Word from the Lindsay Park camp this week is that stable ace Mr Brightside is still firing on all cylinders despite being a rising eight-year-old.
Pretty wild right?
It got me thinking about those Aussie turf legends, the old-timers who, instead of fading out, just kept getting better with age like a nice Barossa Valley Shiraz.
Being older than Google myself, I am always impressed by any athlete that can not only remain relevant but remain in winning form at the top level, and that goes for our equine counterparts.
Outside of racing, names like Gary Player, LeBron James, Gordie Howe, Kelly Slater, Tom Brady, and Serena Williams spring to mind, all legends of their chosen sports who either defied or continue to defy the stereotype of fading away into the sunset.
Closer to home, I can’t believe I’m still watching Daly Cherry-Evans, who was born in my neck of the woods, do his thing having followed Chez from him pimply-faced NRL Premiership winning rookie season through all the milestones of his celebrated career.
Although, I would’ve loved to have seen him get the ‘Phins out if the money hadn’t been a factor.
But in horse racing, it seems even rarer.
It’s practically unheard of to see a racehorse still kicking butt in Group 1 races at eight or older. Most are off munching grass somewhere by then or on stallion duties if they managed to avoid the chop earlier in their careers.
Plenty of stud prospects are either sent off overseas or bought out by the top breeding barns at three or four-years-old.
It’s no surprise then that many of those highly spruiked thoroughbreds hitting the headlines in races like the Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond simply fall off our radar, retiring after their brilliant but brief time on the turf.
There are, however, a handful of track giants that continued to show a zest for racing in true Bernard Lagat style well past a racehorse’s traditional prime.
There’s always plenty in the news on the up-and-coming youngsters getting ready to show their veteran rivals it’s time to move over in the country’s Group 1 racing majors, but what of the old greats that continue to deliver like Tiger on the PGA tour?
On the training side of things, it is hard to forget the legacy of the “Cups King” Bart Cummings who was still officially preparing gallopers well into his 80s before heading off to bask in the glow of his plethora of trophies at Princes Farm.
Cummings proved age was just a number, and considering numbers, we’ve got over 160 years of Australian racing history behind us leading into this year’s spring carnival.
I’m going to narrow the field however and dive into five of those warhorses from the past 20 years who seemed to save their best runs for their so-called “twilight years.”
Let’s hope this is an indicator for some more Mr B brilliance before the Hayes boys kick his campaign off in the Memsie Stakes on August 30 where the grand galloper will chase an official 10th Group 1 success.
TAKEOVER TARGET
- Trainer: Joe Janiak
- Record: 41: 21-6-4
- Prizemoney: $6,348,650
It’s the fairy tale of Aussie racing that makes some of us out there throw our hats into the ring ownership-wise with a sneaky buy into a bargain galloper.
Super sprinter Takeover Target may have closed out his career as a $6 million plus earner and globetrotting sensation, but he came from very humble beginnings.
Joe Janiak, a backyard buyer with Group 1 dreams, was an unknown taxi driver from Queanbeyan when he forked out just $1250 in 2003 to buy this paddock punt that more than paid off.
At first it seemed like a waste with “Archie” suffering from leg and joint issues during his juvenile years.
But that didn’t stop this underdog!
Eventually he got to the track debuting as a four-year-old in April of 2004 on home turf, and he quickly went from the bargain bin to the winner’s circle.
Fast-forward six months and he had put together a picket fence of seven wins on the trot including his maiden Group 1 success in the then Salinger Stakes at HQ racing well better than his purchase price would suggest!
There were plenty more Group 1 glories for the beloved gelding, including the Lighting and Newmarket Handicap races back at his preferred straight Flemington track in 2006.
Takeover certainly proved that just because he was cheap as chips, that didn’t mean he wasn’t lightning fast.
He quickly became the symbol of the Aussie battler triumphing against all odds as he cleaned up in sprint races across Australia, the UK, Japan and Singapore.
A top pick with the punters and racing fans, his career spanned half a decade and had more comebacks than John Farnham.
Most notably here, were his trio of Group 1s after turning eight.
One of those was Singapore’s Krisflyer in 2008 which cemented him as one of the world’s best sprinters of all time.
He also collected the following year’s TJ Smith trophy with a powerhouse three-length romp home in the Sydney autumn showdown, and Adelaide’s The Goodwood defeating I Am Invincible as the odds-on elect to claim the event’s first running as a Group 1 with a successful title defence.
He stands alone as the only horse to capture Group 1 sprint glory in every major Australian racing region and abroad.
Now, I’m off to find some spare change.
BUFFERING
- Trainer: Robert Heathcote
- Record: 55: 20-9-8
- Prizemoney: $7,300,194
As a Maroon’s fan and born-and-bred Queenslander I’ve got a soft spot for the old Buff.
I remember fondly going to see this guy at a special gallop on the new Eagle Farm surface one Wednesday morning with an old mate of mine and stalwart in the Queensland racing scene – who I still miss most days.
Speaking of sunshine state stalwarts, Heathcote’s hero was, and even in retirement still is, certainly that.
During his 55-start career this mighty son of Mossman was as tough as teak, with his nickname “The Bulldog” fitting him better than his own saddlecloth.
He went stride-for-stride with all the stars of his time and kept showing up for more, bulldozing his way to seven Group 1 wins to become the pride of Queensland.
His grit and hard, front-running style where he often refused to be run down showed a kind of relentless, Patty Mills-like hustle that had some punters thinking he might burn out before his time.
Incredibly, the opposite proved true as he pocketed over $7 million in stakes.
Household names like Black Caviar and Chautauqua were kicking about at the same time, and Nelly’s salmon and black polka dots along the “Grey Flash” often overshadowed the true tenacity of one of my favourite horses.
Still, he became a racing icon not just in his home state but one that remained in the spotlight getting over the line in Group 1s even as he was going over the hill age-wise.
One of the tracks the Buff showed a good affinity for was The Valley where he contested five straight Moir Stakes.
He won three of them and finished runner-up in another bagging his last Moir trophy in 2015 as an eight-year-old – on a Firm (2) rated track mind you.
Did he settle down for a nice little sugar cube and rest his old legs then? Nope.
Not only did he continue racing, he kept on winning heading west to snatch the Winterbottom in Perth before jet-setting over to Dubai to take out the Al Quoz Sprint at double figures.
A warhorse on a heater before things fizzled out.
He had three more starts after that and, watching him trail home last behind old nemesis Chautauqua in Hong Kong’s Chairman’s Sprint stung a bit, but I can’t hold that against him with everything he’d already pulled off.
Even with my creaky knee, I think I might go dust off my running shoes. Apparently, age is no excuse!
FIELDS OF OMAGH
- Trainers: Peter Hayes, then Tony McEvoy, then David Hayes
- Record: 45: 13-8-7
- Prizemoney: $6,496,240
Strolling through the Octagonal Lounge at Moonee Valley and walking past the Cox Plate Wall of Champions, it’s hard not to feel a little starstruck.
To claim the iconic piece of silver wear is something reserved for only the best WFA performers in the land.
For a horse to gallop their way into immortality more than once? That’s straight up racing royalty.
Only a baker’s dozen has done it – including Kingston Town three times (defying Bill Collins’ call) and of course the four-time queen Winx – but it is Fields Of Omagh who nearly tops the charts for mine.
While he’s not often first to mind when going over the best champions in the Valley’s crown jewel event, the fact he won three years apart with this second snagged at the ripe old age of nine – wow.
All up, he ran in five Cox Plates and outside of his double-shot glory he also posted a second, a third and a fifth-place finish. What horse does that?
“FOO” got himself a cult like following for all the right reasons. He had longevity, courage, and resilience in spades – the Federer of the Aussie racing scene.
The No Big Deal syndication owned him, but he certainly was a big deal and remains the oldest ever Cox Plate winner.
This incredible champion represented the green and gold brigade in Tokyo, Sha Tin and Dubai, but nothing tops the magic he pulled off on home soil – that’s the stuff people still talk about.
He squared up with the best out there, including three-time Melbourne Cup beauty Makybe Diva, which just makes his whole CV glow even more.
His legend was further set in stone with his second Cox Plate triumph also being his racing swansong, and what a way to say goodbye!
Gives me hope that as I approach the big 4-0, the best might still be to come!
ZIPPING
- Trainers: Graeme Rogerson, then John Sadler, then Robert Hickmott
- Record: 47: 16-3-7
- Prizemoney: $4,531,195
Going back 15 years, I can recall one of my favourite moments in racing.
It wasn’t a Group 1, and I wasn’t trackside.
It was the Group 2 Sandown Classic, and I was sitting in an old ute, radio on, static fighting the commentary, trying to hear the race call.
Everyone else I was with had ditched me to take our boat out on the water, and here I was sweltering as the November sun did its worst.
Why would I rather sit and sweat rather than swim and join the fun? Because I knew a certain nine-year-old son of Danehill was about to pull off something legendary.
And because I had a bet going with some workmates that I knew was going to pay better than the short price the bookies were offering up.
Zipping was going for his fourth consecutive win in the end-of-spring feature, and he was close to odds-on to beat just four rivals that day.
Drawn the rails, Hall up top, Hickmott’s evergreen galloper was eyeing off a Heavy track looking to cement his legacy in a race that would be renamed in his honour the following year.
After yet another brave Melbourne Cup fourth (he also rounded out the First Four in 2006 and 2007) the start before behind French raider Americain, who I best remember for that braided mane and the winning punt I had on him, things looked good for the iron horse.
The old fella had a serious shot at history.
I don’t know why I was so emotionally invested, but I was. Maybe it’s because I love a good story even if it was a win for goliath owner Lloyd Williams who certainly didn’t need the winner’s cheque.
We all know Zipping saluted that day, he was the King of Sandown, and I really wish he’d left it at that and dropped the mic on his career to the roar of the fans (both on course and in a ute in the back of nowhere).
He did race once more and failed to fire crossing some seven lengths back 10th to Typhoon Tracy at 40/1 in the next year’s CF Orr.
Still, he was a warrior.
Zip also famously showed up in the Cox Plate four years straight and managed to snag a spot in the trifecta three times, the last of which was a second to So You Think in 2010.
Maybe if he had been able to win the ‘race where legends are made’ folks would talk about him more when pub arguments arise over the greatest Aussie racehorses of all time.
For me, he did enough.
But what’s he doing in an article on Group 1 winning veterans?
Well, a fourth Sandown Classic wasn’t his only achievement as an old-timer.
He also won both of his career Group 1s in his final season. Talk about saving the best for last.
At eight, he claimed the Australian Cup beating Sirmione by a nostril flare.
Then, at nine, he muscled his way to the line in the Turnbull Stakes, sticking his neck out just enough to beat none other than the reigning Melbourne Cup winner Shocking.
Suddenly, enduring the scorching heat in the ute that day makes perfect sense.
Only wish I could say the same for most of my other race day decisions over the years!
MR BRIGHTSIDE
- Trainers: Ben, Will & JD Hayes
- Current Record: 44: 19-11-3
- Current Prizemoney: $17,382,902
Okay, so I’m doing a bit of a John Gillespie job here and cheating, but Mr Brightside is definitely more of a Bold Personality than a Fine Cotton and for mine deserves to be included here despite not officially having turned eight just yet.
He will on the Horse’s Birthday (August 1) and Ben Hayes is adamant this guy, whose story reads something similar to Takeover Target’s having been snapped up for under a thousand NZ dollars, is going to be “great at eight”.
“He looks fantastic. Compared to this time in the last couple of years, he looks more forward than he has. He has the best coat he probably has had. He’s working great and working out beautifully,” Hayes told Racing.com.
Now that’s some pre-campaign spruiking right there and something to get the knees of the young guns set to face the $17 million earner knocking.
They’re also encouraging words considering we haven’t seen the ageing marvel since his last place effort at Sha Tin in April’s Champions Mile.
An aberration and a run I’m happy to rule a line through ahead of his return.
All eyes on the Memsie now, a race he won in 2023 and finished runner-up in last year, before he dually defends his Makybe Diva Stakes title.
So, will this Lindsay Park stable ace pull off another one of his classic spring clean-ups?
Will it be another rinse and repeat targeting many of his key haunts despite his October 2017 foal date?
If yes, his loyal fan base is about to grow larger than Ollie’s farewell lap.
When Mr B hits the track this spring, I won’t just be watching, I’ll be believing.
Time to book my flights to Melbourne.
Loving these Aussie Group 1 veterans still smashing it on the track? That grit’s not just for racehorses! If you’re all about legends who laugh in the face of Father Time, check out our deep dive some of the most unstoppable sporting athletes of all time here – Sport’s Golden Oldies.