IT is now less than 100 days until Finals night at the Annual Bathurst Gold Crown Carnival.
This upcoming Carnival will be a “pearler” – it will be 30 years, almost to the day, since the running of the inaugural Bathurst Gold Crown and Tiara on 21st March 1987.
The Gold Crown Carnival was the brainchild of the then Club Secretary Ken Davis and his forward thinking Committee.
That debut year resulted in prizemoney of $105,000 for the Gold Crown race for the Colts and $52,500 for the Tiara Final for the girls.
Bear in mind that the NSW Derby carried prizemoney of $65,000 in 1987 and the relevance of the Bathurst Gold Crown in that inaugural year was profound.
The first running of the Gold Crown saw victory go to the NSW bred two-year-old Rocket Jason – owned and trained by Sydney based John Beeby.
John should also have driven his colt but a broken arm suffered in a race fall at Harold Park the night before meant some hurried phone calls for a replacement driver. The lucky driver to receive the call up was one of the best in the business – Cyril Caffyn.
Amazingly Rocket Jason had already won nine races leading into the heats of the Gold Crown including the Nowra Debutante Stakes and the Edgar Tatlow Stakes and Sapling Stakes at Harold Park.
This sort of preparation for a Bathurst Gold Crown series would be unheard of today.
“He was just a stich above average, I’m actually lucky that Rowleyalla wasn’t paid up for that Gold Crown Series” remarked John Beeby about his pupil many years later.
There is a belief held in many minds today that early two-year-old racing can destroy the careers of many promising horses. Well that theory was certainly cast aside by Rocket Jason as he continued to race until he was a 12-year-old finishing his career at Maitland in May 1997.
That career resulted in 161 starts for 43 wins and prizemoney of $210,704.
Back in 1987, the fillies only raced for half the prizemoney that was allocated to the boys.
However that didn’t deter prominent owner and driver Colin McDowell from heading up the mountain with his two-year-old filly Loves A Dance.
The daughter of Young Dancer and Out To Charm won both her heat and then the final, in a close decision over the Brian Hancock reined Cool Babe.
Incredibly whilst the Bathurst Carnival was in progress the McDowell’s, Colin and Cheryl, had a better two-year-old filly cooling her heels back at home. That filly, The Private Dancer, had already won the Edgar Tatlow Final at Moonee Valley and then proceeded to win the Pink Bonnet Stakes and the J.L. Raith Memorial and Princess Mile as a three-year-old.
It is fair to say that if the McDowell’s weren’t hooked on harness racing, then they certainly were by seasons end in 1987.
“It is a fantastic Carnival up at Bathurst. We have been back there most years trying to win another Crown or Tiara and we’re aiming for March again in 2017,” commented Colin recently.
The Carnival took an International flavour in 1990 when a Kiwi victor Master Musician became the first sub 2.00 winner with a decisive victory in 1.58.2. The New York Motoring gelding went on to an illustrious career, retiring with earnings exceeding $1,920,000.
The countdown to the Crown continues with many two-year-olds now strutting their stuff in qualifying trials around the country.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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