Tulloch

In 1956, legendary Sydney trainer Tommy Smith attended the Trentham Yearling Sales in New Zealand. He spotted a bay colt by Khorassan out of Florida — a horse with intelligence and presence, but a “swampy” back and a frame that measured just 15.2 hands. Small by any standard.

Smith bought the colt for 750 guineas and offered him to owner E.A. “Len” Haley. Haley’s assessment was honest: “He’s small, but if he’s no good we can use him to round up sheep.” He named the colt Tulloch, after the Scottish town where his mother was born.

Nobody at Trentham that day had any reason to believe they were watching the sale of one of the five greatest racehorses in Australian history.

Tulloch’s two-year-old season hinted at something special — seven wins and six seconds from thirteen starts. But it was his three-year-old campaign that announced a champion. He won 14 of 16 starts, often in record time.

In the AJC Derby, he beat Prince Darius by six lengths and broke Phar Lap’s 28-year-old track record by more than two seconds. The famous photograph of Tulloch passing the post with his ears pricked — not even trying — remains one of racing’s most iconic images. Journalists started making comparisons to Phar Lap himself.

The Caulfield Cup performance was even more extraordinary. Carrying just 48kg as a three-year-old, Tulloch won in 2:26.9 — at the time, the fastest mile and a half on turf anywhere in the world. No three-year-old in recorded history has covered the distance faster at that weight.

His rivalry with Todman — a brilliant sprinter who won the inaugural Golden Slipper — captivated the public. They split their encounters: Tulloch dominated at seven furlongs and beyond, while Todman proved untouchable in the sprints.

In April 1958, after winning five more races in the autumn, Tulloch was struck down by a severe stomach illness. It came on suddenly and devastated his body — causing extreme weight loss, lethargy, and constant recurring infections.

The illness — later suspected to be a chronic bacterial infection or toxaemia — brought the robust champion to the brink of death. For nearly two full years, Tulloch was completely absent from the racecourse. Smith later recalled the ordeal: he spent 22 months lying against a wall. Smith thought he’d die for sure.

Veterinary consensus was blunt: this horse would never race again. Many experts doubted he would even survive. The racing public mourned a career cut short at its absolute peak.

On 12 March 1960 — nearly two years after his last race — Tulloch lined up for the VRC Queen’s Plate at Flemington. He was immediately thrust into elite weight-for-age company against Lord, the horse who had ruled in his absence.

What followed was one of the great moments in Australian racing. Tulloch and Lord went stride for stride down the Flemington straight in a brutal, grinding duel. The crowd roared. In the final desperate strides, Tulloch — the horse the vets said would never race again — pulled away to win by a short head.

He didn’t stop there. In the spring of 1960, Tulloch won the Cox Plate (setting an Australian record for ten furlongs), the LKS Mackinnon Stakes, and the VRC Queen’s Plate. Post-illness, he compiled a record of 15 wins, 5 seconds, and 3 thirds from 24 starts — with only one unplaced run.

In his entire 53-start career, Tulloch was unplaced just once. Just once in 53 races he failed to finish in the top three. It came in the 1960 Melbourne Cup — the race his owner had denied him three years earlier.

This time, carrying a crushing 64kg (the heaviest weight of his career) and starting 3/1 favourite, Tulloch finished seventh. But it wasn’t the weight that beat him — it was arguably the worst ride on a champion in Cup history. Jockey Neville Sellwood had Tulloch positioned 60 lengths behind the leader with 1200 metres to run, then left his move impossibly late.

Tulloch’s final race was the 1961 Brisbane Cup. He won by 1¾ lengths carrying 62kg, the same weight that had crushed lesser horses. Smith pleaded with Haley to let the champion race on. Haley, as always, put the horse first and confirmed retirement.

Tulloch’s career record — 36 wins, 12 seconds, 4 thirds from 53 starts — places him alongside Phar Lap and Carbine as the greatest racehorses in Australian history. He won races from 1,000 metres to 3,200 metres, a range of versatility that is almost unprecedented.

But it’s the comeback that defines his legend. Two years of illness that should have killed him. Veterinary opinions that said it was over. And then a return to the track that produced 15 more wins including a Cox Plate and a grinding defeat of the reigning champion in his very first race back.

He was one of the five inaugural inductees into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2001, alongside Carbine, Phar Lap, Bernborough, and Kingston Town — company that speaks for itself. His heart is preserved at the Australian Racing Museum. And Tulloch Lodge, named in his honour, still operates on Randwick’s training track today.