Double Century (horse)

Last updated
Double Century (AUS)
SireCentury (AUS)
GrandsireBetter Boy (IRE)
DamHello Love (AUS)
DamsireAdamastor (FR)
Sex Stallion
Foaled(1975-10-06)6 October 1975
Died26 March 1997(1997-03-26) (aged 21)
Country Australia
Colour Brown
OwnerPart owned: Clarke Anthony shields and Ron McDonell
TrainerRon McDonell
JockeyMick Mallion
Record37: 7-8-6
EarningsA$322,450
Major wins
Sydney Cup (1979)
Queensland Derby (1979)
Grand Prix Stakes (1979)

Named by Clarke Anthony Shields, Double Century was a notable Australian Thoroughbred race horse.

Contents

A son of Century (AUS) from the mare Hello Love (AUS), he was foaled in 1975 and was trained throughout his career by Ron McDonell. Double Century was part owned by Clarke Anthony Shields and Ron McDonell.

Racing record

Double Century raced in each of his 2YO, 3YO and 4YO seasons but remarkable every one of his wins was recorded in his 3YO year.

His best ‘win’ was the 1979 AJC Derby which he won by ¾ of a length in race record time but was subsequently demoted to second place following a protest. The race was awarded to the second placed horse, the champion Dulcify. [1]

He was also unlucky to encounter another champion in Kingston Town, running second to him in the 1980 Sydney Cup and Tancred Stakes. In the same season he also ran second to Ming Dynasty in the Australian Cup.

Despite his string of second placings in good races he was successful in three Group 1 races as a 3YO, victorious in the 1979 Sydney Cup, Queensland Derby and the Grand Prix Stakes.

Stud record

Following retirement, he stood at Balfour Stud and later at Glen Avon Lodge. His best progeny was Stylish Century who won the 1989 Victoria Derby and Spring Champion Stakes as well as the 1991 Queen Elizabeth Stakes. [2]

Apart from Stylish Century, Double Century also produced black type winners like Miss Stephenson (Carnival Handicap at Doomben and Easter Cup at Eagle Farm), Dual Scope (Brisbane Handicap at Eagle Farm), Bigamy (Carbine Club Stakes at Randwick) and Burglar of Bamff (Ipswich Cup). [3]

Double Century died in 1997 aged 21.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thoroughbred racing in Australia</span>

Thoroughbred horse racing is a spectator sport in Australia, and gambling on horse races is a very popular pastime with A$14.3 billion wagered in 2009/10 with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). The two forms of Thoroughbred horseracing in Australia are flat racing, and races over fences or hurdles in Victoria and South Australia. Thoroughbred racing is the third most attended spectator sport in Australia, behind Australian rules football and rugby league, with almost two million admissions to 360 registered racecourses throughout Australia in 2009/10. Horseracing commenced soon after European settlement, and is now well-appointed with automatic totalizators, starting gates and photo finish cameras on nearly all Australian racecourses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damien Oliver</span> Australian thoroughbred racing jockey (born 1972)

Damien Oliver is an Australian retired thoroughbred racing jockey. Oliver comes from a racing family; his father Ray Oliver had a successful career until his death in a race fall during the 1975 Kalgoorlie Cup in Western Australia. In 2008, Oliver was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. In August 2023 he announced that he would retire at the end of that year's spring carnival.

Kingston Town was a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who won three Cox Plates and 11 other Group One races and was the 1980 Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbine (horse)</span> New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Carbine (1885–1914) was a champion New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won 30 principal races in New Zealand and Australia. He was very popular with racing fans, and sporting commentators of the day praised him for his gameness, versatility, stamina and weight-carrying ability, as well as for his speed. He was one of five inaugural inductees into both the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame and the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

Manikato (1975–1984) was a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse of the late 1970s and early 1980s. He established new track records in three races and was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. Manikato was the second Australian horse, after Kingston Town, to win $1 million in stakes, and, by today's standards, won 20 races which are currently (2012) classed as Group One (G1) races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Caste</span> New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

High Caste was a Thoroughbred racehorse and stallion that was bred in New Zealand and was considered the best two-year-old in New Zealand after winning three of his four race starts. He was a good racehorse under handicap and weight for age conditions and combined this with wins in good races from 5 furlongs to 1+34 miles (2,800 m), carrying up to 10 stone 6 pounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poseidon (horse)</span> Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Poseidon was an Australian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. He won 19 races over distances ranging from five furlongs to three miles. Sixteen of these wins were "Principal Races", eight of them now of Group 1 (G1) status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ajax II</span> Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Ajax was a champion Australian bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, who won 18 consecutive races before he was defeated at the odds of 40/1 on, causing a huge racing sensation. He had wins from 5 furlongs (1,000 m) to 1+12 miles (2,400 m), equalled the Australasian record for one mile (1,600 m), and created three new race records. At stud in Australia, Ajax proved to be a good sire. He was then sold as a 14-year-old horse and exported to the United States before he was later sold to Bing Crosby and Lin Howard. Ajax was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heroic (horse)</span> Australian Thoroughbred racehorse

Heroic (1921–1939) was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who won 21 races from 5 furlongs to 2 miles (3,200m) and was a leading sire in Australia.

The Whitney Stakes is an American Grade 1 stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses four years of age and older run at a distance of 1+18 miles. The current purse is $1,000,000.

Sky High was an outstanding Australian Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Some of his major race victories include the 1960 STC Golden Slipper Stakes, 1960 VRC Derby, 1961 and 1962 VRC Lightning Stakes and the 1961 AJC Epsom Handicap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon (horse)</span> Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Shannon (1941–1955), named Shannon II in America, was an outstanding Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He created new racecourse records in Australia before he was sold to an American buyer who exported him to California in 1948. There Shannon equalled the world record of 1:4735 for the nine furlongs in winning the Forty Niner Handicap Stakes, then one week later equalled the world record of 1:5945 for a mile and a quarter. Shannon was named the 1948 American Champion Older Male Horse. At stud in America he proved to be a good sire.

Joseph Mercer, OBE was an English thoroughbred race horse jockey. He was active from 1947 to 1985, riding 2,810 winners in Britain. Mercer's nickname was "Smokin' Joe.”

Strawberry Road was a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who went on to race in Germany, France, the United States, and Japan. Bred in New South Wales, he was by the 'superbly-bred' Whiskey Road out of Giftisa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tranquil Star</span> Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Tranquil Star was one of the hardiest and best performed Australian-bred Thoroughbred race-mares. She is the only mare to have won the double of the Caulfield Stakes, now known as the Yalumba Stakes, and the Cox Plate, which is the most prestigious weight-for-age (wfa) race in Australia. Tranquil Star had 111 starts and won over distances ranging from 5 furlongs to 14 furlongs. She was later inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulloch (horse)</span> New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Tulloch was a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who was one of the greatest Australian stayers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Beadman</span> Australian champion jockey

Darren Beadman is an Australian champion jockey. In 2007 at age 41 he was the youngest jockey ever to be inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, being the first to do so while still active in the industry.

The Carbine Club Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race, for three year olds with set weights and penalties over a distance of 1,600 metres, held annually at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia, in April on the Australian Derby racecard. Total prize money for the race is A$200,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hall Mark (horse)</span> Australian Thoroughbred racehorse

Hall Mark (1930−1953) was a versatile chestnut Thoroughbred stallion. He performed in Australia, trained by Australian Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jack Holt. He raced from a two-year-old to a five-year-old, recording 18 wins from 6 furlongs to 2 miles. Ridden mostly by champion jockeys Bill Duncan and Frank Dempsey. Hall Mark was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2019.

Larry Cassidy is an accomplished thoroughbred racing jockey who is notable for winning over 40 Group 1 races as well as three consecutive Sydney jockey premierships in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

References

  1. "Joy and anguish for the derby win that wasn't". smh.com.au. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  2. "A tribute to Stylish Century". form.virtualformguide.com. Retrieved 22 August 2021.
  3. "DOUBLE CENTURY WAS ARGUABLY THE BEST CREDENTIALLED STALLION TO EVER STAND IN QUEENSLAND". justracing.com.au. Retrieved 22 August 2021.