OBE UNPLUGGED - TEN POINTS THAT HIGHLIGHT GUNSYND'S AMAZING STATISTICAL RACING RECORD
By Mark Oberhardt | Monday, February 25, 2013
Mark Oberhardt has been a racing and sports reporter for 40 years. He has written racing for the Courier Mail, Brisbane Telegraph, Sydney Sunday Telegraph, Sportsman, Australian Associated Press, etc. He has also written many sports columns including the Courier Mail’s The Ear. Mark has also been a regular on RadioTAB for 20 years. Mark’s personal blog, Obe Unplugged, will appear every Monday on HRO.
STATISTICS can be bent to prove just about anything but sometimes they give a clear picture of times gone by.
I recently said on radio that, on statistics, Gunsynd was the best horse I have seen. It brought an avalanche of criticism from punters who questioned whether I had finally completely lost it.
I was not saying Gunsynd is the best horse I have seen - that obviously goes to Black Caviar, although I still say the best I have seen on raw ability is Stylish Century. Also I did not see Tulloch who on statistics would be the greatest horse to race in this country.
However, of the horses I have seen, and it is over half a century, Gunsynd stands head and shoulders above the rest on pure statistics.
Here are the 10 reasons I claim this:
1. Gunsynd won at distances from 1000m to 2500m and was placed up to 3200m.
2. He won at least three feature races in every season he raced - two, three, four and five year old.
3. Gunsynd won on every major east coast race-track - Eagle Farm, Doomben, Canterbury, Warwick Farm, Randwick, Rosehill, Moonee Valley, Flemington, Caulfield and Sandown.
4. He won feature races (black type) on all 10 tracks.
5. He was a tip-top weight-for-age horse winning 13 races under the scale including the No 1 WFA race in Australia the Cox Plate.
6. But Gunsynd was also a super handicapper winning 11 handicap races carrying more than 57kgs (nine stone).
7. In fact he won carrying up to 63kgs. Gunsynd ran third in a Melbourne Cup with 60.5kgs which is the highest weight carried into a place in the famous race in the past 40 years.
8. Gunsynd is the only horse to win Australia's four super miles - Toorak, George Adams, Epsom and Doncaster - in the one season.
9. He was ultra-consistent and in his last 34 starts he finished out of the top three only four times with fourths (Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, Fisher Plate) and a fifth in the Sydney Cup on a bog track.
9. Gunsynd set an Australian record for prize-money from his 29 wins of $280,455. Had he won the same races this season it would be about $8 million.
10. Gunsynd is one of only two horses to have contested all six of Australia's premier races - Golden Slipper, Cox Plate, Caulfield Cup, Melbourne Cup, VRC Derby and AJC Derby.
I could go on but you get the general idea.
What a wonderful horse who cost just $1300.
The strange thing is that not many people who rode him or trained him rated him and out and out champion.
Tommy Smith never put him in the same class as his two greats Tulloch and Kingston Town. But it would be highly unlikely we will ever see another horse which can achieve anything like Gunsynd's record.
Then again we shouldn't be comparing horses from different eras.
We should just enjoy watching them while we can.
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On an unrelated subject and perhaps a highly unusual one, horseracingonly has proved a lifesaver for me.
A friend was reading a recent column when she noticed a growth on my right ear which is clearly visible in the photograph on this blog.
I had not realised it was there and I missed Saturday's races to have it removed.
I only mention it as a reminder to all readers about the dangers of sun cancers and that yearly check-ups are a must … especially for racing and sports people who spend a good deal of time in the sun.
Good punting until next time.
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