SA Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame

2001 - Matrice

Matrice won 27 races in a stellar career which included an SA Guineas, two Linlithgow Stakes and the 1956 Goodwood. Matrice won two Christmas Handicaps, the Cantala stakes and the Invitation Stakes. He famously sired Manihi and was the grand sire of Manikato. 

2002 - Tobin Bronze

Australia's weight-for-age king in the 1960s, Tobin Bronze's career included two Cox Plates, a Caulfield Cup, a Victorian Derby, a Toorak and a Doncaster between 1965-1968. The first SA trained horse to be inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. 

2003 - Comic Court

Comic Court had a long and distinguised career, won the first 2YO race of season, Fulham Park Plate at Victoria Park, before his crowning moment in the 1950 Melbourne Cup. Comic Court was a weight-for-age star in the 1940s/50s with multiple wins in the Mackinnon and Memsie Stakes. 

2004 - Galilee

Referred to by Bart Cummings as the best horse he'd ever trained, Galilee made history in the 1966/67 racing season, becoming the only horse to win the Caulfield, Melbourne and Sydney Cups in one season.

2005 - Rain Lover

Rain Lover rose to superstardom in the late 1960s, winning back-to-back Melbourne Cups in 1968 and 1969, and was named Australian Horse of the year in 1969.

2006 - Pago Pago

Pago Pago made history in 1963, becoming the first interstate winner of the famous Golden Slipper.

2007 - Without Fear

Selected and imported by Colin Hayes in 1972, Without Fear set a then-world record for the number of individual winners from a single crop. 

2010 - Dulcify

Owned and raced by Colin Hayes, Dulcify was a champion of the late 1970s, winning an Australian Derby, Australian Cup, Turnbull, Mackinnon and Cox Plate in 1979.

2011 - Light Fingers

Light Fingers was Bart Cummings' first Melbourne Cup winner, and famously came back the next year to finish second behind stablemate Galilee. Her signature was her courage, finishing with 15 wins from her 33 career starts. She was affectionately known by her Hall of Fame jockey Roy Higgins as 'Mother'.

2012 - Royal Gem

A versatile galloper, Royal Gem won 23 races between 1000m and 2400m, and included iconic races including SA's Goodwood, The Newmarket and The Caulfield Cup, before becoming a successful stallion.

2012 - Rubiton

Rubiton was the star of the Melbourne spring in 1987, winning a string of weight-for-age races culminating in the Cox Plate. Rubiton has the rare distinction of winning a Cox Plate and siring a Cox Plate winner.

2013 - Aurie's Star

Aurie's Star recorded a major double in 1937, winning Victoria's premier sprint races, the Oakleigh Plate and the Newmarket. His win in the 1940 Goodwood Handicap is the stuff of legends, carrying a weight record of 10 stone, and scoring by five lengths.

2013 - Leilani

Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year in 1975, Leilani won six Group 1s and retired with the Australasian career earning record for a mare. She was paid the ultimate compliment by the legendary Bart Cummings when he named his Randwick stables Leilani Lodge.

2014 - Maybe Mahal

Another Bart Cummings-trained champion, Maybe Mahal won seven races in her two-year-old season, and ended her career with Group 1 wins in the Newmarket and Doncaster handicaps in 1978 (only the third, and the most recent horse to do that double).

2015 - Storm Queen

After a debut defeat, Storm Queen was the champion two-year-old of Australia, winning eight consecutive races including the 1966 Golden Slipper. Whilst not as dominant at three, she was still a star beating the colts in the Caulfield Guineas and adding the George Adams later that spring and the Lightning Stakes in the autumn.

2016 - Durbridge 

A versatile galloper, Durbridge recorded 21 career wins between 1100m and 2400m, including six Group 1s between 1991 and 1995.

2017 - Manihi

A tempremental horse, Manihi won 11 of his 16 starts, including a Newmarket as a three year old, before siring the legendary Manikato. 

2018 - Redelva

A three time winner of the Spring Stakes, Redelva finished his career with 21 wins, including three Group 1s. 

2019 - Doiran

Widely regarded as the greatest ever to race at Oakbank, Doian is the only four-time winner of the Great Eastern Steeplechase.

2021 - Happy Trails

A three-time Group 1 winner that was the 'horse of a lifetime' for trainer Paul Beshara. All three of his Group 1 wins came at the famous Flemington circuit; the Mackinnon, Turnbull and Cantala Stakes, and he famously finished an unlucky second behind Shamus Award in the Cox Plate. 

2021 - Auraria

Auraria's career was short but remarkable, boasting six wins from 10 starts. In 1895, she won the Melbourne Cup as a three-year-old filly and in that week also won the Oaks and finished third in the Derby. 

2022 - Gold Guru

A star three-year-old, Gold Guru beat Might And Power in the Ranvet, before knocking off Tie The Knot in the 1998 AJC Derby.

2022 - Taj Rossi

Taj Rossi won seven of nine races in the Spring of 1973, and in the four week period, won the Cox Plate, Victoria Derby, the George Adams and Sandown Guineas, before going on to be a successful sire.

2000 - Colin Hayes

A training career which included 5000+ winners, 28 Adelaide trainers premierships and 13 Melbourne trainers' premierships, Colin Hayes was a giant of the industry in Australia. Colin is one of three South Australian trainers that are official 'legends' in the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

2001 - Bart Cummings

Known affectionately as 'The Cups King', Bart Cummings won the Melbourne Cup a record 12 times, claimed 246 Group 1 victories and is a member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Cummings holds the honour of being the only non-athlete elevated to legend status in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

2002 - Jim Cummings

The father of champion trainer, Bart Cummings, Jim won the 1950 Melbourne Cup with Comic Court as well as an Adelaide Cup, three SA Derby winners, and two Goodwood winners. The patriarch of Australian racing's greatest dynasty. 

2003 - Grahame Heagney

Following his career as a jockey, Grahame Heagney trained the likes of Rain Lover, Tobin Bronze, Gatum Gatum, Proud Miss and Tango Miss.

2004 - John Hawkes

John Hawkes' career has spanned over 50 years, and over 4,000 winners (including close to 120 at Group 1 level). A successful jockey and member of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, Hawkes trained champion gallopers such as Octagonal and Lonhro.

2005 - Tom Jenner

Tom Jenner rose to fame training champion horses like Manihi and Pago Pago (the first horse not trained in NSW to win a Golden Slipper) in the 1960s.

2010 - George Hanlon

Hanlon won three Melbourne Cups in the 1970s and 1980s, with Piping Lane, Arwon and Black Knight saluting in the race that stops a nation. Closer to home, Hanlon won four Adelaide Cups, an SA Derby, four Goodwoods and an Australasian Oaks. 

2011 - David Hayes

A winner of close to 100 Group 1 races, Hayes has had success both in Australia and overseas, winning feature races in Japan and Hong Kong. Hayes is one of only seven trainers to have won each of the four majors (three Caulfield Cups, a Cox Plate, a Melbourne Cup and a Golden Slipper).

2014 - Leon Macdonald

A stalwart of the industry, Macdonald has won 14 Group 1 races, and began training in 1972. A member of Australian Racing Hall of Fame, Macdonald has trained iconic South Australian horses including Umrum, Gold Guru and 2011 Caulfield Cup winner Southern Speed.

2015 - Albert (Ab) Macdonald

The uncle of Leon Macdonald, Ab trained multiple Group 1 winners including success in the 1966 VRC Oaks, and 1967 AJC Oaks. 

2021 - John Henry Hill

John Henry Hill trained the 1895 Melbourne Cup winner, Auraria and dominated locally, winning six Adelaide Cups and five SA Derbies. 

2001 - Pat Glennon

Glennon rose to fame in the 1950 Melbourne Cup, partnering the Jim Cummings-trained Comic Court, before winning his second feature in 1959 aboard Macdougal. Glennon became the first jockey to win a Melbourne Cup, Epsom Derby and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Glennon won the Epsom and l'Arc aboard Sea Bird, who many regard as the finest European thoroughbred of the 20th century.

2002 - William “Billy” Pyers

Pyers won six Adelaide riding premierships and several Australian feature races before embarking on a successful career overseas. Pyers' most famous mount was champion mare Dahlia, who won the King George VI, a French Derby, an Irish Oaks and two Queen Elizabeth Stakes with Pyers in the saddle. 

2003 - Jim Johnson

A three-time Melbourne Cup winner, Johnson also claimed two Cox Plates and a Caulfield Cup well as four Adelaide Jockeys Premierships. Johnson was the pilot of two of the best horses South Australia has ever produced; Tobin Bronze and Rain Lover.

2004 - John Letts

Amassing over 2,000 winners which included two Melbourne Cups, John Letts has become one of the most iconic names in South Australian racing. Letts holds the record for the most Goodwood wins by a jockey with five (1961, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1984).

2005 - Des Coleman

Des Coleman won three Adelaide Cups and two Goodwood Handicaps, and had significant success in Singapore, Turkey, England and Malaysia

2006 - John Stocker

John Stocker won the Caulfield Cup as a 17-year-old in 1964, before winning the race again 12 years later on How Now. Stocker's ride from a wide barrier on How Now is widely regarded as one of the finest in the race's history.  

2007 - Bob Cox

Cox spent 34 years in the saddle, winning a staggering 90 metropolitan races in a season and piloted the likes of Tobin Bronze, Light Fingers, Caliente and Rain Lover.

2010 - Roy 'Mick' Medhurst

In a career spanning well over 25 years, Medhurst won six derbies in Adelaide, as well as three consecutive Gawler Cups between 1925-1927.

2016 - Mick Goreham

After riding his first winner at 100-1, Mick Goreham carved out a successful career in the UK. Goreham claimed his first major in 1966 in the SA Derby in Peculator, and claimed victories in the Australian Cup, Thousand Guineas as well as three Invitation Stakes  (now Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes) in 1971, 1983, 1984. 

2017 - Kerrin McEvoy

The Streaky Bay native has won three Melbourne Cups and three Everests, and recently was honoured with a bronze statue in his hometown.

2018 - Clare Lindop

The first female to ride in a Melbourne Cup and the first to win a Victoria Derby, Lindop is widely regarded as one of the most accomplised female riders ever.

2019 - Jim Courtney

An eight-time winner of the SA Jockeys Premiership, Courtney amassed over 1600 winners in his 20 year career.

2021 - Robert Cook

Cook is the first jumps jockey inducted into the SA Hall of Fame, and was the first apprentice to win the VRC Grand National in 1962.

2022 - Dwayne Dunn

A Kangaroo Island native, Dunn won a Caulfield Cup, and partnered legendary thoroughbreds including All Too Hard, Happy Trails and Chautauqua, however Dunn is best known for winning four consecutive Blue Diamonds.

2000 - Jim O'Connor

O'Connor was a leading SA breeder for over 40 years, and was awarded and Order of Australia for his services to racing and breeding. Inaugural inductees

2001 - Von Doussa family

The Von Doussa family were synonymous with SA racing, with Alfred Von Doussa instituting the Oakbank Easter races.

2002 - Wyndham Hill-Smith

Honoured with an Order of the British Empire in 1980, Wyndham Hill-Smith was also a first-class cricketer and had a grandstand named after him at the Cheltenham Racecourse. Hill-Smith was a longtime chairman of the Port Adelaide Racing Club at Cheltenham, and was a prominent breeder and owner.

2003 - David Coles AM

Coles ran the Coles Brothers Bloodstock company, and helped establish the Australian Breeders' Co-Operative before serving as the SAJC Chairman between 1984-1989. Member of Aus Racing HOF. Only SA associate in AUSHOF?

2004 - Claude Haigh

Haigh was the president of the SA Bloodhorse Breeders' Association for 11 years, and chaired the Adelaide Racing Club between 1969-1973. Started Balcrest Stud in Balhannah.

2005 - Kevin Sattler

A renowned journalist who held the rolse of racing editor at The Advertiser/Sunday Mail for 21 years before working in public relations for the SA Jockey Club

2007 - John O’Neil OAM

O'Neil was the pre-eminent voice of South Australian racing in a career spanning nearly 70 years.

2010 - Brown Family

The Brown family up Narrung Stud in the 1960s, owned Tobin Bronze, and bred Cox Plate winner Taj Rossi

2011 - Robert A Lee

A signficant owner in his day, Lee and his brothers, known as the 'Lucky Lees', bought Comic Court for 2,300 Guineas in 1947.

2018 - Harry Perks

Involved in the breeding industry for 40+ years, Perks has bred/raced 100+ stakes winners and mutiple Group 1 victories, including Warning in the 2019 Victoria Derby. Perks also raced the legendary Gold Guru, Southern Speed, and Rebel Raider.

2021 - Frances Nelson

The first South Australian to be appointed chair of Racing Australia, Nelson's involvement in the industry spans decades. 

2022 - Ken & Helen Smith

Based out of Narrung Stud, the late Ken Smith and wife Helen are widely respected as one of South Australia’s most prominent thoroughbred owners and breeders.