still watched the Cup which remains the greatest racing highlight in Australi
Turf Monthly5 min read
Twilight Payment
The Melbourne Cup has been run and won again. The Irish visitor Twilight Payment is the first winner to have led all of the way since Might And Power in 1997. Part owned by Lloyd Williams, it was the seventh time that he has shared in the ownership o
Turf Monthly1 min readHorses
Grand Flaneur Was He The Best Ever?
There has only ever been one undefeated winner of the Melbourne Cup. His name was Grand Flaneur and he won the 1880 edition of the race. It has been a long time since then, but no other horse has come close to matching that record of Grand Flaneur. M
Turf Monthly4 min read
Racing Career
His first start came on New Year’s Day, 1880 in the Normanby Stakes when ridden by Billy Yeomans for his trainer, Tom Brown. He was trained on the private grounds of Grand Flaneur’s owner and breeder, the Hon. W. A. Long at Chipping Norton. These gro
Turf Monthly3 min read
The Owner W A Long
Grand Flaneur was owned by the Honourable WA Long who was at times a controversial figure. The standing of Grand Flaneur in the eyes of the public had been diminished by the antics of Long. A few days before the Town Plate, Grand Flaneur was schedule
Turf Monthly6 min read
The Jockey Tom Hales
Tommy Hales who was to become one of the first jockeys to be inducted to the Hall Of Fame was to use a 3 pound saddle on Grand Flaneur in the Cup and had carried some 28 pounds of lead to make up the additional weight in the Derby a few days before.
Turf Monthly3 min readHorses
The Family Of Grand Flaneur
As we mentioned, the dam of Grand Flaneur, First Lady was mated seven times in succession with Yattendon with Grand Flaneur the third of those. The first foal of First Lady was First Lord. He was a moderate racehorse running unplaced at two but winni
Turf Monthly4 min read
Grand Flaneur At Stud
The champion racehorse added the Australian Champion Sires Title to his resume in 1894/95 and sired 23 stakes winners in total. He produced two Melbourne Cup winners in Bravo in 1889 and Patron in 1894. The Cup was Bravo’s only stakes win although he
Turf Monthly3 min read
Grand Flaneur A Legacy Like Few Others
While numerous lines exist tracing back to daughters of Grand Flaneur, we are going to highlight some ancestors from three of these mares. Patrona was a full sister to Patron and Ruenalf, two of Grand Flaneur’s stakes winners. She was mated with Malt
Turf Monthly4 min read
Malt King
Malt King traces to Grand Flaneur through his dam, Patrona, a daughter of our Champion. He was among the greatest milers of his time winning six of his 12 stakes races over that journey. Malt King was a son of Malster, a winner of six stakes races in
Turf Monthly3 min read
Wiggle
On 14 June 1958, a 2yo filly named Wiggle entered the record books by becoming the first and only 2yo to win the major Brisbane sprint, the Stradbroke. She carried 7 stone 5 lbs (46.5kg) in the field of 18 beating the well fancied imported runner Yah
Turf Monthly3 min read
Shading
The unusual story of the two full brothers, Time And Tide and Fine And Dandy starts with a filly born in 1944 by the imported Italian horse, Brueghel out of a Claro mare, Gold Tinge. The filly was named Shading and she had her first start on 21 Decem
Turf Monthly3 min read
Fine And Dandy
The champion was gelded before he raced as his owners thought that the progeny of Shaded had a tendency to become top heavy if they were left entire. How this decision altered the course of Australian breeding history we will never know, but the two
Turf Monthly3 min read
Time And Tide
Time And Tide was also gelded before his first start, and the slightly parrot mouthed gelding won at his first racetrack appearance in the Canonbury Stakes, a race also won by his older brother. He had his second start in the Debutante Stakes at Caul
Turf Monthly4 min read
Sobar
Sobar was one of the enigmas of Australian racing. For a time in his 3yo season, he was rated as the equal to the mighty Tulloch. Sadly a tendon injury saw him fail to recapture his form but he would show glimpses at times of what might have been. He
Turf Monthly2 min read
Horlicks
Horlicks started her career in New Zealand for owner Graham de Gruchy of Hastings on 30 December 1986 running second in a 1300m maiden. She won at her second start over the same distance, and was to have her first stakes win in the Dulcie Stakes in M
Turf Monthly2 min readHorses
Dalrello
Dalrello was the Queensland Horse Of The Year in 1974 and 1976, and runner up to Charlton Boy in 1975, but oddly never won any of the big Brisbane races. Instead, most of his success came in Sydney. Firstly though, Dalrello was by the imported Irish
Turf Monthly2 min read
General Nediym
General Nediym became a hugely popular racehorse in Queensland. He was by the relatively unfashionable Irish stallion, Nediym, a son of Shareef Dancer by Northern Dancer who had won the Irish Derby and King Edward VII Stakes. Nediym stood at Ron Ashd
Turf Monthly2 min read
Iglesia
Iglesia won six of his 22 starts in a career that kicked off as a January 2yo with a win at Rosehill. Within a month he had won the Silver Slipper before a brief let-up saw him taste defeat for the first time in the Todman behind Laurie’s Lottery. He
Turf Monthly4 min readHorses
Strawberry Road
Strawberry Road was perhaps Australia’s first true International Ambassador of the modern era, competing in six countries in a remarkable career. He was an unfashionable colt who not only became the first Australian horse to win Group 1 races in thre
Turf Monthly3 min readPolitics
Sir Adrian Knox
Sir Adrian Knox is widely regarded as one of the greatest-ever administrators of Australian racing. He was born in Sydney on 27 November 1863 and was the fourth surviving son and youngest of eight children of Edward Knox and his Irish wife Martha who
Turf Monthly5 min read
THINK BIG, LEILANI and the 1974 Melbourne Cup
The thoroughbred is a wonderfully interconnected creature whose influence extends to all parts of society. Sometimes one could even be forgiven for thinking that higher levels of consciousness were at play, just as we saw with Grand Flaneur’s tragic

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