HERO OF THE STRAIGHT SIX Aurie’s Star
By Andrew Lemon
Flemington’s famous “Straight Six” track – home to the historic Group 1s the Yulong Stud Newmarket Handicap, the Coolmore Stud Stakes and the TAB Champions Sprint – is the only straight 1200 metre racetrack in Australia. Many Australian champion racehorses have found glory up this spectacular course. In recent decades we’ve seen amazing performances of the unbeaten Black Caviar, superstars Takeover Target, Miss Andretti and Nature Strip, and the brilliant Exceed And Excel. Going back in time, wins up the Straight Six confirmed the reputations of champions. Vain, Century, Royal Gem, Ajax and the turf legend Bernborough are just a few on a list stretching back to Heroic, Gothic, Wakeful and 1884 Melbourne Cup winner Malua. Phar Lap never raced up the straight course but his great-great-grandsire Carbine did, finishing third in the 1889 Newmarket. And yet it is little Aurie’s Star, a bay gelding bred in South Australia (descended from Carbine), whose name became synonymous with the Straight Six. The VRC honours him annually with this winter sprint.
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