Let's Elope
Encyclopedia
Let's Elope is a Champion
Thoroughbred
racehorse
in Australia
.
Bred by Highview Stud in Hamilton, New Zealand
, Let's Elope was a giant chestnut
mare
who in 1991 became the first mare in more than 50 years to complete Australia's famed Caulfield Cup
- Melbourne Cup
double (the "Cups double"). The last mare to complete the double had been Rivette in 1939.
By the Blushing Groom
stallion Nassipour
, out of Sharon Jane, she was a NZ$16,000 purchase at the 1989 New Zealand Magic Millions
sale. Originally trained by Dave O'Sullivan for the Fleiter family, she was un-raced as a two-year-old but won her first start as a three-year-old in 1990. Despite showing above-average ability, her record in New Zealand was underwhelming, and, on the advice of her trainer, the owners accepted a NZ$150,000 offer for her. Her new owners, Dennis Marks and Kevin White, transferred her to the Australian stables of the “Cups King”, Bart Cummings
.
Let's Elope was close-up in her first two starts for Cummings, and, while down the track in the wet at Caulfield, was a different horse on top of the ground. In a superb season, Let's Elope began a seven-race winning streak in the Turnbull Stakes, on the first weekend of October, took the Mackinnon Stakes and both the Cups, and returned in the new year for the Orr Stakes, the St George Stakes, and the Australian Cup, in course record time, on Labour Day in March. A fetlock
injury then cut short her season, but Let's Elope had the 1992 Horse of the Year Award in her keeping.
She returned at five, and, while thwarted by wet tracks for much of the spring, won a match race with Better Loosen Up
at Caulfield and was narrowly defeated by Super Impose
in a classic Cox Plate
(after the race, she was relegated from second to fifth for cutting off the unlucky Better Loosen Up). Ten days later, Let's Elope was one of three scratchings from the Melbourne Cup
. After a bleeding attack in the Japan Cup
, Let's Elope continued her career in the United States
.
Conditioned in the U.S. by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
inductee Ron McAnally
, Let's Elope won a minor race on debut, and was first past the post in the Grade I
Beverly D. Stakes
in front of Flawlessly
before being relegated to third - under American rules, she was relegated for simply causing interference, not because the third horse would have beaten her home. The recurrence of a bleeding attack and a fractured cannon bone forced her retirement at the close of 1993.
At stud, Let's Elope has visited some of the world's greatest stallions, including Storm Cat
, and, while considered slightly disappointing, has produced the stakeswinner Ustinov (by Seeking The Gold
), who was placed in a number of Group One races.
Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year
The Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year is awarded to the Thoroughbred horse who is voted to be the champion horse within an Australian racing season. This award is open to all racehorses racing within Australia, regardless of age and sex, and includes overseas performances.This award...
Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Bred by Highview Stud in Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
, Let's Elope was a giant chestnut
Chestnut (coat)
Chestnut is a hair coat color of horses consisting of a reddish-to-brown coat with a mane and tail the same or lighter in color than the coat. Genetically and visually, chestnut is characterized by the absolute absence of true black hairs...
mare
Mare (horse)
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...
who in 1991 became the first mare in more than 50 years to complete Australia's famed Caulfield Cup
Caulfield Cup
The Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest Thoroughbred horse races and the richest of its type in the world is held annually by the Melbourne Racing Club. The race is a handicap like the Melbourne Cup, which means that horses that compete in the Caulfield Cup are capable of running on the...
- Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
double (the "Cups double"). The last mare to complete the double had been Rivette in 1939.
By the Blushing Groom
Blushing Groom
Blushing Groom was a French Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by American businessman John McNamee Sullivan and was raced by HH Aga Khan IV. A descendant of Nearco, Blushing Groom was sired by Red God and out of the mare Runaway Bride....
stallion Nassipour
Nassipour
Nassipour was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and a Leading sire in Australia. Bred in Kentucky by the Aga Khan, his sire Blushing Groom was the 1977 European Champion Three-Year-old and who would be the 1989 Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland. Nassipour's dam was Alama, a daughter of the...
, out of Sharon Jane, she was a NZ$16,000 purchase at the 1989 New Zealand Magic Millions
Magic Millions
Magic Millions Sales Pty Ltd is an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse auction house which holds a sale each January at Surfers Paradise in Queensland. Eight days of auctions are joined by a major Thoroughbred horse race meeting where all ten races are only open to horses who were bought at auctions...
sale. Originally trained by Dave O'Sullivan for the Fleiter family, she was un-raced as a two-year-old but won her first start as a three-year-old in 1990. Despite showing above-average ability, her record in New Zealand was underwhelming, and, on the advice of her trainer, the owners accepted a NZ$150,000 offer for her. Her new owners, Dennis Marks and Kevin White, transferred her to the Australian stables of the “Cups King”, Bart Cummings
Bart Cummings
James Bartholomew 'Bart' Cummings, AM is one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He is known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as the he has won the 'race that stops a nation' a record 12 times....
.
Let's Elope was close-up in her first two starts for Cummings, and, while down the track in the wet at Caulfield, was a different horse on top of the ground. In a superb season, Let's Elope began a seven-race winning streak in the Turnbull Stakes, on the first weekend of October, took the Mackinnon Stakes and both the Cups, and returned in the new year for the Orr Stakes, the St George Stakes, and the Australian Cup, in course record time, on Labour Day in March. A fetlock
Fetlock
Fetlock is the common name for the metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints of horses, large animals, and sometimes dogs. It is formed by the junction of the third metacarpal or metatarsal bones proximad and the proximal phalanx distad...
injury then cut short her season, but Let's Elope had the 1992 Horse of the Year Award in her keeping.
She returned at five, and, while thwarted by wet tracks for much of the spring, won a match race with Better Loosen Up
Better Loosen Up
Better Loosen Up was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Japan Cup in 1990 and was named Australia's champion racehorse in 1991. He campaigned from two to seven years of age, and won 17 of his 45 starts, including eight Group One races...
at Caulfield and was narrowly defeated by Super Impose
Super Impose
Super Impose was a New Zealand bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. In a career spanning 74 starts, Super Impose won eight Group One races and a then Australasian record $5.6 million in prize money...
in a classic Cox Plate
Cox Plate
The W.S. Cox Plate is an Australian Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne every October by the Moonee Valley Racing Club to honour W.S. Cox, the club's founder. For three-year-olds and over, the race is considered to be the Weight for Age championship of Australasia...
(after the race, she was relegated from second to fifth for cutting off the unlucky Better Loosen Up). Ten days later, Let's Elope was one of three scratchings from the Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
. After a bleeding attack in the Japan Cup
Japan Cup
The is the most prestigious horse race run in Japan. It is contested at the end of November at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters over the grass. With a purse of ¥476 million , the Japan Cup is one of the richest races in the world.The Japan Cup is an invitational event...
, Let's Elope continued her career in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Conditioned in the U.S. by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
inductee Ron McAnally
Ron McAnally
Ronald L. McAnally is an American Hall of Fame trainer in Thoroughbred horse racing. Called "one of the most honored and respected of North American trainers" by Thoroughbred Times Co., Inc, as a child, he and his four siblings were placed in an orphanage following the death of their mother...
, Let's Elope won a minor race on debut, and was first past the post in the Grade I
Graded stakes race
A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...
Beverly D. Stakes
Beverly D. Stakes
The Beverly D. Stakes is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three-years-old and upward.The Beverly D. Stakes is the fillies' counterpart of the Arlington Million and is raced on the same day and on the same turf course at Arlington Park, Arlington...
in front of Flawlessly
Flawlessly (horse)
Flawlessly was an American Thoroughbred race horse bred by Harbor View Farm. A daughter of 1978 Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing champion, Affirmed, and out of La Confidence by Nijinsky II....
before being relegated to third - under American rules, she was relegated for simply causing interference, not because the third horse would have beaten her home. The recurrence of a bleeding attack and a fractured cannon bone forced her retirement at the close of 1993.
At stud, Let's Elope has visited some of the world's greatest stallions, including Storm Cat
Storm Cat
Storm Cat was an American Thoroughbred stallion whose breeding fee during the peak of his stud career was $500,000, the highest in the world. As such, he was one of the few horses with a 24-hour armed guard....
, and, while considered slightly disappointing, has produced the stakeswinner Ustinov (by Seeking The Gold
Seeking The Gold
Seeking The Gold is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by the leading stud, Mr. Prospector, who in turn was a son of Raise a Native, out of the mare, Con Game....
), who was placed in a number of Group One races.
Group 1 Wins
| Year | Race | Track | Distance (m) |
Weight (kg) |
Time | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | VATC Caulfield Cup | Caulfield | 2400 | 48.5 | 2:30.30 | S.R.King |
| 1991 | VRC Mackinnon Stakes | Flemington | 2000 | 54.5 | 2:01.80 | S.R.King |
| 1991 | VRC Melbourne Cup | Flemington | 3200 | 51.0 | 3:18.90 | S.R.King |
| 1992 | VRC Australian Cup | Flemington | 2000 | 55.5 | 2:00.00 | D.Beadman |
Group 2 Wins
| Year | Race | Track | Distance (m) |
Weight (kg) |
Time | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | VRC Turnbull Stakes | Flemington | 2000 | 50.0 | 2:01.90 | S.R.King |
| 1992 | VATC C.F.Orr Stakes | Sandown | 1400 | 55.5 | 1:22.00 | S.R.King |
| 1992 | VATC St George Stakes | Caulfield | 1800 | 55.5 | 1:48.50 | S.R.King |
Group 3 Wins
| Year | Race | Track | Distance (m) |
Weight (kg) |
Time | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | MaRC Centaine Stakes | Awapuni (NZ) | 2000 | 55.0 | 2:03.04 | D.C.Lang |