It was Friday 17th March 1961, and as the thousands of punters poured through the gates at Harold Park that night there was only one race, and two 3yo pacers, on their minds, nothing else mattered. They had waited
months for this clash, it had been argued and discussed endlessly, and tonight these two 3yo’s would meet for the first time and prove who was the better.
HE was a colt from Vic. A small, solid, pacing machine who had swept all before him as a 2yo. Running second at his first start he was then unbeaten for the rest of the season winning his last 9 starts. The heat and final of the Debutant Stakes, heat and final of the Breeder’s Plate, S.A. Sapling Stakes and heat and final of the NSW and Vic. Sapling Stakes. At his last start, at HP, he had run an A’sian record for a 2yo.
He was, without question, the best 2yo in the land and possibly the best ever.
As a 3yo he came back as good as ever winning 8 of his 10 starts. In a time of only standing start races he was as close to being the perfect horse as you could ever wish for. He ALWAYS stood perfectly at the
barrier, went straight into his stride at barrier rise and hit top speed within the first 50 metres. He invariably led and was almost impossible to run down. He was the most fearsome competitor any 3yo ever had to face
By Volo Chief from Opal Raid he was trained and driven by Keith Raw and his name was Opal Chief
SHE was a beautiful brown filly from Sydney. She only had one start as a late 2yo, running a close second to NSW’s best 2yo, Soho Rose. As a 3yo she won her first four starts, lost her driver at her next start and then won her next two. She then ran fifth to the very talented, open class pacer, Last Command and then ran second, at HP, to NZ’s best 3yo colt, Don Ngaree, after giving him 24 yards start. She then won her next
five starts. In one race, at HP, she gave last season’s best 2yo, Soho Rose, 36 yards start over 9 3/4 furlongs (1950 metres) and beat her by 20 yards. She was the best 3yo filly ever produced in this
state.
Unfortunately, she was a less than perfect barrier horse, prone to VERY slow starts, or BAD breaks, at barrier rise. What she lacked in barrier manners, however, she more than made up for in determination. She had a heart as big as Sydney Harbour and NEVER stopped trying to win. She was the absolute idol of the HP crowd.
She was by Sparkling Raid out of Pearl Globe and was trained and driven by Les Chant. Her name was Sparkling Pearl.
As these two swept all before them in their home states, arguments raged over who was the best, but everyone knew that this would only be settled when they finally met. Their first meeting was to be in the final of the NSW Sires Produce Stakes. Wisely kept apart in their heats, Opal Chief won his heat by 12 yards, leading all the way, rating 2-8 1/5 and
starting at 1-5, while Sparkling Pearl also started at 1-5, won by 10 yards and rated 2-10 1/5. She had to do it much tougher, however. Losing a lot of ground at barrier rise and a long last early, she went three wide around the field to sit outside the leader. Despite her hard run she STILL won easily beating the top NZ colt, Don Ngaree.
While they both won easily it was obvious they could go faster and the big test would come next week. It was to be the ultimate clash, a NSW champ vs. a Vic. champ, a safe beginner and brilliant front runner vs.
a slow starter and powerful finisher, a colt vs. a filly. All week long debate raged over who was the better, but usually this was silenced when “old
timers” reminded everyone of one of the sport’s oldest maxims, ” a good colt will ALWAYS beat a good filly”. This saying had stood the test of time and was generally considered to be a fact of harness racing lore. One thing everyone agreed upon, however, was that HE would lead and SHE would have to come from behind. Whether she could give THIS horse a start and a beating was the subject of the whole debate.
Opal Chief went into the Sires final with four wins “on the trot” while Sparkling Pearl had five in a row. The battle in the betting ring was just as intense as the week long battle of words. First one was favourite
then the other. The “rank and file” HP punters ONLY wanted The Pearl while the BIG, “smart” money, went on the safer conveyance, Opal Chief. However for every $1000 bet on the Victorian there was a 100 $10 bets on Sparkling Pearl, the local fans just could not bring themselves to bet against her. When betting was done, however, the “smart” money won, and Opal Chief started 9-10 favourite with The Pearl at 1-1.
At barrier rise Opal Chief, as expected, went straight to the front and Sparkling Pearl slowly, but safely, away, settled midfield. She briefly had the 1×1 but when the “death” horse slotted in behind the leader (he was going so fast in front the field was strung out) she was left without cover.
With a lap to go she was 20 yards behind the leader, but half way down the back straight she sprinted strongly up to the leader, bringing the huge crowd to their feet. On the home turn she joined him, and these two magnificent 3yo’s settled down to their own private two horse war. All the way down the straight they were locked together, while the crowd went wild urging her to victory then, right in the shadows of the winning post she “dug deep”, as she had done so many times before, and found that extra “something”. As they crossed the line she was in front by a head.
The roar from the crowd reached a new level when they saw she had done the “impossible” and beaten the Victorian champ. The winning margin was a head and the time, of course, was a new record.
Opal Chief went back to Melbourne and won his next two starts, including an open class FFA, before returning to HP on the 28th April for the heats of the Derby. Sparkling Pearl also had two starts between her Sires
Produce win and the Derby heats but, showing the effects of the hard Sires run, was beaten both times. She ran fourth to Amazing Vale then third, from 24 yards behind, to Festive Spring. Consequently, when they met for the second time, in the heat of the NSW Derby, Opal Chief started 4-7 favourite and the Pearl at 9-4. It was to prove a luxury price for so talented a filly. Showing she had gotten over her hard Sires win she won EASILY, in record time, beating Don Ngaree (again) by 16 yards. Opal Chief led but,
apparently, “choked up” and finished sixth. He was immediately spelled.
The stewards took exception to Sparkling Pearl’s improved performance and gave Les Chant a “holiday”. She was a difficult horse to drive so Chant gave the drive, in the Derby final, to master reinsman Jim (J.C.) Caffyn. There was NO better man with juvenile pacers than Caffyn, but Sparkling Pearl proved to be a handful even for him.
Breaking at the start, she settled down second last and stayed there for most of the race. Half way down the back straight, in the last lap,Caffyn made his move and she sprinted powerfully, three and four wide, up
to join the leaders on the home turn, albeit five wide. Then, just when it looked like she would sprint past them and win easily, she went into an
uncontrollable gallop, for no apparent reason. No matter what J.C. did, he could not get her “down” and she finished an inglorious last. The winner was Don Ngaree, a horse she had embarrassed a week earlier. She had one more start, in the NSW Oaks, which she won. She never raced again.
Many years later Les Chant, while talking about great fillies he had driven, rated Goldrush Girl a better horse than Sparkling Pearl, but I disagree. Goldrush Girl won more “big” races but she raced for a much longer period, than Sparkling Pearl, and she NEVER beat a 3yo colt of the calibre of Opal Chief
At the end of her 3yo season she was assessed as a FFA class pacer, the first 3yo filly ever to reach that class. She was, quite simply, the BEST 3yo filly I have EVER seen.
Just one more thing. After her victory in the Sires Produce I never again heard that saying “a good colt will always beat a good filly”. She put that one completely to rest.
Jim Hogan
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing