October
JulyClose call
We all saw the Diamond Jubilee in England, where Black Caviar won her 22nd race straight by a whisker after her jockey stopped riding her.
The episode was eerily reminiscent of an incident involving Mainbrace, the great Kiwi horse of last century.
Although Wikipedia says Mainbrace won 23 of his 25 starts and ran second in the other two, the biography of his jockey, Grenville Hughes, says that Mainbrace ran third at his debut.
The book, Grenville by Jim Knight, says Mainbrace had 24 more starts, all under Hughes — regarded as one of New Zealand’s best jockeys — and won 23 of them.
In 1950, on the final day of the Auckland Cup meeting, Mainbrace won the Royal Stakes (1200m) by a head. Here’s an extract from that biography:
He should have won more decisively. Hughes dropped his hands inside the final furlong when Mainbrace seemed to have his opposition under control.
"To my dismay," Hughes recalled, "Correspond flashed up on the inside and all but caught me. It gave me the fright of my life. I had time to give Mainbrace only one kick and one hit with the stick to get him going again.
"I’d never have forgiven myself had I been beaten."
Lake Haven (NSW)