The name of Dulcify is always identified with his Australian Hall of Fame trainer and Legend, the late Colin Hayes. At the end of his long career Colin Hayes nominated Dulcify as the best horse he ever trained. He purchased the Decies colt cheaply (a mere NZ$3250) at the New Zealand yearling sales and, with his wife Betty, retained a one-third share. Two businessmen, Alan Maller and Bill Rigg, took the other two-thirds. Certain facts attach themselves to the Dulcify story. He won his first race as a three-year-old gelding at Morphettville from an outside barrier at odds of 300 to 1, one of the longest of long-shots in Australian racing history (he paid $75.10 for a 50 cent win ticket on the Victorian TAB). That was in September 1978. Two months later, at only his sixth start, he won the Victoria Derby. Rich summer races were on offer in Perth, home city of co- owners Rigg and Maller. Dulcify misbehaved on the plane and underperformed in the WATC ‘Australian Derby’. He had to be driven home across the Nullarbor to South Australia for a short spell. His poor performance in Perth partly explains why he started at 80 to 1 in the Australian Cup, barely two months later. There were other reasons for the long odds. The field was classy in the extreme. His competitors included Melbourne Cup winners Arwon and Think Big along with Family of Man, Stormy Rex, Double Century, Lloyd Boy and Turf Ruler – not to mention the odds-on favourite, the incomparable Manikato. And Manikato would have won had it not been for the finishing burst of the three-year-old Dulcify, ridden by John Miller replacing the suspended Brent Thomson. Dulcify now proved his credentials as a rising champion with wins in the Sydney classics, the Rosehill Guineas and AJC Derby – the latter awarded on protest when his old sparring partner, Double Century veered out in the closing stages of the race. In September 1979, now as a four-year-old, he scored a dominant win in the Craiglee Stakes on a heavy track at Flemington, followed a month later by the Turnbull Stakes.
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