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.<\/p>\n
It was more than 50 years ago when Hot Chestnut won a race at Kembla Grange<\/a> in the most unusual of circumstances.<\/p>\n The late Ray Selkrig, a premier Sydney jockey in 1958-59, made the trip to the provincial track to ride Hot Chestnut.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> on Lord Fury and his 1964 AJC-VRC-Queensland Derby clean sweep on Royal Sovereign.<\/p>\n \u2022 PUNT LIKE A PRO<\/a>: Become a Racenet iQ member<\/a> and get expert tips \u2013 with fully transparent return on investment statistics \u2013 from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips<\/a> section. SUBSCRIBE NOW<\/a>!<\/b><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n But Selkrig refused to let go of the reins as Hot Chestnut dragged the jockey along the ground past the winning post.<\/p>\n Hot Chestnut then galloped on the fallen rider, leaving Selkrig with a broken pelvis.<\/p>\n Selkrig was taken to hospital only to learn later that stewards had decided Hot Chestnut should be declared as the winner.<\/p>\n “They (stewards) said he did a harder job dragging me across the line instead of carrying me,” Selkrig said at the time.<\/p>\n Melbourne Cup winning Jockey Ray Selkrig spoke to @gregprichard<\/a> about his iconic win aboard Hot Chestnut at @kemblaraces<\/a> in 1973 and his illustrious career in the saddle pic.twitter.com\/xpinMfDMxC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 20, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u2022 Richard Callander’s million-dollar question: How much would Sir Delius be worth now?<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Selkrig was interviewed by Sky Thoroughbred Central’s Greg Prichard in 2020 and recalled the Hot Chestnut incident.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n “He propped and I went up to near his ears and from there on I just held on to past the post.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n At Tamworth on Tuesday, racing’s latest Hot Chestnut is trying to break his maiden at his 10th start.<\/p>\n Hot Chestnut<\/a>, a three-year-old trained by Justin Bowen<\/a>, is first emergency for a 1000m maide<\/a>n.<\/p>\n \n