Innehållsförteckning för November 2021 från Turf Monthly

Archer is the horse who is synonymous with the original Melbourne Cup. The stallion won the first two runnings of the event and is surrounded by legend, not all of them true. The most enduring legend is that of Archer walking from NSW to Victoria to contest the first Cup. While it sounds a good story it is at best an exaggeration. But before we get to the legend of Archer let us start at the beginning. Archer was a son of imported sire William Tell by Touchstone from Maid of the Oaks by Vagabond. Both sire and dam had been owned by Thomas Molyneux "Tom" Royds of Ballalaba, NSW. Royds formed a breeding partnership with his uncle-in-law Andrew Badgery and the horses were kept on the Badgery managed Exeter…

While Archer was rightly hailed a champion, it was within a decade that his title of Australia’s best was under threat. Etienne de Mestre was also to be rivalled as the star owner and trainer by John Tait and his stable was headlined by The Barb who won the 1866 Melbourne Cup. His deeds were to become legendary not only in Australia but throughout the UK and USA, a remarkable feat for the day. The Barb was bred by the Lee family from Bylong near Bathurst. As a foal at foot, The Barb created news having been stolen, along with his dam and other horses, by bushrangers. The thieves were caught but there was no sign of the foal. He was later discovered on a farm where he had been…

As we have seen, the legend of Archer has grown since his two Melbourne Cup wins. It is hard to imagine how popular the horse was in Australian folklore, and with fame brings strange bedfellows. Two particular coincidences struck me while researching the career of the champion. Archer quite remarkably is the surname of two men hanged in Australia. George William Martin Archer was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol in Sydney in 1893, while Alfred Archer was executed in Melbourne in 1898. There was a little more than just a sharing of their surname with the great horse that make both stories remarkable. George Archer had been born at Cootamundra, NSW, in 1865. When 3 years old the boy and his mother removed to Adelong, and he attended the Adelong public…

Dalray is an Australian Racing Hall of Famer who traces once again to the remarkable Cutty Sark. He also was a Melbourne Cup winner, being successful in the 1952 edition, and importantly a successful stallion at Canning Downs Stud in Queensland. He was a NZ bred horse being by the imported British stallion, Balloch out of Broiveine by the French bred, Broiefort. His female line while tracing to Cutty Shark saw a mare called Ouida by Yattendon sent to NZ in the 1880’s where she had incredible success. She produced four stakes-winners in Artillery (Canterbury Cup and Dunedin Champagne Stakes), Hazel (Great Autumn Handicap), Hilda (ARC Easter Handicap Stakes, ARC Great Northern Champagne Stakes Hawkes Bay Cup and Auckland Guineas), and her best, Strathmore (VRC Victoria Derby, VRC St Leger…

Might And Power was one of our most publicized horses due to the very public figure of its owner, Nick Moraitis. The 1997 Melbourne Cup winner regularly paraded not only on a farewell tour, but also at a range of other events for many years following his retirement such was his popularity. The gelding’s bold front running style, reminiscent of Vo Rogue a few years before was another part of the attraction of the horse for the public. Although some will vehemently disagree, it is this popularity that had a significant impact in his being included in the Hall Of Fame. Few horses win seven Group 1 races, so he was a great racehorse of which there is no doubt. It is the extent of his greatness that perhaps raises…

Cutty Sark is considered one of the foundation mares of the Australian thoroughbred and is seen as the mare that gave us the Bruce Lowe colonial number 7 family. There was considerable doubt about her pedigree, although much more is known than modern history will tell. The mare arrived in Australia aboard the Prince Regent under the control of Captain John Lamb on 22 March 1826. According to newspaper reports the ship carried the stallion Peter Fin, who was unloaded in Van Diemen’s Land, and the mare Spaewife by Soothsayer. Spaewife was to found the line that gave us Shannon hence the origins of these mares was again raised when that wonderful horse was exported to the US causing more than a little discussion at the time. Interestingly the passenger…

Merriwee was bred by the Hon. George Lee, of Leeholme near Bathurst, and was by the English stallion Bill of Portland, the first son of the illustrious St. Simon to be imported to this country. His female line traced to the mare, Sappho who was from the Cutty Sark family. Merriwee was raced by Herbert Power, a noted pastoralist and one of the founding members of the VATC. The colt had a moderate start to his racing career which commenced on 12 October 1898. He had three unplaced runs that Spring before heading for the paddock. He returned the following July to run third in a 2yo Handicap at Flemington before winning a few weeks later in the new Season. He then showed that he was a horse to be…