Fine and Dandy was an Australian champion racehorse in the period from 1958 to 1963.
As a 2 year old, he won all the major races he contested in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland and, as a result, broke Tulloch's stakes winning record for 2 year olds. After an unlucky defeat at his first start, finished his 2 year old season with 7 consecutive wins and set the record for earnings with £19,024. When the Free Handicap weights were issued by the Australian Jockey Club handicapper, Fine and Dandy was the clear champion 2 year old. He raced against champions his own age such as Noholme, Aquanita and Travel Boy, and younger champions such as Sky High and Wenona Girl, all of whom he defeated in races now classed as Group 1. As an older horse, he won the prestigious Doncaster Handicap twice. The first time in 1961 he won by 4 lengths, setting a new Australian record for the mile, a time that was not equalled or broken before racing converted to the metric system. After a brief retirement he came back and won a second Doncaster in a time just 0.8 second outside his Australian Record.
Fine and Dandy (b. 1956) was bred by W.F. and F.A. Moses from their fast mare, Shading, and Star Kingdom, the champion sire from 1959–1962 and in 1965. He was chestnut with a white blaze and white socks on both back feet. His colours were white, yellow sleeves and black cap, a variation of the colours worn by the 1920 Melbourne Cup winner, Poitrel, who had been raced by earlier members of the Moses family. As a foal, he crashed into a fence and injured his near side shoulder and was lame for a long time. His trainer was Harry Plant who managed him carefully.
1958 Breeders Plate, 5f
Fine and Dandy won his Randwick barrier trial and was favourite for the 1958 Breeders Plate (5f). However, he raced very wide, then was checked, and failed by head to catch stablemate Front Cover. [1]
1958 Canonbury Stakes, 5f
A week later in the Randwick Canonbury Stakes (5f), he raced to the front and accelerated away to win by 8 lengths in the fast time of 59.2 secs. [2]
1958 Maribyrnong Plate, 5f
At the 1958 Maribrynong Plate (5f), Fine and Dandy met the best 2 year olds of Sydney and Melbourne. He won effortlessly by 8 lengths from Royal Artist, in one of the easiest wins in the history of the 2YO classic. A commentator remarked that "The further they went, the bigger his lead became." [3]
At that time handicappers gave huge weights to champions and Plant later complained about the high weights Fine and Dandy had to carry relative to his opposition. To avoid high weights for his young horse, Plant ran his champion 2 year old against older horses. In this Flying, he met the 3 year old Bold Pilot who won Group 1 races including the Rawson Stakes where he beat Skyline the 1958 Slipper winner in course record time. Fine and Dandy and Bold Pilot fought out the finish with Fine and Dandy winning narrowly. [4]
Here he was favourite against several older horses who won Group 1 races. As they jumped, he shifted back, landed awkwardly and was last in a field of 20, but his speed enabled him to rapidly improve. He went past second favourite, In Love, who was fourth at the ½ mile post, and hit the front a furlong out to win by a length, an extraordinary win for a 2YO. [5]
The Golden Slipper, 6f (Group 1), was the richest race for 2 year olds in Australia and attracted a very strong field. Fine and Dandy was 11/8 on and Noholme second favourite at 11/4. In the straight Fine and Dandy joined the leader, Endure, and accelerated away to a huge lead. The race was effectively over. He coasted to the line for an easy win from Akimbo and Morning Star. [6]
In the 1959 AJC Sires Produce Stakes, 7f (Group 1), he met Group 1 winner Travel Boy who had won the VRC Sires Produce and Ascot Vale Stakes. Fine and Dandy and Travel Boy went head and head down the straight with Fine and Dandy winning narrowly. [7]
The 1959 QTC Sires Produce Stakes, 7f was the big race for 2 year olds in Queensland. Fine and Dandy led all the way, defeating Queensland's best 2YO, Intrigued. [8]
In 1957 Tulloch set a new stakes winning record for 2YO's of £18,479. Fine and Dandy's major wins in the Golden Slipper, AJC Sires, QTC Sires and VRC Maribyrnong Plate enabled him to break the record for earnings with £19,024. [9] [10]
When the Free Handicap weights were issued in August 1959, Find and Dandy was the clear champion 2YO, 5 lbs above the next best, Travel Boy. [11]
Fine and Dandy missed all the 3YO classic races due to soreness in his near shoulder. [12] Plant gave him a long spell.
After nearly a year's absence, he made it 8 wins in a row when he won the Tattersalls Club Flying at Randwick carrying 11 lbs more than 5YO Great Blaze who ran second. He was then sent to Brisbane for the rich Stradbroke Hcp. [13]
In this sprint, he struggled on the heavy track. He was second to 4YO mudlark Wallgar who carried 2 stone less. [14]
Here he was handicapped at 1 stone 8 lbs more than Wallgar. From gate 13 he raced on the outside of Second Earl and the two set a fast pace. He drew clear and looked the winner but was again second, caught late by Wallgar. Turf expert Roy Abbott commented on the huge disparity in weights. [15]
His form then deteriorated. He was third in the Healy Stakes to horses he had beaten clearly in the Stradbroke. Plant wanted to scratch him from the Doomben 10,000 but he did run and was unplaced. [16]
After a spell, he met Merry Polly. She had recently won The Shorts (Group 2). He defeated her by 1¼ lengths but carried 1 stone more and Plant and the owners were not happy with the heavy weights he had been getting. [17]
He then had an unsuccessful trip to Melbourne. In the George Adams mile, on a heavy track, he carried 11 lbs more than champion miler Aquanita, who won by a head from Sky High. [18] Plant had to spell him.
Fine and Dandy resumed in February 1961 in a Flying Hcp (6f). He carried 9.4, 1 stone 2 lbs more than the winner Achnacary who was race fit and had won three of his last four starts. Fine and Dandy ran a creditable third given his lack of fitness. [19]
He then ran in the Railway Quality with the big weight of 9.4 and gate 17. He spent energy crossing the field but had the race won until the last stride when lightly weighted 6YO Grecian Vale, with 1 stone 7 lbs less, beat him by a short head. He was on the speed all the way and the time was a race record. [20] This run brought him to peak fitness.
From gate 19 Fine and Dandy set a very fast pace to lead all the way. He defeated Sky High by 4 lengths, Wenona Girl by 6 lengths, Aquanita by 7 lengths and set a new Australian record for the mile of 1 min 34.2 secs. [21] Turf expert John Schofield called it an "amazing feat of sustained sprinting". [22]
The Age turf expert 'Heroic' wrote: "Sky High was always handy but, brilliant as this colt has proved himself, he was run off his legs by the winner" and "The first two furlongs were run in 23½ sec., the first half-mile in 47½ sec., the first five furlongs in 1.0½ and the six furlongs in 1.11. It was a terrific exhibition of sustained speed as Fine and Dandy ran home the last two furlongs in 23 1-5 sec. to win by 4 lengths." [23]
Fine and Dandy still holds this mile record. [24]
Fine and Dandy next ran in the Tattersalls Club Flying, handicapped at 9.7, with a strong field. He won easily from extreme lightweight Seal Keeper (6.11) with Grecian Vale (7.11) beating Martello Towers (9.0) in a photo for third. [25]
He was handicapped at 9.11 in the Civic Hcp where he met the champion filly Wenona Girl with 8.11. She led into the straight where he joined her and the two champions went head and head until Fine and Dandy drew away to win by a neck. He was now a strong Stradbroke favourite. Wenona Girl was the Stradbroke second favourite. [26]
Fine and Dandy was top weight at 9.4, 7 lbs more than Aquanita and 11 lbs more than Wenona Girl. Unfortunately, he fell ill in Brisbane on the Tuesday before the race. [27] [28] [29] He ran last, pulling up very distressed. Plant said "there was definitely something wrong with the horse" [30] and withdrew him from the Doomben 10,000. The winner was Persian Lyric whom Fine and Dandy had easily beaten two weeks earlier in the Civic Hcp.
In his 5YO season, he had to carry heavy weights against top class opposition. He resumed in the Warwick Stakes (now the Winx Stakes, Group 1) over 7 furlongs, where he ran a solid fourth. [31] In the rich Daily Telegraph Stakes (6f), Sky High (9.3) won by a neck from Columbia Star. Fine and Dandy carrying 9.5 was fourth with Wenona Girl fifth, 2 lengths behind him . [32]
His main target in Sydney was the prestigious Epsom Handicap with a high class field. Fine and Dandy with 9.4 finished fast but couldn't catch Sky High (9.2) and ran a strong second, beaten 1¾ lengths, while Wenona Girl (8.9) ran well for sixth. Sky High had run the mile in 1 min 34.3 secs, only 0.1 sec outside Fine and Dandy's Australian record. [33] Sky High was now widely regarded as Australia's best racehorse after Tulloch's retirement.
His next campaign began in a Flying where he was handicapped at 9.11, 1 stone 2 lbs more than the rising star Kilshery and 2 stone, 9 lbs more than Minikin. He needed the conditioning run but finished strongly for third behind Kilshery and Minikin. [34]
Fine and Dandy had the heavy weight of 9.7, 10 lbs more than the favourite, Kilshery. He was beaten a ½ neck by Prince Regoli who carried 2 stone 5 lbs less, a huge differential, with Kilshery fourth. [35]
Fine and Dandy was going well in second place behind Ginnagulla but, at the ½ mile post, he 'was knocked out of the race' [36] by the wayward Mullala, resulting in a stewards' enquiry. Fine and Dandy, carrying the top weight of 9.5, just managed to stay on his feet but fell back through the field, ending his prospects. [37]
Soon after he was third in the All Aged Stakes (Group 1) on a bog track in a very slow 1 min 43.7 secs for the mile. [38]
Fine and Dandy then ran in the Tattersalls Club Flying where he was handicapped at 9.11. Fine and Dandy won easily with the favourite, Prince Regoli, unplaced. [39]
In the 1962 Stradbroke Fine and Dandy carried 9.2 and Kilshery had 8.10. Kilshery, at the peak of his form, won in race record time. Fine and Dandy ran on gamely under his 9.2 for a strong third, but Aquanita was unplaced. [40]
His form tapered off in the lead up races to the Doomben 10,000 and he finished unplaced in that race.
He resumed in the Tramway Hcp (7f) where he was allotted 9.7 and ran a solid fifth to Bogan Road. [41] Then in the Theo Marks Quality with 8.12 he finished fast along the rails for a close third to Bush Belle. [42]
These were warm-up races for the 1962 Epsom where he would again clash with Sky High but his form had deteriorated and he was unplaced. Sky High took the lead in the straight but struggled under his huge weight of 10.2 and was also unplaced. [43]
Fine and Dandy followed this with a fifth to New Statesman in the George Main Stakes in a bunched finish. [44]
Plant knew that Fine and Dandy was racing well below his best and related why he was temporarily retired. He said 'Although he is a big horse, Fine and Dandy cannot carry big weights, yet practically all his life he has been handicapped to carry more than 9 stone'. [45] Rather than have him continue under heavy weights that could aggravate his shoulder problems the owners retired him. He was turned out to the paddocks and left to fend for himself, eating only grass and not being given any feed. He began to thrive on this and his owners noticed how well he was doing. After 4 months out, they decided to give him another chance at racing, in particular another shot at the Doncaster.
He resumed racing in the G. F. Wilson Hcp at Warwick Farm and was allocated top weight at 9.7. In the straight, he finished strongly along the rails for third to Trace Call (7.9) and Port Fair (7.0), only a length behind the winner. [46]
He then ran in the Liverpool Handicap (now the Liverpool City Cup), where he was given 9.3. It was usually held at Warwick Farm but rain had flooded the track and was held at Randwick where the track was heavy. He then finished brilliantly to take the lead near the post, beating Figaro by a long neck with Le Storm a close third. [47]
Fine and Dandy was thriving. In Tuesday trackwork, he gave Le Storm 6 lengths start, caught up to him and beat him by 6 lengths. [48] He was 4/1 favourite in a very strong field. Two major rivals were Prince Regoli who won the Group 1 Railway Quality and Our Cobber who won the Group 1 Newmarket Hcp, beating Kilshery, with Wenona Girl unplaced. Fine and Dandy (8.12) defeated Our Cobber (8.6) by half a length without being fully extended. His rider, Bill Pyers said "he won with something in hand". [49] His time was very fast, only 4/5 sec outside his Australian record.
Eight weeks later he ran his last race in the 1963 Stradbroke carrying 9.5 in a field of 24 but was unplaced.
Fine and Dandy was trained by Harry Plant who also trained the champion Bernborough.
Plant humanely looked after his horses. In the 20th century, handicappers gave huge weights to champions and very low ones to inferior horses to give them a good chance to win. Plant complained about the high weights Fine and Dandy had to carry relative to his opposition as a result of his winning 2 year old season and record-breaking Doncaster win. [50] As a foal, he had injured his near side shoulder and was lame for a long time. He missed most of his 3 year old season from shoulder problems. [12] Plant said that Fine and Dandy always took his weight on his off leg so he kept "his off leg tightly bandaged to help it take the strain". [51]
Plant was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2010.
In his final years, Fine and Dandy had been plagued by rheumatism and was in fat condition on his owners' property "Valais" at Willow Tree, NSW. He was finding it difficult to get about. Finally he got down and couldn't get up. His owners tried to get him to his feet and couldn't succeed so they decided to have him put down.
Fine and Dandy died in March 1974. Harry Plant paid tribute to his horse saying "He was a true champion because Fine and Dandy was never really sound," recalling his injuries, "He was really a marvel to be able to do what he did". [51]
44 Starts: 15 wins, 7 seconds, 7 thirds, 3 fourths.
| Result | Year | Race | Distance | Hcp weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | 1963 | Doncaster Handicap | 8 F | 8.12 |
| First | 1961 | Doncaster Handicap | 8 F | 8.10 |
| First | 1963 | Liverpool Hcp (Liverpool City Cup) | 7 F | 9.3 |
| First | 1961 | Civic Handicap | 6 F | 9.11 |
| First | 1960 | Chester Handicap | 6 F | 9.3 |
| First | 1962 | City Tattersalls Club Flying | 6 F | 9.11 |
| First | 1961 | City Tattersalls Club Flying | 6 F | 9.7 |
| First | 1960 | City Tattersalls Club Flying | 6 F | 8.13 |
| First | 1959 | Golden Slipper Stakes | 6 F | 8.7 |
| First | 1959 | AJC Sires Produce Stakes | 7 F | 8.10 |
| First | 1959 | QTC Sires Produce Stakes | 7 F | 8.10 |
| First | 1958 | Maribyrnong Plate | 5 F | 8.10 |
| First | 1958 | Canonbury Stakes | 5 F | 8.5 |
| Second | 1961 | Epsom Handicap | 8 F | 9.4 |
| Second | 1962 | Railway Quality (George Ryder Stakes) | 7 F | 9.7 |
| Second | 1961 | Railway Quality (George Ryder Stakes) | 7 F | 9.4 |
| Second | 1960 | Stradbroke Handicap | 7 F | 8.8 |
| Second | 1960 | QTC Lightning Stakes | 5 F | 9.1 |
| Third | 1962 | Stradbroke Handicap | 7 F | 9.2 |
| Third | 1962 | All Aged Stakes | 8 F | 9.1 |
| Third | 1962 | Theo Marks Quality | 7 F | 8.12 |
| Sire Star Kingdom (IRE) ch. 1946 | Stardust (GB) 1937 | Hyperion (GB) 1930 | Gainsborough (GB) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selene (GB) | |||
| Sister Stella (GB) 1923 | Friar Marcus (GB) | ||
| Etoile (GB) | |||
| Impromptu (IRE) 1939 | Concerto (GB) 1928 | Orpheus (IRE) | |
| Constellation (GB) | |||
| Thoughtless (GB) 1934 | Papyrus (GB) | ||
| Virgin's Folly (GB) | |||
| Dam Shading (AUS) ch. 1944 | Brueghel (ITY) 1932 | Pharos (GB) 1920 | Phalaris (GB) |
| Scapa Flow (GB) | |||
| Bunworry (GB) 1921 | Great Sport (IRE) | ||
| Waffles (IRE) | |||
| Gold Tinge (AUS) 1925 | Claro (GB) 1919 | Clarissimus (GB) | |
| Harmonica (GB) | |||
| Rangiriri (AUS) 1917 | Linacre (GB) | ||
| Regent Bird (AUS) |
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)Arrold, T. (1980). Champions: the Racing Record of Famous Thoroughbreds in Australia. Tralca Publications: Sydney, Australia. ISBN 0 9594458 0 3.
Arrold, T. (1983). More Champions: the Racing Record of Famous Thoroughbreds in Australia. Tralca Publications: Sydney, Australia. ISBN 0 9594458 1 1.
Caves, G. (2002). Wenona Girl: the forgotten champion. Caves: Greystanes, NSW, Australia. ISBN 0 9581596 0 2.
Linnett, K. (2017). Tulloch: The extraordinary life and times of a true champion. Slattery Media Group: Melbourne, Australia. ISBN 9780958029032.