Chautauqua has become the first Australian sprinter to break the $8 million mark on Saturday, pulling off an incredible finish from out of nowhere to not only completely sink the heart of Gai Waterhouse, but also win his third TJ Smith Stakes in a row.
The ‘grey flash’, as he is appropriately named, came from the back of the field in the final 200 metres in what looked to be a run race, flying home with incredible pace to pass the post a neck ahead of English.
The gelding overtook legendary mare Black Caviar as Australia’s richest sprinter, moving up past the unprecedented mark of $8 million prizemoney. But he is far from done.
Jockey on the day, Tommy Berry, was quick to praise him, even making a curious comparison that will come to light later in the year.
“For a horse who races the way he does – back in the field, a lot of the time he’s got to come around them – his strike rate can’t be that good,” Berry said.
“He seems to overcome difficulties in races, like Winx does. That’s what good horses do.”
With a historic new event on the racing calendar just over the horizon later this year, the possibility of breaking Makybe Diva’s all-time Australian prizemoney record has become a reality.
Aptly named The Everest, the Randwick sprint to be run in October will be a Group 1 over 1,200 metres and carries a whopping $10 million purse.
The race will become the richest in Australia and the richest turf race anywhere on the planet, because why not.
Chautauqua has been signed up for the historic event and is already the short-priced favourite, and why wouldn’t he be, running at the perfect distance on a track he has dominated for the past three years.
Such is the anticipation and regard for his pure pace on the sprinting distance, Chautauqua has pushed Winx aside as race favourite, an astonishing feat considering Winx hasn’t been anywhere out of the one dollar range for a race win since the historic streak really began.
The winner’s prize pool of $5.8 million at The Everest would push Chautauqua up within touching distance of Makybe Diva’s $14.52 million mark.
He’s in a two-horse race with Winx to try and topple the mark. The later is just ahead of Chautauqua at the moment, with a touch over $10 million at this stage.
Chautauqua is expected to be spelled in the lead up to the money-fuelled race and talk has already begun of a streak-breaking win over Winx.
With incredible finishing power and some final sector times that put the rest of the field to shame, it will be a tough ask to stop this particular grey sprinter from making history sooner rather than later.
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