What History Says: Old Comrade Stakes
12 April, 2018
Thoroughbred
This week sees WA pay tribute to one of its champion thoroughbreds this century, with the running of the Listed Old Comrade Stakes (1600m) at Ascot.
Old Comrade won four Group 1s at the start of the 2000s, with two wins in the Kingston Town Classic, a Railway Stakes success and arguably his greatest triumph in the Australian Cup at Flemington.
This year marks the third time the Listed event has been run as the Old Comrade Stakes, prior to that it was called the York Stakes.
Great Shot won the Listed event last year prior to going on to win the Group 1 Railway Stakes later in the year, while a year earlier, Wink And A Nod took the honours before she went on to win the Group 3 Belmont Sprint and Hyperion Stakes.
The distance of the race has changed frequently in recent times, having been run between 1600 and 2400m over the past 40 years.
The race has been run over the mile for the past nine editions, the first was in 2009.
When it most recently changed to the mile in 2009, it also saw a change in timeslot from its spring at Ascot to winter at Belmont, and was then moved to the autumn at Ascot in 2011, and comes at the end of a string of four Listed races through the autumn, including the Pinjarra Classic and Bunbury Stakes.
10 mares have been successful in the race over the past 40 editions, Denver Dame was the only filly in that time to win the race back in 1987.
The Listed event has proven tricky for trainers to have sustained success in over the past four decades, with just four trainers winning it on multiple occasions, headlined by Ross Price’s three wins in 1989, 1990, 1993.
Adam Durrant can record his second win in the Old Comrade Stakes with Pinzu and Zuccheros engaged this week, while Grant Williams, who trained Moneghetti to win in 2013, has Falcon Crest lining up as well.
Shaun O’Donnell can join Patrick Carbery as a three time winner of the race on Saturday, when he takes the ride on North Ridge.
Craig Staples, who won with Great Shot last year, is the only other active jockey who is a multiple winner of the $100,000 event.
Great Shot carried 58kg to victory last year, the most any horse has carried to victory over the past four decades of the event, but the in-form Falcon Crest has 59kg this weekend, and will look to better the effort of Great Shot.
Barrier five has produced 20 per cent of the past 40 winners of the race, which could prove to be a good sign for leading jockey William Pike, as he looks for his first Old Comrade Stakes win aboard Pinzu from that barrier.
The Old Comrade Stakes is the first feature event on Karrakatta Plate day, and gets underway at 1.10pm on Saturday.