Form Focus aims to fulfil an ambitious vision to provide the Racing Industry with an online resource designed to document, celebrate and honour Australia’s Greatest Races, Horses, Trainers and Jockeys.
Comprising a variety of factual statistical information on the background and history of Australian Thoroughbred Racing, this website will deliver content in a user-friendly environment where it can be preserved, updated and shared. And, in the process, create a virtual living library.
While you’re here, please sign up as a Registered Member to show your support of our endeavours.
Here, Form Focus presents a dedicated vault of facts and statistics relating to the history of Group One Australian Horse racing.
Australia's Greatest Races comprises a comprehensive database that consolidates as much detail on every Group One race currently conducted in Australia.
Australia's All-Time Group One Jockeys & Australia's All-Time Group One Trainers provides tabulated Group One records on our greatest jockeys & trainers - a unique resource that can be continually expanded.
Each profile (Race, Jockey, Trainer) features a Snapshot Summary, detailing milestones and feature records.
Get free access to the Melbourne Cup records, Damien Oliver records, a few Fact Sheets from 2020 and a Race Chart example.
Test your knowledge with some trivia below
LIGHT FINGERS (Roy Higgins)
Here she is: LIGHT FINGERS (Roy Higgins) scoring by a pimple over stablemate ZIEMA in the 1965 Melbourne Cup, the first of 12 Melbourne Cups for Bart Cummings.
Registered as CLOSE EMBRACE by her NZ breeder Fred Dawson, the filly was leased to Mr Wally Broderick who had purchased her older brother THE DIP as a yearling.
By Le Filou from Cuddlesome, The Dip had won the 1962 Metropolitan Hcp & was second in the 1963 Sydney Cup.
Broderick, upon leasing Close Embrace, elected to change her name to LIGHT FINGERS - this was due to Le Filou (a French name) translating to “the thief” & THE DIP a “slang” word for pickpocket.
FAIRY WALK
The Golden Slipper Stakes was born in 1957, star colt TODMAN romping home to victory.
Sydney’s training ranks were being dominated by one man: T.J. (Tommy) SMITH - he’d won the NSW Metro Trainers Premiership the previous 4 seasons & would eventually string together an incredible 33 consecutive titles.
But the Slipper proved to be a nuisance to Smith in the early stages of its existence. After the 1970 Slipper, no less than 18 Smith 2yos had contested the Slipper for one second (Royal Show-1970) & two thirds (Flying Fable-1968, Very Merry-1966).
It took a Maiden filly called FAIRY WALK to break the drought & with George Moore on board, she scored a comfortable victory in 1971.
Smith then won the race a further 5 times (from John’s Hope-1972 to Star Watch-1988) creating the Race Record - which was then eclipsed by Smith’s daughter Gai Waterhouse when Farnan landed the 2020 Slipper.
HOPSTOCH winning both the Caulfield Guineas and Toorak Handicap in the one day
The year was 1896 & it was Caulfield Guineas Day.
Race 1, the WFA Caulfield Stakes was won “in a procession” by the 1895 Epsom Hcp winner HOPSCOTCH.
Given a 2-3 hour “spell”, trainer Tom Brown found the valuable Toorak Handicap later in the day irresistible. Despite a 3lb penalty (taking his impost to 9.10), HOPSCOTCH “won in a common canter”, rider James Hayes doing all he could to “keep him back to the field”.
A week later, HOPSCOTCH went out the punter’s favourite at 5/1 in the Caulfield Cup but found the 12 furlongs too far.
