BUZALONG

THE BARGAIN

Buzalong was bought as a yearling by owner-trainer A. Leftwitch from Kingaroy for the bargain price of only 110 guineas. He was placed twice as a 2yo in Queensland including a sixth Division Maiden in Ipswich that earned the colt three pounds in prizemoney. As a 3yo, Buzalong was to win a Maiden at Doomben and a 3yo Handicap at Eagle Farm. He then was moved to Sydney where he won the Rosehill Rydalmer Mile and AJC Monash Handicap at that age. The following season he won five more races including the Grafton Cup. As a 5yo, Buzalong was to win the Hawkesbury Gold Cup and run second in the AJC Metropolitan. He then went to Melbourne for a tilt at the 1938 Caulfield Cup. It was an open race with Buzalong starting at 6/1. Avenger had run the great Ajax to a neck in the Caulfield Stakes and had won the 1937 AJC Derby and was the 11/2 favourite. Sadly, Avenger was to injure himself in the race, and was to never race again. Buzalong was prominent in the run and reached the lead into the straight. For a few strides it looked as if Marauder may have been able to peg him back, but his run was short lived. Interestingly Marauder who finished third was another son of The Buzzard. St Constant managed to edge out Marauder for second some two lengths adrift of Buzalong. Perhaps punters would not have been so confident had they known that Buzalong had suffered an attack of colic on Wednesday prior to the Cup. His trainer stayed with the horse

until 2.30am the following day, treating him with a concoction of ground ginger, whiskey and chlorodine. Buzalong had been the subject to numerous offers by potential buyers. Leftwitch had been offered £1500 even before he left Queensland, and he was offered £5000 prior to the running of the Metropolitan. After winning the Cup, Buzalong was to win the Newcastle Cup in 1940 before retiring to a property near Larras Lee called Fernleigh owned by Mr AW Crockett.

Buzalong was out of Saccharine by Highfield. His half-brother Fox Prince by the imported Foxlaw stallion Fox-Earth won the 1938 QTC Hopeful Stakes. The full sister of Buzalong in Honey Buzz produced two stakes winning brothers in Countwood and Earlwood.

Caulfield Cup 1938

Countwood won the 1959 Queensland Guineas while Earlwood was to win seven stakes races in all. His wins were in the DJ O’Mara Stakes, Summer Cup, Queensland Guineas and Derby in 1958, the Tattersall’s Cup and Doomben Cup in 1959 and a repeat win in the Doomben Cup in 1960. He went to stud where he produced Earlmark who was to win the Labour Day Cup, and Exhibition and Moreton Handicaps.

Buzalong winning the Grafton Cup

Buzalong at 9.38% represents a moderately inbred pedigree that tells a tale of duplicating the key ancestors in a pedigree. We have investigated the legend of Carbine over the past months and there is arguably no greater influence in Buzalong’s pedigree than that stallion. We see him appear critically in both the sire line and tail female line of Buzalong. There are more minor influences in the stallions Wenlock and Hampton, both sons of Lord Clifden but the other most notable feature is the multiple lines of St Simon, and his sire Galopin, who we have seen repeatedly in many of our descendants of Carbine.