October
SeptemberTwo of the best
As a long-time reader but first-time writer, I congratulate Shane Templeton on his wonderful article on both Ming Dynasty (my favourite racehorse) and Family of Man (16/9).
Ming was a great warrior who won two Caulfield Cups, two Australian Cups, a Metropolitan and many more races, and set this reader up quite well financially (alas, much was given back).
He was a most handsome grey with white socks.
Late in the 1978 Australian Cup, Crepellox was a neck clear, but with 7kg more Ming bravely fought back to win (my mum and I took him one-out in the quad and it duly saluted).
His greatest win was the 1980 Caulfield Cup, where he beat two terrific horses in Hyperno and Kingston Town (they were the three topweights).
This set me up nicely in the feature double into the Melbourne Cup with 12 runners. My $29,000 result ran second (My Blue Denim) but I still made a nice profit by laying off on Beldale Ball (and others).
I believe Family of Man became the first Australian racehorse to win $500,000 when he won the 1978 George Adams, and his 1977 Cox Plate victory was stunning.
I’ve visited the FOM bar at Pinjarra racecourse (one of 164 racetracks I’ve been able to visit so far).
Thanks, Shane, for the memories!
Benalla (Vic)