Poitrel was good enough to beat legends, Desert Gold, Eurythmic and Gloaming

Over one hundred years ago the Melbourne Cup went ahead as the nation recovered from a global pandemic, with the race won by a horse nobody had wanted. The big Flemington two-miler is the race that stops a nation, but in 1919 it was the Spanish Flu that stopped just about everything, racing included. When it came time for the 1920 Cup, such was the enthusiasm of Victorians to get out and about that a crowd of more than 110,000 was trackside. It all sounds a little too familiar. There was no officially sanctioned off-course betting, so unless punters wanted to gamble with bookies in back lanes and barber shops, the only place to lay a bet was at the track. Poitrel was considered one of the hottest prospects - despite being unwanted when put in the sale ring in 1916.

Poitrel (1914−1932) was often described as plain and wiry, and also had hoof problems, so was sparingly raced. Nevertheless, he blossomed to become a champion stayer that won the AJC Spring Stakes over three consecutive years. He was trained astutely throughout his career by H.J. Robinson. In Poitrel's four- and five-year-old seasons, he proved almost unbeatable, winning 16 races in Sydney including two dead-heats ridden by his usual jockey Ken Bracken. Among the other horses he vanquished were acknowledged champions in their own right, Desert Gold, Gloaming and Eurythmic. For this reason, as a six-year-old, he was allocated the handicap of 10 stone (63.5 kg) for the 1920 Melbourne Cup, a lofty weight even by the tough handicap standards of the era.

The chestnut horse was sired by British stallion St Alwynne from the imported mare Poinard, foaled in 1914 at Arrowfield Stud, New South Wales. Poinard had 11 starts from four to just six furlongs in three seasons, her only success the £55 Kogarah Stakes at Moorefield in 1910 by a whopping eight lengths. Poitrel was a small foal, offered for sale but unwanted at the 1916 Sydney yearling sales - considered one of the hottest prospects but he couldn't fetch the 300 Guineas reserve price, so he was retained for racing by his breeders, the brothers William and Frederick Moses throughout his turf career. Slow to grow and make his mark, Poitrel had his first big win in the 1917 AJC Summer Cup at Randwick. As a four-year-old in the spring of 1918, he caused a sensation when he defeated the champion New Zealand mare Desert Gold in the weight-for-age AJC Spring Stakes.

His victory under this heavy burden in the Melbourne Cup was Poitrel’s only appearance in Melbourne, but racegoers at Flemington responded to the achievement. Poitrel started the race wide, trailed the field for most of the race, and then came home in the final stages to win with a gallant effort by half a length. Some reporters called it the performance of a century: 'He is entitled to be included among the limited band of great horses that have raced in Australia'.
Only Archer (10st 2lb in 1862) and Carbine (10st 5lb in 1890) have lugged more to win the Cup. Poitrel was a genuine marvel and his Melbourne Cup triumph with Ken Bracken aboard prompted The Age to gush: “Poitrel has proved himself one of the greatest stayers ever produced, and the vociferous cheering that greeted the natty little chestnut as he triumphantly bore No.1 past the post was never more merited. Certainly the victory was the most popular since that of Carbine.”

Poitrel was retired to Arrowfield Stud, where he stood until the stud was sold, in 1924. He then went to L.K.S. Mackinnon's Maribyrnong Stud, Melbourne. The best of his progeny was Begamba who won St Leger Stakes' in three states. Poitrel died on the 2 May 1932 while performing stud duties at Tarong Station north of Toowoomba, Queensland, less then a month after Phar Lap's death. He was aged 17. In 2018 Poitrel was inducted to the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

RACE RECORD - 37:17-3-3
EARNINGS - £26,920

AJC Summer Cup (1917)
AJC Spring Stakes (1918, 1919 & 1920)
AJC Plate (1919, 1920)
AJC Autumn Stakes (1919, 1920)
Randwick Plate (1919, 1920)
Melbourne Cup (1920)
AJC Cumberland Stakes (1919, 1920)
Rawson Stakes (1921)