AURIE’S STAR Eighty-three years ago, on 7 September 1940, Aurie’s Star as an eight- year-old set a time record that was never broken – and never will be. For the next three decades, observant racegoers saw the name in their racebooks - Flemington six-furlong course record: Aurie’s Star, 1 minute 8¼ seconds. When Australia replaced imperial measures with metric, this six-furlong course (3/4 mile) was shortened by 7 metres to 1200, the nearest round number. Mathematicians calculated ‘pacesetter times’ for all race distances. They converted Aurie’s Star’s time to 1 minute 7.8 seconds. It was a theoretical number, and even this proved impossible to match. Eventually, in 1991 Final Card equalled Aurie’s Star’s pacesetter time. No horse beat it until the spring of 1996 when Gold Ace (his half- brother) ran the 1200 in 1:07.5. Five years later, on New Year’s Day 2001, Iglesia set a new benchmark of 1:07.16. And – shades of Aurie’s Star – Iglesia’s dazzling wind-assisted time has remained unbroken for more than twenty years. Unless the VRC ever holds races over 1207 metres, Aurie’s Star’s “Straight Six” record will remain for eternity. He recorded this time in a bread-and-butter race, the Whittier Handicap, against an undistinguished field. Sceptics declared the timekeeper was mistaken. They said the feat was impossible. Of course, it wasn’t. Norm Creighton rode him that day. He said the horse was ‘never off the bit’ and that wind was not a factor. Harold Badger, a regular rider of Ajax, said no Newmarket winner would have got near Aurie’s Star that day. Most remarkable was the weight he carried – 10 stone 2 pounds. In metrics that is 64.4 kilograms. Aurie’s Star was great by any standards. He won the 1937 VRC Newmarket and was second under a big weight in 1939. He won the Oakleigh Plate twice at Caulfield and Adelaide’s Goodwood Handicap. His long career made him a racetrack idol. His final win was as a 12-year-old, after a two-year break, at Morphettville. The crowd cheered throughout the entire race. His owner George Badman retired Aurie’s Star to his farm. AURIE’S STAR Stardrift (GB) - Aurie Anton Bay Gelding - Foaled in 1932 (Hamley Bridge, SA) 89 Starts 28 Wins 12 Seconds 4 Thirds Prizemoney £13,678 7 Wins down the Flemington Straight Six Highest weight carried to victory 11st 4lb (approximately 71.67kg)
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