Five Famous C.F. Orr Stakes Winners - Who are they?

Alex Marsh

Editor

Last updated: Tue 08 Feb 2022 09:10

Alex Marsh 08 Feb 2022

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The C.F. Orr Stakes kicks off the calendar year of Group One Racing
This feature dates back to 1925
We list our famous five C.F. Orr winners below

Black Caviar crosses the line to win race the 2012 C.F. Orr Stakes. (Getty)

The Group One C..F Orr Stakes is the first major race of the calendar year and a great event for horses targeting an autumn return.

A number of genuine stars have taken out this event and we've taken a look at five of the most famous gallopers to ever salute in the feature.

5 - Comic Court (1951)

Famously trained by Jim Cummings with a young Bart Cummings as the strapper, Comic Court showed great versatility over his career in taking out major races ranging from six furlongs to two miles.

The 1950 Melbourne Cup winner lumped 59.5kg to victory when winning our most famous race by three lengths and set then record when completing the journey in a time of 3:19.50.

There was no going backwards when resuming in 1951.

Comic Court took out the 1951 William Reid Stakes over six furlongs and was able to start a small trend of Melbourne Cup winners returning to win the C.F. Orr Stakes. Others to do this include Rising Fast (1956), At Talaq (1987), Let's Elope (1992), Jeune (1995) and Saintly (1997).

An Australian Racing Hall Of Fame inductee in 2009, Comic Court was an integral part in beginning a famous and powerful racing dynasty and the 1951 C.F. Orr winner is one of true greats of the turf.

Cf Orr - Comic Court — Champion trainer Bart Cummings strapped Comic Court which was trained by his father Jim (ALLSPORT)

4 - Vo Rogue (1988, 1989 & 1990)

Vo Rogue was a front-running warrior and crowd favourite trained by Vic Rail and ridden by Cyril Small (mostly) that completed a winning hat-trick of C.F. Orr Victories (1988,1989,1990).

Purchased for just $5,000 as a weanling, Vo Rogue amassed over $3 million in prize with victories including won dual Australian Cups (following a famous defeat at the hands of Dandy Andy in 1988) and two Turnbull Stakes in a strong era of Australian Racing.

Somewhat incredibly, neither his sire in Ivor Prince nor his dam, Vow ever won a race, something you'd struggle to find in this day and age with a galloper who won six Group One races and five more that are Group One in status now which includes his three C.F. Orr Stakes wins.

Watch some Vo Rogue's most famous wins:

3 - Manikato (1979, 1980 & 1981)

Another three time CF Orr was the champion Manikato (1979, 1980,1981) and if marked on today's standards, would find himself as a winner of twenty Group Ones.

The second Australian galloper to accrue over $1 million in prize money, Manikato was purchased for just $3,500 back in 1977 and completed a Blue Diamond Stakes and Golden Slipper double in 1978 before winning the Caulfield Guineas later that year.

He wasn't to be stopped there though, with a 1979 calendar year which included win in the George Ryder Stakes, William Reid Stakes and Futurity Stakes before carrying a three-year-old weight record in the Doomben 10,000.

Check out some of Manikato's greatest moments:

2 - Saintly (1997)

Sadly, we never got to see this outstanding giant race again after winning the 1997 C.F. Orr Stakes fresh off a Melbourne Cup victory in the spring, but there was no doubting Saintly was a superstar.

Trained by Bart Cummings and raced in the famous partnership with Dato Tan Chin Nam, we arguably never saw the best of the 'Horse from Heaven' after he was cut down in his prime.

The only one of Bart Cummings' 12 Melbourne Cup winners that didn't race on the Saturday before the cup, they instead went down the Cox Plate route with Saintly taking out our premier WFA event en-route to the two miles.

Admittedly it wasn't one of the more vintage C.F. Orr Stakes fields in 1997 where over the seven furlongs, Saintly gave them a spanking from a tough spot.

1 - Black Caviar (2012)

Would she win over 1400m? The four-time Australian Horse of the year and unbeaten champion mare was again untouched and obliterated her rivals in the 2012 C.F. Orr Stakes.

In a grand era for trainer Peter Moody which saw him take out this race in five of the six editions from 2010, his best galloper followed up from another champion mare in Typhoon Tracy who won it back to back (2010, 2011).

Via her only start over seven furlongs, Black Caviar brought up eighteen wins straight when putting a space on the 2011 Caulfield Cup winner Southern Speed with Western Australian Playing God a further half length back in third.

Watch below as Black Caviar delivers one of the most dominant wins in C.F. Orr Stakes history.

CF Orr Stakes FAQ

Who has won the most CF Orr Stakes?

With three wins each, Manikato and Vo Rogue have both won the CF Orr Stakes the most times.

Manikato won the CF Orr Stakes in 1979,1980 and 1981 whilst Vo Rogue won his three in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

When did the CF Orr Stakes gain Group One status?

The CF Orr gained Group One status from 1993 onwards.

Durbridge won the first CF Orr Stakes run as a Group One in that year.

Has any horse won the CF Orr Stakes and the Melbourne Cup?

Yes, 6 horses have won the CF Orr Stakes and Melbourne Cup.

Comic Court (1951), Rising Fast (1956), At Talaq (1987), Let's Elope (1992), Jeune (1995) and Saintly (1997) have all won the Cf Orr Stakes and Melbourne Cup