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Who is the oldest horse to win in Perth metro area?

West Australian Racing

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  • savethegamesavethegame    3,216 posts
    Know one that won first and last race on metro program.

    Tucool likes this post.

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  • RodentRodent    7,457 posts
    BenniG said:

    Stumbled across this post when trying to track down the same answer! any updates since? I've got a very small share in Bruce Almighty whose back from prep and going around Ascot this weekend. 


    Currently 10 years old so wondering if he wins a Saturday..... does he take the title?
    I hope you backed it  =D>

    Manchild, bigorangecat, Notapuntas likes this post.

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  • H-BOMBERH-BOMBER    10,567 posts
    BenniG said:

    Stumbled across this post when trying to track down the same answer! any updates since? I've got a very small share in Bruce Almighty whose back from prep and going around Ascot this weekend. 


    Currently 10 years old so wondering if he wins a Saturday..... does he take the title?



    Holy shit this aged well.

    JayJay, Notapuntas likes this post.

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  • warrenrobinsonwarrenrobinson    578 posts
    The harness horse that i remember is Happy Man i think he was 17, maybe JayJay can confirm.
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  • JayJayJayJay    8,623 posts
    Happy Man

    J.P Stratton bought the well performed but aged NZ horse Happy Man (by Man O' War) to WA in 1948. Said to be 16 at the time, he was in fact only 14. He had won major races in NZ (Ashburton Cup, Methven Cup etc) and had already won $16,547 in stakes before landing in Perth, a huge amount by the standard of the day.

    Like many Stratton horses, he was placed in the care of top trainer Athol Robertson, who would later handle the great Dillon Gratton for Stratton.There was a considerable stir in local circles when Happy Man was allocated a very favourable handicap mark at his initial winning outing in a Free For All in November 1948, not surprising given the immense influence the committee held over the stewards (basically the capacity to hire and fire at will).

    Heavily supported, the punters had a new pin up boy as he dominated fast class races and Free For Alls for several seasons. No matter how short the odds, he was godsend to punters looking for a certain return in the desperate post war years when a quid was a quid.

    Ironically, Happy Man won a Stratton Cup, as well as a Fremantle Cup from 24 yards, a New Year Handicap and he ran 3rd to the great  Bintravis from 36 yards in the 1949 WA Cup.

    All up, he won 17 metropolitan races, 15 at Gloucester Park and 2 at Richmond Raceway and in his last year of racing won 3 Free For All in 1952, aged 17. At the time, there were a number of "rejuvenation procedures" for old geldings that were not in breach of the rules or could not be tested for. It was said he may have been the beneficiary of such assistance but regardless, at 17 years of age, it took Pop Johnson's emerging star Royal Shadow to knock the old boy off his pedestal.

    I hasten to add I never saw him, before my time but he was talked about in hallowed tones when I was growing up around the stables as a kid. A genuine household name was Happy Man. Sadly, his name was never preserved and the are "Happy Mans" littered through the record books across multiple eras in multiple countries.

    I might just copy and paste this over to the History Channel thread where it may be more at home.

    VillageKid, Manchild likes this post.

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  • FlandersFlanders    1,405 posts
    Note sure that it was the oldest horse to win in the Perth metro area, but Lottila Bay won the Perth Cup aged 10. Some feat

    thelivingend likes this post.

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  • SLIPPERGOLDENSLIPPERGOLDEN    8,435 posts
    BenniG said:

     I've got a very small share in Bruce Almighty whose back from prep and going around Ascot this weekend. 


    Good win. Great odds.

    Manchild, Chris, bigorangecat, thefalcon, Notapuntas likes this post.

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  • JimmyPopJimmyPop    364 posts
    Silent Tom
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  • SLIPPERGOLDENSLIPPERGOLDEN    8,435 posts
    edited October 2025
    Yes it was a fair age Jimmy. I think Norm Coombe rode it a fair bit but I am testing my memory on that.
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  • spinkingspinking    3,998 posts
    was Silent Tom trained by Todd Harveys grandad
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  • thefalconthefalcon    20,471 posts
    Widows Boy?
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