THE BEST HOLLINDALE STAKES WINNERS OF ALL TIME
AND THE WINNER IS ... THE FAVOURITE STROLLS HOME IN OUR POLL
Y OU know a horse is special when he wins his only start at a track and the club names a bar after him.
That’s Might And Power, winner of the 1998 Hollindale Stakes and the best horse to grace the Gold Coast course.
Might And Power had won the Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double six months earlier and two Sydney Group 1 events immediately before lining up in the Hollindale Stakes.
His presence created a buzz in the city. A larger-than-usual crowd of almost 10,000 people turned up to watch the champ. Ask around today and you will find 20,000 punters who will say they were there the day the great Might And Power won at the Gold Coast.
Might And Power won by 5½ lengths and could have won by more, according to his jockey Brian York. He beat the race record set by Durbridge, who was Australia’s premier weightfor-age horse when he won in 1994.
It was a special day in the history of the Gold Coast Turf Club.
Winning owner Nick Moraitis, a Sydney businessman who built an empire on the back of selling potatoes, considered Might And Power the people’s champion.
He was happy to share the joy. The man who had won Australia’s greatest race only months earlier was emotional as he shook hands and chatted with punters after the Hollindale Stakes success.
“It brings tears to your eyes to see a champion like this try so hard all the time as he does,” he said.
“And I’m so pleased we were able to bring him to Queensland and let the people here see him.”
Gold Coast Turf Club officials were pleased, too. They renamed a public bar at the course after the champ and had then-Prime Minister John Howard open it in 1999.
It will be packed this afternoon when punters try to pick the winner of the 2018 Hollindale Stakes.
There are few certainties in racing but one thing is for sure.
The winner today will not match the feats of Might And Power.
He won seven Group 1 races, including the Doomben Cup at his next start after the Hollindale Stakes.
He added the 1998 Cox Plate to his Cups double of 1997, putting him in rare company and earning him two Australian Racehorse of the Year titles.
He was a good thing to be No.1 in our list of greatest Hollindale Stakes winners.