For those who’d supported Pride Of Jenni it was an exciting watch. For those who’d backed any one of her eight rivals it was a frustrating experience. Most form students and racing fans expected the amazing mare to lead by a big enough margin to simply keep the pests away. In the Champions Mile last November she was never more than five or six lengths in front but they left her alone, and she comfortably beat Mr. Brightside. In the recent All Star Mile she found the lead at the 1200m, coasted along only two lengths in front to the turn before beating the same horse by exactly that margin. On March 30th Pride Of Jenni stepped up to the 2000m of the Australian Cup - her first time over the trip for exactly a year. She led by five or six lengths before being rounded up late by veteran Cascadian.
The general consensus was that she’d lead by no more than five or six lengths in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday which would have kept her within sight of the widely lauded favourite Via Sistina. Pride Of Jenni totally ignored the script. She “pinged” the gates as she always does and immediately led. There’s little doubt Declan Bates expected her to lead comfortably without overdoing it. He got the shock of his life when the mare charged onto the bridle and was obviously on a mission.
She led six lengths at the mile and went down the back straight like a rampaging buffalo. The crowd gasped when course commentator Darren Flindell estimated her lead to be an unheard of thirty lengths at the 1000m. Bates was worried that she’d used far too much fuel, but only half as worried as James McDonald who already feared the worst on Via Sistina. It was an eerie sight to see Pride Of Jenni coming around the turn several horses away from the rail and still twenty five lengths in front. By the time she topped the rise the Randwick crowd and an international TV audience knew they were witnessing something special. Although Via Sistina’s closing 600m was more than four seconds faster than that of the winner, she was still six and a half lengths in arrears at the post.
To borrow from Banjo Paterson - "She bore the badge of gameness in her bright and fiery eye" - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Horses simply don’t do what Pride Of Jenni did on Saturday. She demonstrated freakish heart and lung capacity with a display of sustained speed over a testing distance. No rival rider wanted the suicidal job of chasing the Victorian. Declan Bates later deflected all of the credit to the mare who has unquestionably changed his life. “I intended to ride her the way I’ve been riding her in Melbourne,” said the expatriate Irish jockey. “I thought I’d lead by enough to keep everybody happy and talk her down as I usually do. When she sensed Mr. Brightside at her quarters early, she said I’ll take over now Declan. What you saw today was not me. It was all Pride of Jenni.”
Rival jockeys were kicking themselves for not doing something about a very dire situation long before the 600m. In hindsight they had nothing to lose by giving chase from the 800m, because it was obvious they were going to get beaten anyway. It seems they all knew something needed to get going, but none wanted to be the sacrificial lamb. During these crucial moments of indecision from the opposition, Jenni was getting ready to write her name into the history books.
Pride Of Jenni was blissfully unaware of the enormity of her feat in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Declan Bates gave Pride Of Jenni all the credit for an astonishing win - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Tearaway leaders have been few and far between since video replays came into existence more than thirty years ago. Jockeys are reluctant to adopt tactics that may come back to haunt them down the track. Elite front runners like Vo Rogue, Might And Power and Sunline rarely led by more than four or five lengths, but at the top level that’s enough. The day Might And Power recorded his best ever win in the 1997 Caulfield Cup, he was never more than a length in front before careering away to win by eight lengths. In winning her second Cox Plate in 2000, Sunline led by three lengths in the middle stages before exploding away to win by seven. To put it into perspective Pride Of Jenni led by thirty lengths at one part of Saturday’s Gr 1, and won by six and a half - and she did it her way.
Clark Little's ability to ride at the limit weight brought him many opportunities from Randwick trainers in the 1960s.
Sitting a few places from me at a recent Gosford racing luncheon, was a man who knows how Declan Bates was feeling on Saturday. Seventy seven year old Clark Little was in his early fifties when he quit the saddle in 2000, with more than 700 winners on his CV. Clark spent his entire apprenticeship with Fred Allsop at Randwick and stayed on at headquarters for some years as a fully fledged jockey. His ability to ride at the limit weight brought him many opportunities from a wide range of Randwick trainers, including the ever astute Pat Murray.
Little had won the 1968 Rosehill Cup for Murray on By Gee, and it was just a few weeks later when the trainer asked him to ride stablemate Pirate Bird in the STC Cup on the same track. The gelding’s form had been patchy and Murray was anxious to try him in front over the one and a half miles. Clark took him to the lead at the post the first time and began to increase the tempo from the 1800m. I can still see Pirate Bird opening up a 25 length lead on the opposition going down the back straight. He looked vulnerable when handy mare Dahma Star loomed large in the straight, but on the line Pirate Bird was holding her safely. The spectacular win was the talk of racing the following week.
Two weeks later Pirate Bird contested the Silver Jubilee Cup over the same trip on the same track. Clark wondered if they’d let him get away with it again. They did. It was almost a replica of the STC Cup with Pirate Bird getting out to lead 25-30 lengths in the middle stages. The only horse to threaten danger was El Gordo who’d won the AJC Derby almost two years earlier. Again, Pirate Bird had broken their hearts and he was able to hold El Gordo safely with the others several lengths astern. Jockey Neil Campton was sick of looking at Pirate Bird. He rode both Dahma Star and El Gordo in their vain attempts to run down Sydney’s new tearaway leader.
Pirate Bird led 30 lengths in the middle stages before holding off El Gordo (Neil Campton) in the 1968 Silver Jubilee Cup at Rosehill.
The following year Clark Little went within inches of adding the Tattersall’s Club Cup to his winning haul on Pirate Bird. Again, he opened up a massive lead in the middle stages, but George Moore on Sandy’s Hope set sail after him before the turn. Sandy’s Hope, winner of the Doomben Cup the previous year grabbed Pirate Bird in the last few strides. “Pirate Bird was no Pride Of Jenni but I got on him at the right time,” says Clark. “The new style of racing seemed to switch him on for a while, and the opposition probably took him a bit cheaply more than once. It’s lonely out there half a furlong in front, but a big thrill when you get away with it. That straight must have looked a mile long to Declan Bates on Saturday.”
Clark Little lived in Queanbeyan during his final years as a jockey and is justifiably proud of two Canberra riding premierships. Nowadays he shares a profound interest with Warwick Farm trainer Gary Portelli. Both devote spare time to the ancient sport of pigeon racing, and both have enjoyed continued success. The former jockey has also gone on with a boyhood interest in sketching and painting, reaching a very high level in recent years. Concentrating mainly on equine subjects, Clark has turned out some magnificent creations in oils and pastels. Many of his favourite works have been displayed in a popular gallery at Tuggerah on the NSW Central Coast.
This was another all the way win for Clark and Pirate Bird - Randwick in the 1960s.
Old timers will remember Victorian stayer Scotch And Dry winning many metropolitan races in Melbourne by setting up unassailable leads. I recall the Warwick Farm trained Royal Bark “stealing” consecutive STC Winter Cups at Rosehill in the 1960’s while the Tommy Smith trained Hambledon established huge leads to win a few city races in Sydney. With all due respect to the bold front runners of yesteryear, none of them generated the excitement Pride Of Jenni brought to the second day of The Championships. To lead by thirty and win by upwards of six is one thing. To leave four Gr 1 winners in her wake is another. Rival riders will think twice about letting this amazing mare out of their sights in future contests. Don’t wait for a fellow rider to do the donkey work boys. Somebody please get cracking!
(Banner image - Many Randwick spectators stared in disbelief as Pride Of Jenny streeted her rivals in the Queen Elizabeth - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.)