Beauford raced against one the best ever in Gloaming winning 17 races in total

The story of Beauford has a very strong Hunter Valley connection and the tough gelding was rightly regarded as the ‘Newcastle Horse’. Beauford was foaled in the spring of 1916 at the height of the Great War when young Australian diggers were enduring the unspeakable deprivations and atrocities in the mud of the killing fields of the Western Front. Beauford, was a brown Thoroughbred gelding best known for the races against the New Zealand champion Gloaming at Randwick Racecourse in 1922, defeating him on more then one occasion.

The slick Beauford raced exclusively in NSW from a 3 year-old to a nine-year-old, recording 17 wins from 6 furlongs to 1½ miles, with regular jockey Albert Wood winning 12 races. Beauford was bred by the Mackay family at the Tinagroo stud northwest of Scone by Beau Soult (NZ), winner of the 1913 Rosehill Guineas via his dam, the 9yo Blueford (AUS) who was unraced, but all seven foals proved winners. Beauford was the second foal. He was foaled and grew up in a sheep paddock knowns as Gin’s Creek, on Albano Station, Sandy Creek, near Rouchel Brook. A trapper on the property found the foal had fallen over a steep bank and was on his back in a water hole in one of the gullies in the paddock. A draught horse was subsequently harnessed and transported to the location, where it was connected to the foal. This intervention successfully liberated the young horse from his perilous predicament. From this somewhat hard living, Beauford grew up to be a horse with great fighting spirit.

Beauford raced between 1919 -1926 but did not race at 2 years. He raced for seven seasons, which included in the spring of 1922 four historic successive W.F.A races over distances from 9 furlongs to 1½ miles. These races being the Chelmsford Stakes, Hill Stakes, Spring Stakes and Craven Plate against the champion Gloaming. Trainer Sid Killick's stables were named 'Myra Bluan' at 32 Everton Street Hamilton, Newcastle and he leased the champion Beauford for 2 years, then after was raced by his breeder. Other notable stable winners were Myra Bluan 1911 Villiers Stakes, Angelique 1913 Tatts Club Cup, Salrak 1921 Breeders' Plate and Lady Valais 1924 AJC St Leger.

Beauford and Gloaming competed against each other four times, set up at the start of the 1922 Sydney spring carnival by Mr G D Greenwood, the Kiwi owner of Gloaming who at that stage had raced 48 times for 42 wins, and Mr W H Mackay, the owner of Gloaming’s young, up and coming rival. Each owner considered that their horse could not be beaten by any horse other than that of the other owner. Beauford first defeated Gloaming in the Chelmsford (1800m) by quarter of a length with 14L back to third. They met again a week later in front of a record crowd at Rosehill in the Hill Stakes (1600m). With a 7lb pull in the weights, Gloaming proved successful by a length with 8L to third.

The crowd at Randwick two weeks later was so large that racegoers had difficulty moving. It was reported that thousands of Beauford’s supporters had journeyed from the coalfields of Newcastle to support their hometown hero of the turf. The two champions battled each other in the Spring Stakes (2400m) at Randwick for the entire race, with Beauford prevailing by a neck over Gloaming and the others a long way behind. Although the final race was staged at a mid-week meeting, 60,000 patrons squeezed into Randwick to witness the match-race in the Craven Plate (2000m). The contest ended in a 2-2 draw, with Gloaming gradually wearing down Beauford and pulling away to win by 3 lengths.

Following the Great War, when towns like Newcastle were coming to grips with the losses of the lives of so many of its young men, it must have provided some diversion from the miseries of those times to marvel at the exploits of this wonderful thoroughbred, hometown hero. In 1982 The Beauford Club was established in Newcastle to honour the local champion and to promote the fellowship in the sport of horse racing.


RACE RECORD - 37: 17-5-3
EARNINGS - £15,938

Tramway Handicap (1921)
Hill Stakes (1921)
Epsom Handicap (1921)
Craven Plate (1921)
Railway Handicap (1921)
Rawson Stakes (1922)
All Aged Stakes (1922)
Chelmsford Stakes (1922)
AJC Spring Stakes (1922)