One of the greats

[charlie]

Many of the older generation will recall the night of the 1960 Inter Dominion. So much has been written about it and events leading up to the race, record crowd, handicap, and the number of attempts Caduceus had at winning the race.
I am trying to find out if there remains much interest to this day. It is gratifying to see there remains the name through the Caduceus Clubs that do such a good job of promoting harness racing.
It was my Father's ambition to own race horses, he even said he'd have a horse before he'd own a car and Caduceus was the big thrill.
As for the trophy itself, it has remained in seclusion for 50 years and was handed down to me a number for years ago. What would it be worth today as a collector's item?
I am going to try selling the cup soon, so that will be interesting to see to say the least.

[aussiebreno]

You are mad!!! Keep it!

[doinmabest]

My Father was at HP every week and to this day talks about being there when caduceus won.... He says he saw the start and that was it (being 5ft4 didn't help). I'm with Brendan, keep it..

[charlie]

You are mad!!! Keep it!
That's always an option, mad or keep it, still it'll be interesting. Thanks for the comment.

[charlie]

Thanks Doinmabest. Just reading what your Dad's experience was of that night made the posting worth the while. I'd have never read that in the papers. However I did read 1500 folk did leave after paying 15 shillings to get in.

[Danno]

G'day Brian,
for whats it's worth, the race night was a world record crowd for a Harness Racing Meeting at the time and may still be, has continued to invoke debate about the end result many decades later, was the subject of commemorative photo results ( which include a picture of your dad with his arm around Jack Litten) and is without a doubt one of harness racings finest moments, you would, in my humble opinion, be mad to sell the cup. I have one of the limited edition framed photos hanging on my study wall of this event... love it! If you are going to sell the cup, please let me know. Having said that I reckon you will regret it if you do.
Cheers,
Dan

[charlie]

Hi Danno, Thank you for your message. I hadn't heard of the photo you mention with my dad and Jack Litten. I suppose I'd have done the same after five previous attempts at winning. I do carry a small reminder of Caduceus, a scar on my right shoulder. I'd fed his son and first foal, Honorable Son and that was a wee mistake resulting in the bite and a broken leg. Take care. B

[charlie]

Well I have decided to place the cup for sale. It has been quite an exercise getting it set up. Mostly I have found it very interesting. The level of interest shown the race and the horse. To find out that after the race Caduceus was flown from NZ to New York via Sydney, Darwin, Malaysia, the Middle East, U.K and on to NY. All this on 300 mph piston engine planes (D.C. 6's). That he along with Apmat were together honored in the Astor Hotel as a promotional event. That he won 9 races in the States and Canada and ran his fastest mile rate of 1.57 & 2/5ths at the age of 12 (US age) when he won at Santa Anita. Cal. The track records held in Aussie, NZ, and the U.S. were numerous. He still holds the 1 1/2 mile from a standing start (as it's no longer raced over that distance.)
Finding some of the quotes that have been said about him were indeed a tonic, and were the Moore brothers still around I'm sure they would be just as proud now as they were then.
If you haven't seen the race. Go to YouTube and type in '1960 Inter Dominion' there's been 143 views on the 2.14 minutes left of the race.
My blog site is www.1960-interdominion-cup.com