Kingston Town - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

for the song by Lord Creator
Lord Creator
Lord Creator is a calypso and soca artist. Alongside Cuban born Rolando Alphonso, Barbadian Jackie Opel and fellow Trinidadians Lynn Taitt and Lord Bryner, Lord Creator was an important and positive 'outside' influence during the early development of the Jamaican music scene.-Career:He started as...

, covered by UB40
UB40
UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...

, see Kingston Town (song)
Kingston Town (song)
"Kingston Town" is a 1970 song by Lord Creator. It was covered in 1990 by reggae group UB40 and was the second single from their 1989 album Labour of Love II, reaching #4 on the UK singles chart....

Kingston Town (31 August 1976 - March 1991) was an outstanding Australian bred Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

racehorse who won a record three Cox Plate

Cox Plate

The W.S. Cox Plate is an Australian Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne every October by the Moonee Valley Racing Club to honour W.S. Cox, the club's founder. For three-year-olds and over, the race is considered to be the Weight for Age championship of Australasia...

s and 11 other Group One

Group One

Group One or Group 1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. Group One races may be run under handicap conditions in Australia but in Europe weight-for-age conditions always apply. Races may be also restricted to age groups or a...

races in a career spanning from 1979 to 1982. In 1980 he was awarded the honour of being the Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year

Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year

The Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year is awarded to the Thoroughbred horse who is voted to be the champion horse within an Australian racing season. This award is open to all racehorses racing within Australia, regardless of age and sex, and includes overseas performances.This award...

.

He was by Bletchingly

Bletchingly

Bletchingly was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse and stallion. A brilliant sprinter, he was by the successful speed stallion Biscay out of Coogee . Bletchingly was bred by Stanley Wootton on the Baramul Stud in the Widden Valley, and was a three-quarter brother to another high-class...

, later a Leading sire in Australia

Leading sire in Australia

The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in Australia for each season since 1883–84. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the season.----- References :* -See also:...

, his dam, Ada Hunter (GER) was by Andrea Mantegna (FR). Ada Hunter was the dam of nine foals, but Private Thoughts (a brother to Kingston Town) was her only other stakes winner. She was later exported to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Kingston Town was bred by David Hains, who sold a share in him to G. Monsborough and his wife after the horse failed to reach his reserve as a yearling.

Racing record

He was trained throughout his career by Tommy Smith and ridden in 25 of his 30 wins by Malcolm Johnston. Kingston Town made his debut as a two-year-old, and, in his only start as a colt, ran last, but returned as a gelding in the final weeks of the season to win the Round Table Handicap at Rosehill at odds of 33/1. This was the beginning of a six-race winning run, which culminated in his first Group One win, the Spring Champion Stakes

Spring Champion Stakes

The Spring Champion Stakes is a Group 1 Australian Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds at set weights. First run in 1971, it is raced over a distance of 2000 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney in October...

. Sent to Melbourne, the 'Sydney Champion', as he was dubbed, could only finish third, fourth, and second, respectively, in the Caulfield Guineas

Caulfield Guineas

The Caulfield Guineas is a Melbourne Racing Club Australian Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held over 1600 metres at set weights for three-year-old horses, held annually on the second Saturday in October and forms part of the Spring Carnival at Caulfield Racecourse. Total prize money is A$1 million...

, the Caulfield Cup

Caulfield Cup

The Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest Thoroughbred horse races and the richest of its type in the world is held annually by the Melbourne Racing Club. The race is a handicap like the Melbourne Cup, which means that horses that compete in the Caulfield Cup are capable of running on the...

, and the Victoria Derby

Victoria Derby

The Victoria Derby is an Australian Thoroughbred horse race held annually on the first day of Melbourne's annual Spring Racing Carnival, Victorian Derby Day, held at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. A Group One race for three-year-old horses, it is raced on a left-handed turf course at a...

. The pattern of consistent success in Sydney and mixed fortunes in Melbourne would be repeated throughout his career: Kingston Town won 21 races from as many starts in Sydney between June 1979 and August 1982, interspersed with four trips to Melbourne, where he won five of his 13 starts.

In the autumn of his three-year-old season, Kingston Town won six races in a row, including the Rosehill Guineas

Rosehill Guineas

The Rosehill Guineas is an Australian Thoroughbred horse race run annually in March at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney. A race for three-year-olds at set weights, it is contested on turf over a distance of 2000 metres .-Distance:...

, the Tancred Stakes, the AJC Derby, and the Sydney Cup

Sydney Cup

The Sydney Cup is an Australian horse race, held for Thoroughbred horses and run over 3200 metres. It is run every year at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, New South Wales in April/May...

. At the Brisbane winter carnival, he extended his winning run to eight races by winning twice more, including the Queensland Derby

Queensland Derby

The Queensland Derby is a Brisbane Racing Club Group 1 Australian Thoroughbred horse race for three year olds at, set weights, run over a distance of 2400 metres at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Brisbane in June...

. At season's end, his record stood at 14 wins from 18 starts, and he was named Australia's champion

Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year

racehorse.

The final 23 starts of Kingston Town's career, which produced a further 16 wins, were unusual in that he only raced at the spring carnivals of 1980, 1981, and 1982, and injury prevented him from campaigning at the 1981, 1982, or 1983 autumn carnivals. Each of the three preparations consisted of winning weight-for-age races in Sydney, such as the Warwick Stakes

Warwick Stakes

The Warwick Stakes is a Group 2 Australian thoroughbred horse race at Weight for Age that was traditionally run over a distance of 1400 metres at Warwick Farm Racecourse, Sydney in August...

and the George Main Stakes

George Main Stakes

The George Main Stakes is a Group 1 Australian Thoroughbred horse race run under Weight for Age conditions, over a distance of 1600 metres at RandwickRacecourse, Sydney in September. Total prize money for the race is A$303,300....

, often against small fields, before racing in Melbourne. In each of the three years, he won the Cox Plate

Cox Plate

at Moonee Valley

Moonee Valley Racecourse

Moonee Valley Racecourse is a horse-racing track in Melbourne, Australia which hosts races for Thoroughbreds. Located six kilometers from the Melbourne CBD, it is the home of the Moonee Valley Racing Club...

, and recorded back-to-back wins in the Caulfield Stakes

Caulfield Stakes

The VATC Caulfield Stakes is now a Melbourne Racing Club Australian Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run under weight-for-age conditions, for three-year-olds and upwards, at Caulfield Racecourse. The race was previously known as the Caulfield Stakes but since 1997 it has been referred to as the...

in 1981 and 1982, but tried and failed to win the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups on multiple occasions. He was third in the 1980 Caulfield Cup, 20th in the 1981 Melbourne Cup, and runner-up in 1982.

Kingston Town's win in the 1982 Cox Plate was marked by Bill Collins

Bill Collins (racecaller)

William Henry "Bill" Collins OAM was an Australian racecaller who earned the reputation for being able to accurately call the winner of even the closest of races. Known as "The Accurate One", he was well known for his call of the Melbourne Cup each year. One of his most notable commentaries was...

's famously incorrect prognostication that 'Kingston Town can't win', which was hastily revised to '... he might win yet the champ ... Kingston Town's swamping them ... Kingston Town...' According to The Age's Glenn Lester, 'the call is so intricately woven into the "King's" history-making third Cox Plate win that it's difficult to decide which was the most memorable element of the race: the broadcast or the victory itself'. Elsewhere, however, it is described as a 'gaffe', and the replay supports this view in that Kingston Town was within a few lengths of the lead at the time. Greg Miles, however, a well-respected racecaller of longstanding, who was also broadcasting the Cox Plate of 1982, states that he also made the same claim as Collins at almost the same time.

After running his last race in Australia, in November 1982, Kingston Town was sent to America on 15 February 1984 in an attempt to overcome his leg problems, but he did not race in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He was returned to Australia, and, in 1985, an attempt was made to resurrect his career, but he was scratched from his scheduled race and retired.

Retirement

Along with Carbine

Carbine (horse)

Carbine , was an outstanding New Zealand bred Thoroughbred racehorse, who competed in New Zealand and later Australia. During his racing career he won 30 stakes or principal races...

, Phar Lap

Phar Lap

Phar Lap was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse whose achievements captured the public's imagination during the early years of the Great Depression. Foaled in New Zealand, he was trained and raced in Australia. Phar Lap dominated Australian racing during a distinguished career, winning a Melbourne...

, Bernborough

Bernborough

Bernborough was an outstanding Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who competed from 1941 to 1946. He carried heavy weights to victory in a sequence of 15 consecutive wins that included the Doomben 10,000 carrying 10 stone 5 pounds....

, and Tulloch

Tulloch (horse)

Tulloch was a Thoroughbred racehorse, who is regarded as one of the three finest racehorses in Australian racing history...

, Kingston Town was one of five inaugural inductees into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame

Australian Racing Hall of Fame

The Australian Racing Hall of Fame is part of the Australian Racing Museum which documents and honours the horseracing legends of Australia. The museum officially opened in 1981 and created the Hall of Fame in 2000....

. From 30 wins and seven placings from 41 starts, Kingston Town won $1,605,790 in prize money, and was the first horse in Australia to pass the million-dollar barrier. He was given the extraordinary Timeform Rating

Timeform

Timeform Publications is a publishing company in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England founded in 1948 to provide information to fans, bettors, and others involved in the horse racing industry...

of 137 - the second highest of any Australian horse in the period (1950s onward). Kingston Town's rating remains well above those of several Cox Plate winners who have won either or both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, including Saintly

Saintly

Saintly was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who was named Australia's champion racehorse in 1997. A giant chestnut gelding by Sky Chase out of All Grace , he was bred by his trainer, Bart Cummings, who owned him in partnership with a Malaysian businessman, Dato Tan Chin Nam.Saintly gained...

, Might And Power

Might and Power

Might and Power was a New Zealand bred, Australian owned and trained Thoroughbred racehorse who was named Australian Horse of the Year in 1998 and 1999. As a four-year-old, Might And Power won the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, and returned at five to become only the second horse in the history of...

, Northerly

Northerly

Northerly, foaled in 1996, was arguably Australia's best middle distance Thoroughbred horse of the early 2000s. Northerly, trained by Western Australian harness racing legend Fred Kersley, won nine Group One races, including the Australian Cup twice, and the Cox Plate, regarded as the Weight for...

, and Makybe Diva

Makybe Diva

Makybe Diva is a British-bred, Australian-trained Thoroughbred who became the first racehorse to win the famed Melbourne Cup on three occasions: 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2005, she also won the Cox Plate. Makybe Diva is the highest stakes-earner in Australasian horse racing history, with winnings...

.

In March 1991, Kingston Town was put down after failing to recover from a leg injury that he suffered while playing with another horse, his favourite paddock-mate.

Tabulated pedigree

External links

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