Table of contents for September 2021 in Turf Monthly

The Williamstown Cup was first run in 1888 and won by Mara, a mare by The Ace who had also won the Hotham Handicap earlier in the Spring. The Williamstown Cup was the last of the four cups run during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, with the others being the Moonee Valley, Caulfield and Melbourne Cups. The race was held over 2200m until 1920 when another furlong was added to take the distance to 2400m. From 1943 to 1950 the race was run over 2600m but for the remainder of the time it has stayed over a mile and half. The race changed conditions in 1999 when it went from a handicap to weight for age. One of the most notable of the early winners was Merman by Grand Flaneur…

Amounis saw his second dam as Chand Beebee who was imported to Australia in 1892. The mare was entered for both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups of 1894 but was withdrawn. She was imported by Messrs Merthyr and Baronet who intended to form a new stud at Minmi near Newcastle in NSW. The gentlemen were in reality brothers John and William Brown and the stud was named Motto Farm, and located on around 220 acres adjoining the old Lower Hunter racecourse. In 1932 it was sold to the Government in order to establish an airport that was later to become Williamstown Airforce Base in an interesting quirk to history. While Chand Beebee did not have success on the track, she was to become an important broodmare. She produced four stakes-winners…

Dirty Work is a newcomer to the emerging Victorian powerhouse stud Spendthrift Farm. The US based Spendthrift have already brought some of their best homebred horses to Australia and are balancing their roster with some interesting new local stallions. Dirty Work certainly attracts interest as one of only half a dozen of sons of the popular star stallion, Written Tycoon to go to stud. His sons are headlined by the Golden Slipper winning Capitalist who stands at Newgate Stud. That factor alone is enough to ensure that Dirty Work will grab his share of attention with breeders and buyers alike. The stallion raced 21 times which might be a good sign in a time when many prospects are retiring with only a handful of starts. He won five races with…

Lucky Vega is certainly an interesting addition to Australia’s stallion ranks and he underlines the growing strength of the Yulong Investments organisation. Not only do they stand a diverse range of stallions, but they are growing into one of the biggest racehorse ownership groups that we see worldwide. Lucky Vega is a horse that Yulong raced to win the G1 Phoenix Stakes for the stable as a 2yo at only his third race start. He had started his career in June with a win in a maiden at Naas in Ireland. Lucky Vega then stepped up to the G2 Railway Stakes at the Curragh to run a half-length second to Law Of Indices. His win in the Phoenix Stakes followed at only his third career start and he beat Aloha…

The Underwood Stakes is one of the features of the early Spring in Melbourne. Held at Caulfield the race last year was won by the impressive Russian Camelot. It has a history of being won by quality horses. First run over a mile (1600m) at Williamstown Racing Club in 1924, the race was won by the champion, Whittier who also won the race the following year. In 1942, the war led to the race not being held and it was reduced to 1400m in 1943. In 1944 the Underwood went back to 1600m but was changed to 1800m in 1949. Interestingly this change was also accompanied by another dual winner of the race in Beau Gem who also won in 1950. In 1954 the race went to 2000m and was…

When we talk about the greatest horses of the Australian Turf, one name that is often forgotten is that of Amounis. He raced at a time of some of the greatest champions in our history including Windbag, Spearfelt, Valicare, Mollison and the immortal Phar Lap. Not only did he compete against these greats, but he beat them all, including the mighty Phar Lap at the peak of his powers. Amounis also beat Gloaming’s Australian record for stakes money until his record was surpassed by Phar Lap. Amounis had a great record of carrying weight but was kept away from a lot of the handicap races because of the impost he would have been given. Trainer Frank McGrath never attempted a Melbourne Cup with the wonderful stayer despite saying that he…

Anders is remembered as a real speed machine, but his racing performances do not quite reflect this. Unlike a lot of our precocious two year olds, Anders did not really make his mark until May of that season when he won a Wyong maiden by over six lengths. He then went to Rosehill where he won again over 1100m by under a length. As an early 3yo he dominated a good field in the Listed Rosebud beating Ole Kirk by almost five lengths. He then destroyed other former top 2yo’s in Peltzer and Mamaragan by over 3 lengths in the San Domenico. Anders did not race again until the Spring when he ran a close third behind Ranting and Hanseatic in the Blue Sapphire in a field of only those…

Doubtland is one of three sons of Not A Single Doubt to go to stud this season. He will stand at Widden Stud in Victoria and joins Squamosa as the only other son of his sire in that State. Interestingly Widden stand Anders, another of the new sons of Not A Single Doubt at their NSW base and the difference between these two is probably an indication of the different nature of the breeding industry between the States. Doubtland raced only eight times, winning his two starts as a 2yo including a victory in the G3 Kindergarten Stakes. He suffered his first defeat returning as a 3yo in the San Domenico coincidentally behind Anders. He then went to Melbourne when Perth wizard William Pike steered him to his most important…

North Pacific is another of the boom horses to retire to stud prematurely. This time it was injury that led to his retirement to Newgate Stud in the Hunte Valley. He was an $800,000 yearling and made his race debut with a third to Farnan in the G2 Silver Slipper. North Pacific did not race again until July of his 2yo season when he won a 2yo handicap on a heavy track at Rosehill. He started his 3yo career with a win in the G3 Up And Coming Stakes, and followed that with a third behind Rothfire and Ole Kirk in the Run To The Rose. North Pacific and Ole Kirk then had a stirring battle for the last 200m of the G1 Golden Rose when the latter got the…

Williamstown was established the main port of Melbourne with the Yarra River too narrow to accommodate ships. Dredging of the river allowed for Station Pier at Port Melbourne to be opened in the 1850s. Williamstown lost its importance as a port and became known as “the fishing village.” In 1859, Williamstown local horse Flying Buck, won a race a Flemington by 10 lengths, prompting the development of Williamstown racecourse which actually was located at Altona. The first race meeting was recorded on Boxing Day in 1859. The main race that day was the Williamstown Handicap, the forerunner to the Williamstown Cup, and it was won by a South Australian horse called The Barber. A son of The Barb out of an unidentified mare, The Barber was to go on to…

McGrath, Francis (1866–1947) by Richard Waterhouse This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 15, (MUP), 2000 Francis McGrath (1866-1947), jockey and racehorse-trainer, was born on 17 October 1866 at Boorowa, New South Wales, eldest of three sons of James McGrath, carpenter, and his second wife Catherine, née Cahill (late Kane), both from County Tipperary, Ireland. Frank learned to ride early and had his first win on his father's horse, Killarney, at the Gullen races in 1875. Apprenticed to Sydney trainer John Alsopp in 1877, he moved to Edward Keys and in 1880 joined the Newcastle stables of John Mayo, for whom he rode Prince Imperial in the 1885 Caulfield Cup: McGrath suffered head and eye injuries when sixteen of the forty-one runners fell in the straight. Although…

Cool Aza Beel represents a very different type of stallion coming to Australia this season. His pedigree is immediately recognisable by being a son of the wonderful stallion, Savabeel, who has been a star of NZ breeding for a decade. Savabeel was a leading son of Zabeel out of the Success Express mare, Savannah Success. Savabeel won the Spring Champion Stakes and Cox Plate as a 3yo before running second to Plastered in the VRC Derby. He returned the following Autumn to run second in the CF Orr Stakes behind Elvstroem. At stud Savabeel has produced over 100 Group winners including the remarkable mare, Lucia Valentino and the NZ champion, Savvy Coup. While many of Savabeel’s progeny got over a trip, Cool Aza Beel was champion 2yo in NZ winning…

Darley at Northwood in Victoria introduce another top quality addition to their stallion roster in Earhtlight. It is quite remarkable the bloodlines that organisation is bringing to Australia, although of course overseas success is no guarantee that they will suit local conditions. Earthlight was unbeaten as a 2yo, winning his five starts at that age including the G1 Prix Morny in France and the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket in England. He won first up as a 3yo but then tasted defeat for the first time in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest behind Space Blues and another of our new stallions in Hello Youmzain who is to stand in NZ. He bounced back to win the G3 Prix du Pin in course record time at Longchamp over 7 furlongs,…