Today we will have a look at the career of one of the most popular horses to ever run in Australia, the Goondiwindi Grey, Gunsynd. Gunsynd may never have been to Goondiwindi in country Queensland, that is up for debate, but his owners were definitely from this town that can be found a few hours’ drive straight west from the Gold Coast. Gunsynd was one of the most popular horses to ever run in Australia. It is even said, that after a particularly good victory, Gunsynd would stop in front of the grandstand and bow to the applauding crowd. He is also the best grey horse to ever run in this country. It has even been said that his win in the 1972 Cox Plate re-energized the race and allowed it to become the spectacle it is today. There is a good argument for this considering the prize money for the Cox Plate went up by 50% from 1971 to 1972. Bernborough is probably the most popular horse to ever run in Australia; however, Gunsynd might be a close second. Gunsynd even has a song about him!
There is no doubt that Gunsynd was so popular because he was a stand-out grey that had a tremendous will to win. His record is unbelievable when we consider some of the horses that are labelled champions today. Take a look at this record…
As a two-year -old he won five from six over distances between 1000m and 1600m in both Brisbane and Sydney. His last win as a two-year-old was at Radndick over the mile where he carried 9.6 (60kg) in a handicap where 48kg was the limit. 12kg over the limit as a two-year-old clearly shows that there was a champion in the making.
As a three-year-old Gunsynd had six wins (four in Brisbane, two in Sydney). This was the period when the horse was transferred to the legendary Tommy Smith to train. In his three-year-old season, Gunsynd won the time honoured Rawson Stakes and the Chelmsford Stakes. Both these races had been won in the past by Phar Lap, Bernbrough and Tulloch. So to win them as a three-year-old was another indication of the champion horse that Gunsynd was to become, if he was not there already.
As a four-year-old, Gunsynd did something that had never been done before and will probably never be done again. He won all four of the major mile handicaps in Australia; the Epsom, the Doncaster, the Toorak and the Emirates (it was known as the George Adams back then). He seems to have snuck into the spring-run Epsom with 8.1 (51kg), then he won the Toorak at Caulfield with 9.3 (58kg), the Emirates with 9.3 (58kg) and the autumn Doncaster with a staggering 9.7 (60.5kg). In between all these feature mile wins, Gunsynd also managed to pick up a Flying at Doomben, the 2400m Sandown Cup, the 1200m Clissold Handicap at Randwick, the Futurity, the 2000m Queens Plate and the 2400m Queen Elizabeth at Flemington. So in his four-year-old season, as well as winning all four major mile handicaps, Gunsynd won six other races, all of group standing, over distances between 1200m and 2400m. Extraordinary stuff!
As a five-year-old Gunsynd won eight races; the Rosehill Stakes, the Colin Stephens Stakes, the Yalumba Stakes, the Cox Plate, the Blamey, the Queen Elizabeth at Flemington, the Rawson again and the Autumn Stakes. Then he went to stud!
But perhaps Gunsynd’s mightiest performance came in the 1972 Melbourne Cup where he ran third carrying 60.5kg. The winner, Piping Lane had 48kg, or 12.5kg less than Gunsynd. This was a time when the Melbourne Cup was actually a handicap race, not a quality like it is today. Gunsynd was handicapped out of this Cup, not because of the 60.5kg, he could carry that on his ear, but because of the low limit.
Well there we have it. The story of the Goondiwidi grey. He even has a statue in Goondiwini. A horse that won all four mile handicaps plus many other races. A horse that could win between 1200m and 2400m and even had a crack at a Melbourne Cup. A real champion.
By Zeb Armstrong
