Following my article last week on whether Winx should retire or keep going for wins, it prompted me to ask the question, who is Australia’s greatest racing horse?
There are many horses that you could put to the debate but I have gone for the obvious four, Phar Lap, Makybe Diva, Black Caviar and Winx. So of these for who is the best? Let’s look at the stats
Phar Lap won several big races at home and overseas, including the 1930 Melbourne Cup, two Cox Plates, two Melbourne Stakes plus many international races. What was different about Phar Lap is that he won several races over different distances going from a sprinter to a distance horse over his career.
His victories were legendary and he was such as threat, that he was poisoned to stop him winning. Phar Lap always set the bar for all following horses.
Makybe Diva not only won a Melbourne Cup but three in a row, which is outstanding. She is also the second-highest-earning horse in history with over $14 million of prizemoney to her name. With her historic cup wins she has also won a Cox Plate, the Queens Stakes and several international races.
Black Caviar has an amazing record of 25-0 for Group 1 races including the Australia Stakes, Schweppes Stakes and finishing her career with winning the Diamond Jubilee Stakes in England. She finished her career with earnings of over $7 million in winnings she was inducted into the hall of fame in 2013.
Winx has just equalled Black Caviar record of 25-0 including three Cox Plates, two Queen Elizabeth Stakes, two Apollo Stakes and a Phar Lap Stakes. Although she is yet to go overseas to find success over there she still makes the debate.
With everything that all these horses have done, I really think Makybe Diva, with the three Melbourne Cups in a row and all the prizemoney that she has won, is too good to go past, but that’s just me. I would love to hear your thoughts or any other horses that you consider the best.
John Foster
Guest
It goes without saying that most of us know of the mighty racehorse Kingston Town. A lot has been said about him over the years. My opinion? Consider these points; Kingston Town was plagued with injury throughout his whole career. Those injuries would have ended the career of other racehorses. He was versatile; he had quality horses to compete against, had bigger fields to contend with, and he was practically running on 2 legs. He ran in 3 Melbourne Cups, and won the Sydney Cup in 1980( which happens to be the same distance as the Melbourne Cup). There are some racehorses in recent times( I won't mention those horses) that have been considered champions that haven' t even run in the Melbourne Cup. Kingston Town could have achieved so much more if he'd been sound. How would some of our current champions have performed if they had suffered with the same injuries as the King did? I will finish my comment by saying this legendary quotation; " All hail the King"
i miss the force
Guest
one is the WFA championship and the other is a handicap
Jason Andrews
Roar Pro
thanks for reading appreciate the comments.
Early Speed
Guest
By " the rest " I wasn't meaning some of those mentioned here, I think there's about another 8 horses you could argue over and some of them haven't even been mentioned.
Early Speed
Guest
Carbine was rated better than Phar Lap by Phar Lap's trainer. The reason Telford bought Phar Lap sight unseen from New Zealand was because of his breeding which showed he had Carbine on both sides of his pedigree. Carbine won 2 races in a day on 4 separate occasions and won 5 races in 4 days in a Sydney Autumn carnival, won races from sprints through to 3 miles, and won a Melbourne Cup carrying 66kg in a 39 horse field with a hoof injury. And of course those were the days before the ' crouch style ' of today's jockeys so he had the full 66kgs smashing up and down on his back for the whole journey I read a statistic a few years ago that showed that of the 9 horses that had won over $10 million 8 traced back to Carbine, and of course that didn't include his other descendants Phar Lap, Tulloch, or a fairly handy American horse called Secrateriat. I think you have to acknowledge Carbine and Phar Lap as the top 2 and then start arguing about the rest
Racingfan
Roar Rookie
You're right that this debate could go on forever! Personally in my 40 + years watching horse racing I've never seen a horse who can do the things Winx can do . And do them consistently for 3 years. Her cruising speed is everything else's top speed and she sprints home like nothing I've seen. And hold that top speed for a very long time. She's a freak of nature just like Phar Lap.
Jason Andrews
Roar Pro
I agree fat man
Kerry
Guest
Hi Tony - you doubt Phar Lap could keep up to today's champions? That's the point they couldn't keep up with him. I repeat, Phar Lap's time form ratings rank at 141 the highest in the world whereas Black Caviar is 136 & Winx is 134.
Raimond
Roar Guru
It's still a hard race to win. I rate The Diva's three Melbourne Cups above the three Cox Plates of Kingston Town & Winx.
michael steel
Guest
If my memory is right the first five horses inducted into the hall of fame were, in order of history, Carbine, Phar Lap, Bernborough, Tulluch and Kingston Town. Historians have Phar Lap on top. Having read all their stories I find Winx to be the only horse since Kingston Town to be included in this group.
peeko
Guest
because the Melbourne Cup is not a great race. it won it once with 51kg. anyone with any racing knowledge will look at Tulloch or Kingston Town and know they were a lot better
Tony
Guest
The odd thing is that this debate could go on forever because we all have our own view of greatness. All of the above is correct and compelling. My thoughts on Phar Lap is that, that was then and this is now and yes you can put the money into perspective but you can’t put him opposition into perspective. If somehow he could come back as a four year old right now I would doubt he could keep warn up against the champions of today. Different training methods, feed the list goes on. You can not compare apples with apples, you can just surmise. My thoughts anyway. Cheers and good punting over the weekend!
Mike from Tari
Guest
You haven't included the Goondiwindi Grey, Bernborough from the clouds.
Swooper
Guest
You have missed a few that are right up there when you consider performance overseas. So You Think two Cox Plates multiple group ones overseas, ditto Takeover Target. I’d throw in Kingston Town as versatile and talented as Winx. Tulloch, the list goes on....I have followed racing for 45 years. You can’t compare champions.
Kerry
Guest
Didn't mean to offend. The judgements that make us choose a particular horse as the greatest are subjective of course. But my point is that in terms of achievement that can be quantified, Phar Lap has won the most Group 1 races in the world, has the highest time form ratings rank in the world and at current winnings stakes value has won more than any other Australian horse.
Jason Andrews
Roar Pro
Thanks Kerry for reading. I did my research that’s why Phar Lap is in the debate
Kerry
Guest
Who is Australia's greatest racehorse? If you do your research you will find it is Phar Lap. The value for winning the same races that Phar Lap won today is well over $15million. The races he won that are now listed as Group 1 is 28. Phar Lap's time form ratings rank at 141 - the highest in the world - whereas Black Caviar ranks at 136 and Winx at 134.
Jason Andrews
Roar Pro
Hi AR, thanks for reading, I m not a overly huge fan of racing but I certainly appreciate the combinations of all four horses as they made history in Australian racing in their own right. Winx is obvious the best atm but I wanted to she how she measured up against other contenders as the GOAT
Jason Andrews
Roar Pro
Why not, please explain??
AR
Guest
Hi Jason, not sure if you’re a horse racing fan, but Black Caviar didn’t notch 25 Group 1 wins. She had 15 from a total of 25 starts/wins. As for Makybe, 3 Cups will probably never be repeated, but I don’t think she’s in the same league as the other 3. Tulloch is another top 5 contender, but for me, what Winx is doing atm is simply unbelievable.