FEATURE STORY
Another enduring part of the Dulcify legend is his seven-length win in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley. With Thomson in the saddle he surged to the lead 800 metres from home and was never troubled. Thomson agreed with Hayes: Dulcify was the best. A week later Dulcify returned to Flemington on Derby Day to take the Mackinnon Stakes. This means that five of the gelding’s Group wins were at famous Flemington. He has a special place of honour at this racecourse. He was a short-priced favourite in the Melbourne Cup, when disaster struck. He was humanely euthanised hours after the race. The untimely death of Dulcify was a lasting grief to Hayes and his co-owners, as it was to everyone in Australian racing. It was Dulcify’s victory in the Australian Cup earlier in the year that changed the nature of this time-honoured contest. The following year the dual Caulfield Cup winner Ming Dynasty won the Australian Cup for the second time, having first won it in 1978 under handicap conditions carrying top weight. Hyperno, the 1979 Melbourne Cup winner, took the Australian Cup in 1981.
Dulcify winning the 1980 Australian Cup with jockey John Miller. (News Limited)
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