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FAMOUS AUSTRALIAN RACEHORSES |
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Touchstone |
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William Tell |
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Miss Bowe |
ARCHER |
b.h. 1856 |
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Vagabond |
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Maid of Oaks |
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Zohrab mare |
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ARCHER
has the distinction of being the winner of the first Melbourne Cup in 1861 and he is one of only four horses to win two Cups (Peter Pan, Rain Lover and Think Big being the others), when he won the 1862 Melbourne Cup with a weight of 10st 2lbs by a margin of ten lengths. Archer was foaled near Nowra in NSW and was trained by Etienne de Mestre who trained five Cup winners. His sire, William Tell, was by English St Leger winner, Touchstone, who founded top sire lines including that of Carbine. As there was no rail link between Sydney and Melbourne, Archer was walked 500 miles to run in the race. On the day following his first win in the Cup, he took out the Melbourne Town Plate of two miles. He raced till suffering an injury in 1865 having won races in both Sydney and Melbourne. |
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Cap-A-Pie |
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Sir Hercules |
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Paraguay |
THE BARB |
Black 1863 |
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The Doctor |
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Fair Ellen |
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Gulnare |
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THE BARB, a black horse by Sir Hercules (the first great colonial-bred sire), was foaled in 1863 at Bathurst, west of Sydney. His dam, Fair Ellen, was by The Doctor and his fourth dam was the
Australian taproot mare, Cutty Sark. He was sold as a yearling for 200 guineas to Mr John Tait, the leading owner in NSW. The Barb proved to be highly strung and temperamental. At his first appearance
he threw his rider and bolted and because of this side of his nature was known as the "Black Demon". At his first official start as a late 2 year old he missed the start but managed to run on strongly to finish
third. At his next start in the Nursery Stakes he won convincingly. As a Spring three year old, The Barb won the 6th AJC Derby by two lengths at his first start from a spell. After another win Tait
took The Barb to Melbourne to contest the 1866 Melbourne Cup. The Barb started favourite and went on to win by a short head. Two days later he played up at the start of the All-Aged Stakes and despite
running on strongly could not beat the 2 year old filly, Sour Grapes. The Barb continued to show he was the best horse in Australia and won the Sydney Cup in 1868 and 1869. In all The Barb won 16 of his 23
starts. As a sire he was unable to produce offspring to equal his own success. However, he proved a good sire of broodmares and a granddaughter gained immortality as the dam of Wallace, Carbine's best
racehorse son in Australia. |
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