Hot Chestnut shares name with horse involved in one of Australia’s most famous finishes

Hot Chestnut, the three-year-old sprinter entered for a Tamworth maiden on Tuesday, shares his name with a horse involved in one of the most famous finishes in Australian racing history.

A screengrab from a Sky Racing documentary which featured Ray Selkrig talking about his famous finish "aboard" Hot Chestnut at Kembla Grange in 1973.

Hot Chestnut, the three-year-old sprinter entered for a Tamworth maiden on Tuesday, shares his name with a horse involved in one of the most famous finishes in Australian racing history.

It was more than 50 years ago when Hot Chestnut won a race at Kembla Grange in the most unusual of circumstances.

The late Ray Selkrig, a premier Sydney jockey in 1958-59, made the trip to the provincial track to ride Hot Chestnut.

What happened next would mean Selkrig is remembered as much for that 1973 Kembla race as his many big race wins including the 1961 Melbourne Cup on Lord Fury and his 1964 AJC-VRC-Queensland Derby clean sweep on Royal Sovereign.

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Selkrig and Hot Chestnut had taken the lead in the Kembla race and were set for an easy win when the horse shied near the finish, dislodging the jockey.

But Selkrig refused to let go of the reins as Hot Chestnut dragged the jockey along the ground past the winning post.

Hot Chestnut then galloped on the fallen rider, leaving Selkrig with a broken pelvis.

Selkrig was taken to hospital only to learn later that stewards had decided Hot Chestnut should be declared as the winner.

“They (stewards) said he did a harder job dragging me across the line instead of carrying me,’’ Selkrig said at the time.

Melbourne Cup winning Jockey Ray Selkrig spoke to @gregprichard about his iconic win aboard Hot Chestnut at @kemblaraces in 1973 and his illustrious career in the saddle pic.twitter.com/xpinMfDMxC

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 20, 2020

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Selkrig was interviewed by Sky Thoroughbred Central’s Greg Prichard in 2020 and recalled the Hot Chestnut incident.

“I was very confident coming down the straight and we got to about the furlong post and there was a brown patch on the track and the horse was looking at it,’’ Selkrig said.

“He propped and I went up to near his ears and from there on I just held on to past the post.

“I still had hold of the reins and the whip and everything and it dragged me across the finish. The photo went all around the world.’’

Selkrig, who passed away two years ago aged 93, rode more than 1800 winners during his celebrated career including four AJC Derbies and a Doncaster Handicap.

At Tamworth on Tuesday, racing’s latest Hot Chestnut is trying to break his maiden at his 10th start.

Hot Chestnut, a three-year-old trained by Justin Bowen, is first emergency for a 1000m maiden.

Originally published as Hot Chestnut shares name with horse involved in one of Australia’s most famous finishes