This Saturday marks the 118th running of the Chelmsford Stakes. It is a Weight for Age race run over 1600m. There is an argument that the Chelmsford Stakes has the greatest honour role in Australian racing history. It is a pretty impressive winners list that includes several of the best horses to ever run in Australia.
1918 Gloaming
Famous for winning 19 races in a row and competing in four race match race series with Beauford. Gloaming also ended the legendary 19 race winning streak of Desert Gold before equalling the record himself. The gelding still holds the record for the fastest 4 furlongs ever record in Australia; but perhaps the most remarkable stat about Gloaming is that in 67 starts he only ever missed a place once.
1924 Heroic
A multiple big time race winner who is probably Australia’s greatest ever home bred stallion. He was leading sire every year from 1933 to 1939. 6 years in a row as leading sire is a huge effort. Heroic won a Cox Plate, Newmarket Handicap and traditional stallion making races the Caulfield Guineas, Ascot Vale and Champagne Stakes.
1925 Windbag
A Champion stayer that won the Melbourne Cup with 9.2 in the same year as winning the Chelmsford. 106,000 saw him win the Cup that year. Remember this is near on 90 years ago! Why have crowds shrunk despite the population rising?
1926, 1927 and 1928 Limerick
It is a supreme effort to win the same major race three years running. We have to remember that in the past, this race was a major event. And the 1920s was an era of champions, so it is a remarkable effort to win the race three years running. It is important to note that Limerick was a gun horse but he was one of the original ‘protected’ horses. He rarely competed in a major handicap races, instead picking off the WFA races that he could not possible be beaten in based on ability.
1930 Phar Lap
Not much needs to be said about Phar Lap that has not already been said. Les Carlyon describes Phar Lap as ‘a hero to the lost age of the depression.’ This is an accurate description; there is no doubt about that. But it is also important to mention that Phar Lap appeared in 1929, at the end of a decade of champions. The 1920s was probably the best decade of Australian racing. Phar Lap appeared at the end of this decade and he was just that little bit better than Beauford, Gloaming, Windbag and Heroic. This is another reason why he was so widely loved. He was just that good!
1946 Bernborough
This was one of the very few wins from Bernborough that he was positioned near the front of the field. He usually came from behind with a swooping burst. This was Bernborough’s 12th consecutive win in his legendary streak of 15. Of those 15 wins, 7 were in open handicaps where Bernborough was often forced to carry huge weights. Bernborough’s win in the 1946 Newmarket handicap with 9.13 (63kg) at just his 6th metropolition start was acclaimed as one of the best wins ever seen on an Australian racecourse. That was until Bernborough won the 1946 Ahearn Memorial at Doomben (now the Doomben 10,000) with 10.5 (65.5kg). For the vision of these two wonderful wins check out http://www.bbcmotiongallery.
1950, 1951 and 1952 Delta
As well as winning three Chelmsford Stakes, Delta won Cox Plate, a VRC Derby and a Melbourne Cup. Variety is a great quality in a horse but these days most are either declared sprinters or stayers. It was once possible to be both.
1960 Tulloch
This immortal champion won this time honoured race after his two years out injured. Tulloch was the greatest three-year-old to ever grace the Australian turf then he got really sick and did not race for almost two years. Today he would have been retired straight away, but Tommy Smith persisted with him. Tulloch’s comeback race after almost two years of standing against a fence trying not to die (Tommy Smith’s words) was in a 2000m race which he won. Tulloch then won the Chipping Norton, the Queen Elizebeth, the Autumn Stakes then the O’Shea in Brisbane. After a three month spell, Tulloch won the Chelmsford first up. It was indeed a remarkable return from injury. Hopefully Atlantic Jewel stays sound and can continue to impress in a similar fashion.
1967, 1968, 1969 Roman Consul
Another three time winner who today has a race named after him.
1970 Gunsynd
Gunsynd is probably most famous for holding all four major one mile handicaps at one time. In the 1971 – 1972 season Gunsynd won the Epsom, Toorak, George Adams (now the Emirates) and the Doncaster.
1978 Ming Dynasty
This two time Caulfield Cup winner that is one of the best named horses in Australian racing history; he was hard and tough and a genuine stayer that still was classy enough to win the Chelmsford over the mile at WFA. And he was a grey!
1980 and 1981 Kingston Town
It has been said that Kingston Town could do anything on a racecourse. When he was young horse he made things that were hard look easy and he made things that were easy look graceful. When he became a little older, he seemed to have a radar in his head and knew exactly when to hit the line to win.
1998 Might and Power
The big champ beat Juggler and Tie the Knot in the 1998 Chelmsford. It is interesting that after Might and Power won this race, at his next start in the George Main at WFA he ran a terrible 7th. After this horrible race, Might and Power bounced back and won the Yalumba at Caulfield then the Cox Plate then the Queen Elizabeth at Flemington by 7 lengths.
2003 and 2004 Lonhro
The WFA champ interestingly beat Platinum Scissors in both his Chelmsford victories.
So there we go. It is really a great honour role. Bernborough, Tulloch, Kingston Town and Phar Lap are four of the original five inductees of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, and the other noted winners were all champions in their own right. Considering the honour role, and the races rich and long history, there is maybe even a case to be made for the race becoming a Group One.
By Zeb Armstrong
