Steve Hart snapped this one of Dr. Grace as Jim Cassidy was about to take him onto the track for the 1990 A.J.C Derby. The handsome son of Sir Tristram came from midfield to win that Derby from Stylish Century and Solar Circle on a Soft 5 track.
Dr. Grace was out of English Wonder, and was named after the legendary English cricketer Dr. W.G.Grace (1848-1915 ) whose exploits were Bradmanesque in his day. He played first class cricket for an amazing 44 seasons. He made his final test appearance in Australia in 1899. One 19th century journalist wrote that “apart from Queen Victoria he has the most famous face in England”.
His equine namesake raced 57 times for 12 wins (4 Group 1’s) and 16 placings. He accumulated $2,762,681 in prize money. He was trained throughout his career by the affable Dr. Geoff Chapman.
Sadly Dr. Grace died after just three seasons at the Woodlands Stud in NSW. He sired 117 winners including Group 1 victors Referral, Crawl and Over. The latter gave Sunline a start and a beating in the 2000 Doncaster.
The stallion couldn’t handle two miles. He failed badly in two Melbourne Cups and a Sydney Cup. In fairness he almost lost his jockey Kevin Moses in a severe scrimmage at the 200m in the 1991 Melbourne Cup.
Dr. Grace was under the spotlight in the 1989 Caulfield Cup when he was ridden by the legendary American jockey Willie Shoemaker. He finished 5th of 18 runners only 3 lengths from the winner Cole Diesel. Shoemaker’s legendary career was coming to a close and he was actually on a farewell tour of racing countries around the world. Apart from a Moe Cup win on Cosign, the Australian leg of his tour was pretty bleak.