In a bid to rile up some national pride during the famous Royal Ascot carnival – and mainly just to relive some glorious replays – we’ve gone about ranking the more recent (2000 onwards) heroes to travel and take on the world and fly the flag for Australian racing in the Northern Hemisphere.
Agree/disagree? Fond memories of one in particular? Let us know.
10. Haradasun (Royal Ascot)
From the famous ‘Circles Of Gold’ family, Haradasun – like his half-brother before him, Elvstroem – started out at Swan Hill. They would both go and take on the world. Like their Swan Hill debuts, we’ve put Haradasun ahead of Elvstroem into the Top 10. Haradasun would win his debut by 10L (Elvis only 0.8L). It would be the travellator to glory on the big stage, Elvis winning in Dubai, while Haradasun went on to claim the Queen Anne Stakes at the Royal meeting, one of several Aussies to transfer and race abroad under Aidan O’Brien after Coolmore bought in. He toughed it out in the finish on the stand-side rail in what was his 18th and final career start.
We continue our countdown to Royal Ascot 2023 with THE FIGHTER.
Named after a legendary Japanese boxer, Haradasun completed a remarkable rise from Swan Hill to the Royal Ascot meeting when he took out the 2008 Queen Anne Stakes.#AustraliaAtAscotpic.twitter.com/BSo5lYDuu8
— Aushorse (@Aushorse_TBA) June 14, 2023
9. Scenic Blast (Royal Ascot)
It’s a deep list when this fella’s getting bumped to No.9. Granted, leading into his globetrotting stint that extended to 18 months and saw him race in the UK, Japan and the US, Scenic Blast hadn’t endeared himself to most punters. His four starts down under in 2009 saw wins at $19 (G1 Lightning) and $13 (G1 Newmarket), mixed with defeats at $4 and $4.80. He flew the flag for Australia in the King’s Stand, sneaking up the far side of the course under Steven Arnold and looked the winner a long way out. It would turn out to be his last racetrack win anywhere, as his campaign thereafter was far from glorious – slipping and nearly falling in the Sprinters Stakes in Japan, and then a winless five-start trot in the US. The poor bugger then came home and had two starts in 2011 – both times ran into one called Black Caviar. He would fire one more shot, in the G1 BTC Cup, finishing second to Sea Siren.
”IT’S GOING TO AUSTRALIA AGAIN” – What a story as WA’s Scenic Blast trained by @MortonRacing and ridden by Steven Arnold, took out the 2009 King’s Stand Stakes @Ascot. Houtzen represents Australia in the race tomorrow. Check out the @tabcomau market 👉 pic.twitter.com/THIbjymw8q
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 17, 2019
8. Miss Andretti (Royal Ascot)
This was freakish from the former WA galloper in the King’s Stand, and pretty stiff to be bumped down to seventh on this list. She clocked 57.44s (carrying 57.5kg) for the five furlongs at Ascot, a record, on ground rated Good-to-Firm. It was a proper Aussie raid with Magnus (third) and Takeover Target (fourth), while Bentley Biscuit (last) was also in the 20-horse field.
7. Takeover Target (Royal Ascot / Japan / Singapore)
It’s a well-told story about a horse well-travelled. But we have to rehash it here as he is the epitome of the word ‘globetrotter’. After making his international debut at career start No.19 (winning the King’s Stand) he would go on to have another 11 starts abroad (from 22) thereafter – winning in three countries. He travelled in each of 2006, ’07, ’08 and ’09. In ’06, he won the King’s Stand and later in the year, the G1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama, Japan. He was sensationally withdrawn from the HK International Sprint that year after a steroid injection given to help the horse travel weeks earlier was still present in his system in the lead-up. He travelled again in ’07 – fourth to Miss Andretti in the King’s Stand, and 2nd in the Golden Jubilee – before his Singapore win in ’08. All of this done with one of the great ROIs going around – the horse bought for $1375, and returning $6m in prizemoney.
6. Starspangledbanner (UK)
It was a healthy few years for some Aussie heroes, as before So You Think and Black Caviar (both 2012) did their thing at Royal Ascot, there was Starspangledbanner. He was trained in Europe by Aidan O’Brien after winning a Caulfield Guineas and an Oakleigh Plate for Leon Corstens. He became a dual hemisphere winning stallion when riding the stand-side rail to victory in the Golden Jubilee (1200m). He backed it up a few weeks later in the Darley July Cup, beating Equiano at Newmarket. A son of Choisir winning at Royal Ascot was a fitting touch.
5. Chautauqua (Hong Kong)
Fresh off his second TJ Smith Stakes win, the mighty grey headed abroad to Sha Tin for the Chairman’s Sprint Prize a month later. He was typically lethargic out of the gates and got speared wide on the home turn, so much so the camera operator had given up on him as he slipped out of shot. But Tommy Berry came roaring back on to our screens to swallow up Lucky Bubbles for a famous win, capped by Brett Davis’ call: ‘the thunder down under’. Contrast Chautauqua’s run with Santa Ana Lane just a few years later when also trying to get back and run-on, and it gives you an idea of how hard it can be to make ground out wide in these Sha Tin sprints.
Yes, we’re rolling this out again! 🤯
In 2016, Chautauqua became the first and he’s still the ONLY overseas-trained winner of the Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin! âš¡ï¸ÂÂÂÂÂ@TommyBerry21 | #FWDChampionsDay pic.twitter.com/xFNzAKIlud
— HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) April 25, 2023
4. Choisir (Royal Ascot double)
The only Australian horse to ‘do the double’ at Royal Ascot deserves high billing in this list. He certainly could handle his racing on the quick back-up – he was beaten a lip in a Pago Pago before signing up for the Slipper the following week, and flashed home late for third after settling out the back. He would race twice in Cup week at Flemington – winning the G2 sprint on the five-day back-up – and it was a similar plan again in the UK. After leading and winning the King’s Stand at 25-1, he overcame an unfavourable draw in the Golden Jubilee – he jumped from the far side of the straight track – to find the stand-side rail and salute at 13-2 ($7.50) for a memorable double.
3. Nature Strip (Royal Ascot)
You might cry ‘recency bias’ with this one being so high up the list, but I’ll point to one obvious aspect as to why – 4.5 lengths back to second. And here’s another – he didn’t even jump the fav but he won like a good thing going away from them. Not to mention he carried 60.5kg – a couple more kilos than he’s accustomed to, and for an international grand final no less. Recognising the effort from the horse, Waller opted against backing up on the Saturday – ‘the Stripe’ certainly put everything in on the day.
2. So You Think (UK / Ireland)
Not so much a raider as ‘one of them’ as he raced under Aidan O’Brien in Europe/Dubai/USA after a two-time Cox Plate-winning career for Bart Cummings in Australia. He’d win six of his 11 starts abroad, including giving the Queen’s horse Carlton House a touch-up in the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at the Royal meeting in June 2012. Most horses notoriously struggle to win first-up off a Melbourne Cup campaign – So You Think bounced off his Cup placing in 2010 with a 10L romp at the Curragh in Ireland over 2000m some six months on. He would win five G1s abroad, but despite this, Aidan O’Brien was a relieved man after the Prince Of Wales in 2012 – declaring he might’ve been a ‘nearly horse’ in Europe had he not won as he did, given his defeats in the Arc and the Champion Stakes the year prior.
1. Black Caviar (Royal Ascot)
Pretty hard to top ‘the unbeaten one’ overcoming adversity to prevail on the biggest stage and preserve that perfect record. If all heroes are flawed, her ‘flaw’ was this run with the last 100m going down in Australian sporting folklore (although, the reverse result would’ve sent it there tenfold). She pulled up with muscle tears and severe bruising which certainly didn’t help her cause, but she overcame it like the champ she was. It’s a real ‘where were you’ moment of Australian sport, which many will answer ‘Federation Square’ as you can see in the below broadcast.
Who missed the cut?
Merchant Navy had to tough it out but a main rival Harry Angel – the race fav – completely bombed the start to be out of the picture, which is – of course – out of Merchant Navy’s control. Except there’s an argument that made his job a shade easier (again, we’re looking for reasons to relegate here, given the burgeoning list of Aussie wins abroad).
Incredible!
At just his second start for @coolmorestud in the UK, Merchant Navy follows in the footsteps of some famous Australian horses to win the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee at #RoyalAscot! pic.twitter.com/TAIBu0pHO0
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 23, 2018
It breaks the heart that Buffering misses the cut, but perhaps fitting in a way – it took him 18 attempts at G1 level to snare a big one, and while he went on to shed the bridesmaid tag in fine fashion (seven G1 victories, including Dubai), we couldn’t get him above any of the Top 10 here.
Sunline we claim as an honorary Aussie, and the Kiwi struck a feature win abroad in Hong Kong – but her omission from the Top 10 we’ll put down to this win not compelling us as much as her heroics on Aussie shores. She ran in the 2000m Cup in HK in ’99, beaten 7L. They stepped it down to the Mile a year later and she got the decision.
The stallion Falvelon made Sha Tin his own with back-to-back wins in the Sprint, before falling short when bidding for a hat-trick in 2002 when placing third. Damien Oliver rode him each time, having to hold out US sprinter Morluc in each of ’00 and ’01.
Ortensia had a six-start prep abroad in 2012, winning three of them, two of which at G1 level. Her Nunthorpe finish was unreal.
WATCH: Ortensia’s Nunthorpe win
Karasi winning the Nakayama Grand Jump three years running is another very stiff to miss the Top 10.
Tomorrow will be trackside to see the Nakayama Grand Jump, a decade after Australian chaser Karasi created history winning his 3rd in a row pic.twitter.com/4rpRZWK9Yb
— Andrew Hawkins (@AndrewNJHawkins) April 14, 2017