Top 5 Goodwood winners

The Goodwood (1200m) is always one of the highlights of the Adelaide carnival and has been won by some champion gallopers over the years. See who made our list of top 5 Goodwood winners since 2000. 

In modern times, the feature race has been taken out by some outstanding gallopers.

Top 5 Goodwood winners.

1. Black Caviar

It’s pretty hard to go past Black Caviar as the best to have won the race. The mighty mare was unbeaten in her 25 race starts, 15 of which came at Group 1 level. She attracted massive crowds to Morphettville when at the peak of her powers, winning the Sangster Stakes (1200m) before capturing the Goodwood. Black Caviar won every major sprint in Australia and defeated the worlds best at Royal Ascot in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (1200), despite racing with a back injury in that race. Undoubtedly, she is numero uno in out top 5 Goodwood winners list.

2. Takeover Target

The $1375 purchase is one of the more amazing stories of Australian racing. Trained and owned by Joe Janiak, a taxi driver from Queensland, Takeover Target went on to win over $6 million in prizemoney, not a bad return given the initial outlay. He announced himself by winning the Darley Classic in 2004 when it was known as the Salinger Stakes and went on to secure wins in races such as the Lightning Stakes (1000m), Newmarket Handicap (1200m) and the TJ Smith Stakes (1200m). His crowning moment came when he won the Kings Stand Stakes (1005m), defeating the worlds best at Royal Ascot, while the 2009 Goodwood win was one of eight at the highest level for him.

3. Black Heart Bart

One of the recent marvels of Australian racing, Black Heart Bart claimed the Goodwood in 2016. That came after he had spent his early career racing in Western Australia with Vaughan Sigley before being transferred to the Darren Weir stables. He is now in the hands of Lindsey Smith. The nine-year-old has won a total of six Group 1 races and was prematurely retired last year before returning and capturing the 2019 Underwood Stakes (1800m) at massive odds. He last appeared in the recent All Star Mile (1600m) at Caulfield in March, running 8th to another West Aussie, Regal Power.

4. Santa Ana Lane

Another Goodwood winner that has been on the scene in recent times is Santa Ana Lane, who claimed victory in the Morphettville feature in 2018, storming home from the back of the field to win at the very generous odds of $26. The Freedman galloper took a little bit of time to get going in his career before breaking through in the Rupert Clarke Stakes in the spring of 2017. Since his Goodwood win, he has claimed the VRC Classic (1200m), Stradrbroke Handicap (1350m) and T.J.Smith Stakes (1200m), while just missing out in last year’s Everest (1200m) behind Yes Yes Yes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXVQ9R8xYUo

5. Bomber Bill

While nowhere near the class of some of the others on this list, Bomber Bill was a bit of a remarkable galloper and seemed to race forever in the early 2000s. In terms of race starts, he nearly racked up the ton, racing 98 times for 23 wins and his victory in the 2003 edition was a highlight, while he also won the then Group 1 Australia Stakes (1200m), which is effectively the William Reid Stakes (1200m) these days. He was always competitive against the best, racing in Group or Listed level on 80 occasions for 17 wins and his victory in this race was a popular one.