The 1930 Caulfield Cup
“Without doubt, the field that contested the race was the worst ever saddled up…” NZ Truth 1930
This
enormous double relied on Amounis
winning. And to do that successfully, everything else had to lose or not be
there. Nightmarch, now safely back in
New Zealand preparing for the New Zealand Cup, was no longer a threat. The same
applied to Phar Lap, scratched late
from the Caulfield Cup, now prepared for the Cox Plate. Most of the bets placed
by the large syndicates for this double were now in place around the country.
Still, things happen on a racecourse no one can predict.
Using all his experience to have his champion ready for this one race, Frank McGrath did everything possible. On paper, there was not another horse in this ordinary field to stop him. Even despite Amounis carrying the top weight, McGrath had no real necessity to manipulate this situation to be successful. The same could equally apply to Lou Robertson with Soulton. For this double to succeed, everything just needed to play out according to form. And according to form, Soulton could possibly place but most believed had little chance of winning. To most pundits, even on Soulton’s best day up against Amounis’ worst, the Queenslander would be hard-pressed beating Pearson’s champion gelding. Then a worrying thing happened to throw a proverbial cat among the pigeons. First Cragford hit form in Sydney followed by Soulton now putting in some blistering times in the privacy of Lou Robertson’s Aspendale training track. Eric Connolly, the supposed linchpin of this double, was in something of a quandary.
A Caulfield Cup fast approached and what should have been a clear-cut result was beginning to become decidedly confusing. Having both Nightmarch, then Phar Lap out of the picture, Soulton, and the unwell Cragford started casting long shadows across the certainty of the Amounis-Phar Lap Cups double. But that is to assume Connolly's total focus was on this massive double. It was nothing of the sort. In fact, Eric Connolly found himself in the most enviable of punting positions having backed Amounis, Soulton and Cragford both straight out and in doubles with Phar Lap. It was hardly a matter of whether Connolly would win, more a matter of how much.
Most of Connolly’s money over the previous months went on Amounis-Phar Lap. Yet it was often reported, and openly
acknowledged by Connolly, rarely did he back a race for a single outcome.
Renowned for multiple bets, this double was no different from his usual playbook.
He backed Soulton-Phar Lap in July
for £10,000 to £80 through Sydney bookies.* This
shift of funds north had been brought about by the Melbourne bookies
effectively shutting Connolly’s Soulton
onslaught down having now too much exposure on a Soulton-Phar Lap double. With his backing of both Soulton, and the same with Cragford-Phar Lap doubles, describing
them as “savers” set at much longer odds, could be a misleading description.
Had either Soulton or Cragford won at Caulfield, Connolly
would have won handsomely on both the Caulfield Cup and in the larger scheme of
this double.
Since
taking over the training of Soulton,
Connolly was being well advised by his friend Robertson on the progress of
Winten’s horse. And according to Lou Robertson, by July and August, Soulton started presenting as a red-hot
chance for a Caulfield Cup. So, if Amounis-Phar
Lap really was Connolly's main focus of this whopping double, knowing he stood to win at least £20,000 from less than £200 backing Soulton through Sydney bookies and at least the same again through Melbourne, for what humongous sums did Connolly
back Amounis-Phar Lap? For Eric
Connolly to start throwing his weight behind an Amounis victory at Caulfield, and double with Phar Lap, the payout to Connolly needs to be well in excess of
£50,000 to make Amounis-Phar Lap his main
game. For him to achieve that required some serious money. And still there
remained an element of doubt on the outcome.
If
Soulton did pull off a surprise
victory, Robertson would have trained his second Caulfield Cup winner, 15 years
after his first when Lavendo won in
1915. Besides a champion horse, the second most valued asset in racing is your
champion jockey. Knowing Ken Bracken rode for Lou Robertson in Top Gallant’s amazing 1926 Futurity
Handicap win, Harry Winten approached Bracken to take the
ride on his horse. Replying, Bracken stated to the crusty Queenslander that it
all came down to the availability of Billy Cook. If Cook was unable to leave
commitments in Queensland, Bracken would be riding Amounis at Caulfield for McGrath. Not entirely happy with such a
reply, Winten nonetheless understood. In stating this, Bracken was fully aware his
mate Billy Cook had managed to put Frank McGrath into a filthy mood. Probably an understatement, as the legendary trainer was ready to throttle his talented jockey
when he discovered the hoop had double booked his services. He should have been riding Canning Queen at Eagle Farm, Brisbane for QTC committeeman Pat
O’Shea. As
it turned out, one of O’Shea’s relations unfortunately died. Sad, of course,
for the O’Shea family, while on the other hand, exceedingly fortunate for “Oh shit! What have I done?” Billy Cook.* O’Shea withdrew his horses from all Brisbane engagements to attend the funeral.
A hugely relieved Cook still had just enough time to make it to Melbourne. Of
course, he wasn’t quite out of the woods just yet. Frank McGrath’s withering
salvo was waiting for its launch code on his arrival in Melbourne.**
* Apart from track work on the morning of the Cup, Billy Cook had never ridden Amounis before.
**Sired by Highfield out of Carina, Canning Queen won the 1928 Brisbane Cup and 1929 QTC King’s Plate. She is also the dam to 1941 Brisbane Cup winner, Lady Buzzard (also owned O’Shea). Billy Cook is the father of Melbourne Cup winning jockey Peter Cook.
Ken
Bracken was not only a very close mate of Cook, he also had a long association with Frank McGrath. Earlier in the year, Bracken returned to racing after a lengthy time
away thanks to the AJC stewards. On his re-licencing, McGrath gave Bracken a very
good Irish stayer, Denis Boy to ride
in the Kogarah Stakes.* This win kick-started Bracken’s winning streak. The jockey always viewed his AJC suspension as unfair. It cost him a fortune.
Had Bracken not suffered at the hands of the stewards, he would have remained
McGrath’s stable elect during Amounis’
golden run of wins. On the morning of the Caulfield Cup, Ken Bracken, staying at
the same hotel as the McGraths, was driven to the Caulfield track by Frank McGrath
and his wife.
* Truth, 25 May 1930, page 2
The Amounis camp became unsettled when Billy Pearson suffered a serious heart attack on the eve of the Caulfield Cup. Pearson survived but was banned by his doctor from even hearing the race over the radio from his Sydney hospital bed. It transpired Cook rode Amounis faultlessly to win on a perfect track according to the script. But not without a few tense moments. Phar Lap was not only responsible for creating the smallest, most ordinary, field in 50 years, by withdrawing he also managed to deplete the Caulfield crowd still further. Compared with previous cups, Caulfield had all the atmosphere of a morgue. More the pity as the Caulfield track had rarely been in such fine condition for racing.
Cragford
was away quickly followed by Lineage, Gay
Mutineer and Shadow King with Soulton near the rear and Amounis stone motherless last when they
passed the Judge’s Box. With a mile to
go, Lineage went around Gay Mutineer as the field started bunching
up. The race was being run at such a slow pace, it was a miracle a horse did not fall. Ashley Reed, riding Cragford, was caught up in the field and never really had an opportunity of lengthening its stride. Behind the main pack were Alcman, Soulton still
trailing and Amounis now second last.
By the half mile, the Caulfield crowd were beginning to feel a little nervous
with Lineage still leading King Quex with Soulton and Amounis still out the back following the field. At the home turn, slowly, Soulton, Amounis, and Dave Price's 50-1 Alcman, now last, started picking up the pace. Taking
in one runner then the next as they turned wide into the home straight avoiding a slow cluster of horses hugging the rail. Soulton, for a moment, appeared to be
doing the better. Finally, Cragford broke free of the crowd. It was not until the furlong post Amounis started stretching out. His finishing run zapping some energy into what was a mostly lackluster race. Running past the stagnant field to win comfortably by
a length and a half.* It is worth noting that
Bracken, who may have left Soulton’s
run a fraction too late, was finishing just as brilliantly.** In
a time four seconds slower than the year before when Amounis was just beaten into second by High Syce, the old gelding set a weight carrying record for the
Cup.***
*Sporting Globe, 18 October 1930, page 1
**NZ Truth, 23 October 1930, Page 13
To
all who witnessed Amounis’ win, it
was simply a good race from a brilliant top weight horse who displayed why he had
been so successful. Everything looked kosher and above board and in reality, it
probably was. Anything truly shady had already occurred before the race. If Soulton had been at all pulled, with Amounis running so well, it was nigh
impossible to tell. If there was anything suspicious, then more likely, Ken
Bracken simply played follow the leader with Billy Cook to the post. As for Alcman coming in third at 50-1 and Cragford at 5-1, in what was to be his
last race, again, everything looked normal because it was. The stewards liked
the race and the depleted Caulfield crowd loved the result. Only the bookies felt a cold
finger of dread pointed in their direction.
In the absence of Phar Lap and Nightmarch, it was such a small, second rate Caulfield Cup field, Amounis could do this. It was a good run from a great horse from nearly last place. The Caulfield crowd could do nothing but applaud the effort. However, despite the perfect ride, Frank McGrath still sacked Billy Cook for not telling him what he had done. Apart from one ride the following year on Denis Boy, Frank McGrath never called on Cook’s services again. For the public, Amounis was a very popular win. Not only was he backed heavily for the Caulfield Cup in straight bets, many shilling punters now had him with Phar Lap in the double. Race historians can look at the bigger picture of the double and view this win as one part of a two-card trick. Just maybe the real trick being there was actually no trick at all and the whole thing played out according to form. This Caulfield Cup win made bookmaker, Billy Pearson’s Amounis the greatest stakes winner, up to that point in Australian turf history; £48,297 beating the previous record held by Gloaming.* Phar Lap quickly trounced this figure a year later. With the Caulfield Cup safely under their belt, Telford, Davis and Pike just needed to win the Melbourne Cup so everyone could quietly collect and go their merry way.
*79 starts 33 wins 11 seconds 8 thirds - Win : 41.8% Place : 65.8% - Principal Race Wins : 27
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