It was to be champion jockey Brent ‘Babe’ Thomson’s fourth Cox Plate win in five years, a remarkable achievement with four different horses, with Dulcify his … "In the mounting yard he asked me what price Dulcify was and when I said he was 80-1 he gave me $100 cash and told me to have it on. During a brief but brutal reign as the king of the Australian turf, Dulcify won two Derbies, the Australian Cup and the Cox Plate among a string of feature race victories. Starting a 3-1 favourite in the 1979 Melbourne Cup, tragedy struck when Dulcify was galloped upon during the race by the eventual winner Hyperno and broke his pelvis. "He threw it in this race at Morphettville and it was a bit like Chris Waller, he had six starters in the race, and Dulcify drew barrier 20 of 20 and he'd never trialled and that's when he famously won at 300-1. "I don't think he expected a performance like that but that's when Colin told us that we might have something.". Dulcify’s win in the Cox Plate that year is one of the most replayed finishes in history, with the gelding streaking away to win in a record margin at the time of seven lengths and to the cries of race caller Bill Collin’s saying, “Dulcify’s won by a minute, and that’s the way he might win the Melbourne Cup!”.

But, as was discovered when he stormed to victory at a monstrous price on debut, he was a horse that made steady improvement with each outing and saved his best for race day.

Cox Plate. Dulcify would go on to claim the VRC Derby at his sixth start and the Australian Cup against the older horses the following autumn. "And C.S. There's little doubt that Dulcify is part of the conversation when it comes to a discussion about the most brilliant racehorses Australia has ever seen.
But he need not have worried as Thomson and Dulcify raced away to defeat Shivaree and Lawman by an ever-widening seven lengths.

"I'd rate him up with the best five horses I've ever seen come through Lindsay Park," Fennessy said. "I've got no doubt that the 12 months after he died would have been his best on the racetrack.". Jockey outed by stewards for causing interference in Saturday's Caulfield Cup, Caulfield Cup quinella still at double-figure odds for November race at Flemington, Hear from every hoop after the running of Saturday's Caulfield Cup.
"I knew I was on the best horse so it was just a case of getting a clear run from about the 800-metre mark," Thomson said. Along with his good mate Alan Maller, Rigg bought a third share in a raw colt plucked from relative obscurity by Hayes. Dulcify was one of the first horses Perth businessman Bill Rigg ever owned. There was nothing to get excited about at first according to Fennessy, who said Dulcify was often a handful on the training track and developed a reputation as a poor traveller, both by float and plane. He was gelded early and put out into the spelling paddock until he turned three. He was put down on humane grounds.

Watching from The Valley members' section just in front of the winning post, Rigg - like thousands of punters - was questioning Brent Thomson's timing when he took off passing the school. It was his 1979 Cox Plate win - by a then-record margin of seven lengths - that really stamped the Colin Hayes-trained galloper as a genuine freak but sadly, less than a fortnight later, his racing career and indeed his life was cut tragically short. "That was one of the reasons he went to the races without a trial under his belt and started huge odds. Thomson and Dulcify took off around the field with 500 metres to go, saying later that he saw some of his rivals under pressure at this point, “so I let go hoping to put them under greater pressure.” He went on to blow away the field in the straight to the soundtrack of the famous Collin’s call. He's seen the likes of Better Loosen Up, Jeune and Miss Finland all come and go and, to this day, he rates Dulcify right up there with the best of them. "On the very day of the Cox Plate that he won, he ran a faster last 600m than they did in the Moir Stakes - he was at the end of 2000m and they were at the end of 1000m - so that was the explosive acceleration that he had. Jockey Brent Thomson clicked Dulcify into gear more than 1000m from home and he flashed round the track like a bolt of lightning. "He only raced for 14 months and he did everything as an immature three-year-old and a maturing four-year-old.

"It was quite an incredible performance really and the overall time for the race was quick despite the fact they went very slowly for the first half.". Fennessy has saddled up more winners at Lindsay Park than most people in racing have had hot dinners. A particularly wet winter at Lindsay Park hampered Dulcify's early education and his first racing preparation as a late two-year-old. It was to be champion jockey Brent ‘Babe’ Thomson’s fourth Cox Plate win in five years, a remarkable achievement with four different horses, with Dulcify his unabashed favourite for reasons outlined here. "He was stone motherless last after copping a couple of checks but when he got out at the top of the straight he went past Manikato like he was glued to the Flemington turf.". "I was at the races that day and when he stormed down the outside and won, that's when we thought we might have something special.

If there was any consolation, it is that the racing public got to enjoy seeing Dulcify at his very best in the Cox Plate in an edition of the race that is still talked about. "He was unbeatable the way he let go, it was quite scary really. "The Australian Cup was the only time I'd ever known Colin to have a bet," he said. A champion that was lost too soon, but for a short time he was with us, he sure made an impact.

"He had the famous parrot mouth and he wasn't badly bred but he hadn't really been prepared all that well and he was basically just pulled out of paddock and thrown into the sale ring.". "Colin came up with this horse that we paid $3250 for out of New Zealand," Rigg said. Does he deserve to be rated right up there with the likes of folklore heroes Phar Lap and Tulloch? How would he have performed against modern-day stars like Makybe Diva and Winx?

A week later he took out the Mackinnon Stakes and started a 3-1 favourite in the 1979 Melbourne Cup; tragedy struck when Dulcify was galloped upon during the race and broke his pelvis, and was put down. When many racing fans consider their favourite Cox Plate win, one of the most popular answers is Dulcify in 1979. In all, Dulcify won 10 races from 21 starts over a 14-month period. 3YO Handicap (1200m) @ Morphettville - September 1978; Camden Handicap (1600m) @ Morphettville - September 1978; Victoria Derby (2500m) @ Flemington - November 1978; Australian Cup (2000m) @ Flemington - March 1979; Rosehill Guineas (2000m) @ Rosehill - March 1979; AJC Derby (2400m) @ Randwick - April 1979; Craiglee Stakes (1600m) @ Flemington - September 1979; Turnbull Stakes (2000m) @ Flemington - October 1979; Cox Plate (2040m) @ Moonee Valley - October 1979; and. On that day, however, Dulcify was in a class of his own.

The Australian Cup win, at odds of 80-1, came against the great sprinter-miler of the era Manikato, who Dulcify would also defeat in the Rosehill Guineas.

Dulcify returned an even greater force in the spring of 1979 and his Cox Plate win remains the stuff of legend. VIC and SA racing materials, including fields, form and results, is subject to copyright which is owned respectively by RV and TRSA and other parties working with them. "As a young horse he was a bit of an ordinary ride but as he got older he did become quite a kind horse. By the Irish 2000 Guineas winner Decies out of Todman mare Sweet Candy, the parrot-mouthed youngster boasted a handy pedigree but was nothing to look at according to Rigg. "Dulcify, without a doubt, was the best horse I ever rode, no question.".

It's a sequence few have ever matched and one none in the modern era would even get the chance to attempt. "He had a peep over his shoulder and the race was won. While it may have appeared to many that Thomson, confident of victory, let the champ stride past the school, he's happy to admit that it was Dulcify who called the shots that day. "I've got no doubt the best was in still front of him.". "All of a sudden Dulcify just absolutely took off and it was like being a passenger.

© 2020 Racing Victoria Limited (RV) and other parties working with it. Fennessy was barely out of his teens when Dulcify came along.

"He won the Mackinnon the next week and he was favourite to win the Melbourne Cup when he was galloped on by Hyperno and badly injured.


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