She was a champion mare that won the biggest feature races in Australia

Let’s Elope, the a mare with the most memorable name (she was out of Blushing Groom and Runaway Bride on her sires side of the family) said it all for a horse that reached champion status. There is a unique distinction associated with a mare that attains the esteemed mantle of champion and Queen of the Turf. While numerous notable contenders may establish impressive winning streaks against their high class contemporaries, it is only the genuine champions that consistently demonstrate their unparalleled superiority against all challengers.

Bred by Highview Stud in Hamilton, New Zealand, Let's Elope was a giant chestnut mare who in 1991 became the first mare in more than 50 years to complete Australia's famed Caulfield Cup/Melbourne Cup double. The last mare to complete the double had been Rivette in 1939. By the Blushing Groom stallion Nassipour, out of dam Sharon Jane, she was a NZ$16,000 purchase at the 1989 New Zealand Magic Millions sale. Originally trained by Dave O'Sullivan for the Fleiter family, she was un-raced as a two-year-old but won her first start as a three-year-old in 1990. Despite showing above-average ability her record in New Zealand was underwhelming, and on the advice of her trainer, the owners accepted a NZ$150,000 offer for her. Her new owners, Dennis Marks and Kevin White, transferred her to the Australian stables of the 'Cups King,' Bart Cummings.

Let's Elope was close-up in her first two starts for Cummings, and, while down the track in the wet at Caulfield, was a different horse on top of the ground. If ever there was a track readymade for a hulking chestnut mare like Let’s Elope though, it was Flemington with its wide expanses and longer finishing straight. In a superb season, Let's Elope began a seven-race winning streak in the VRC Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, on the first weekend of October, took out the Mackinnon Stakes, beating Super Impose and won the Caulfield Cup in the last stride and the Melbourne Cup after surviving a protest. Let’s Elope became the first mare in more than 50 years to complete Australia's famed Caulfield Cup - Melbourne Cup double. Steven King rode the mare with a touch of arrogance, allowing Let's Elope a full head off steam when not sufficiently clear of other runners. Shane Dye on stablemate Shiva's Revenge posted a protest, and after tense deliberations, it was dismissed. She returned in the new year, winning the CF Orr Stakes, the St George Stakes, and the Australian Cup - in course record time. A fetlock injury then cut short her season, but Let's Elope had the 1992 Horse of the Year Award in the bag.

Her Caulfield Cup win was stunning. The margin wasn’t great, it was barely a neck, but she did what few could do, and that was travel wide and come from near the rear of the field. Her Mackinnon Stakes victory was even more impressive, as she decisively defeated a field that included the esteemed champion Super Impose and the renowned Cox Plate winner Surfer's Paradise. She was brilliant enough to run a course record in winning the CF Orr Stakes over 1400m. Her most notable triumph though, occurred during the 1992 Australian Cup, where she exhibited remarkable resilience by overcoming an initial disadvantage to unleash an impressive sprint in the final 400 metres of the race. This exceptional performance resulted in a decisive victory, with a four-length margin and a course record of two minutes.

She returned as a five-year-old, and, while thwarted by wet tracks for much of the spring, won a match race with Better Loosen Up at Caulfield, and was narrowly defeated by Super Impose in a classic W.S Cox Plate encounter (after the race, she was relegated from second to fifth for cutting off the unlucky Better Loosen Up). Ten days later, Let's Elope was one of three scratchings from the 1992 Melbourne Cup and failed in an international mission after a bleeding attack in the Japan Cup.

Let's Elope continued her career in the United States. Conditioned in the U.S. by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Ron McAnally, Let's Elope won a minor race on debut, and was first past the post in the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes in front of Flawlessly, before being relegated to third - under American rules, she was relegated for simply causing interference, not because the third horse would have beaten her home. The recurrence of a bleeding attack and a fractured cannon bone forced her retirement at the close of 1993. It is highly unlikely that any horse in the world could have surpassed Let's Elope during her prime. Her immense size, combined with her exceptional stride, remarkable acceleration, and seemingly limitless endurance, made her a formidable competitor. However, her true potential could only be fully realised under firm track conditions. When presented with such circumstances, witnessing her performances were an awe-inspiring experience.

At stud, Let's Elope had visited some of the world's greatest stallions, including Storm Cat, and, while considered slightly disappointing, has produced the stakeswinner Ustinov (by Seeking The Gold), who was placed in a number of Group One races and Outback Joe (by Elvstroem) winner of the 2014 Adelaide Cup. Let's Elope died at the age of 29 with connections reporting that the champion racehorse died during her sleep overnight lying under an old gum tree in her favourite paddock.

RACE RECORD - 26: 11-0-5
EARNINGS - A$2,940,250
NZ$42,925
US$169,000

Caulfield Cup (1991)
Melbourne Cup (1991)
LKS MacKinnon Stakes (1991)
Turnbull Stakes (1991)
Australian Cup (1992)
C F Orr Stakes (1992)
St George Stakes (1992)

Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year (1992)
Australian Racing Hall of Fame
Let's Elope Stakes