Question: What do three outstanding racehorses – Winx, Gunsynd and Maidenhead – have in common?
Answer: All have close links with members of the Treweeke family. Winx is part-owned by Richard Treweeke. Maidenhead was owned by Bill Treweeke, Rossmore, Burren Junction, NSW, and Gunsynd was part-owned by Goondiwindi grazier Germaine ‘Winks’ McMicking whose wife Jean Treweeke was a cousin of Bill Treweeke.
Winx and Gunsynd won Cox Plates, Doncasters and Epsoms, Winx and Maidenhead won the Chipping Norton Stakes and Gunsynd and Maidenhead won the Chelmsford Stakes.
Coincidently, Richard Treweeke was responsible for submitting the name Winx probably not realising that a distant relative was married to a man nick-named ‘Winks’!
A former farmer near Orange, NSW, now living in Sydney, octogenarian Richard Treweeke is a descendant of Frederick Treweeke while Bill Treweeke was a grandson of Frederick’s brother William Henry Treweeke snr. The brothers emigrated from Cornwall, England to Orange in the mid 1800s. Frederick stayed in the Orange district while William Henry moved north to Goondiwindi and acquired historic property Umbercollie where he died in 1886.
Among his grandchildren were brothers Bill and Archie Treweeke (sons of WH Treweeke jnr) and Jean Treweeke (daughter of Frank Leslie Treweeke). Bill Treweeke acquired equine fame as owner/breeder of talented mare Maidenhead (Edwardsii/Maiden) whose nine wins included the 1963 Sydney Cup, Tancred Cup (now the BMW), Chelmsford Stakes and Chipping Norton Stakes.
‘Winks’ McMicking (husband of Jean Treweeke) is forever linked with the iconic ‘Goondiwindi Grey’ Gunsynd as it was ‘Winks’ who liked the pedigree of the Sunset Hue/Woodie Wonder colt and convinced three others – Bill Bishop, George Pippos and Jim Coorey – to buy the colt for $1300. Among his 29 wins which earned him entry into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame were the Cox Plate, Doncaster Handicap, Epsom Handicap and Chelmsford Stakes.
Maidenhead was foaled in 1956, Gunsynd in 1967 and now almost 50 years later Richard Treweeke is enjoying the accolades of being a part-owner of internationally acclaimed 5YO mare Winx (Street Cry/Vegas Showgirl) who did an eight lengths demolition of her rivals in winning her second Cox Plate in succession at Moonee Valley, Melbourne, last Saturday, October 22.
Bill Treweeke’s brother Archie Treweeke was also a Thoroughbred enthusiast who stood station sire Gemborough at Umbercollie. By Bernborough’s sire Emborough, Gemborough became a noted sire of hacks, stock horses and polo ponies.
$1.6 million in bonuses for Summer Racing Carnival
RACING Queensland and UBET will offer $1.6 million in bonuses during the 2016 Queensland Summer Racing Carnival that will not only provide an important promotional opportunity for Thoroughbred racing but will focus national racing attention on Queensland.
Approximately $13 million will be offered in stakes over the entire summer Queensland carnival that starts on November 19 at Eagle Farm and ends on January 28, 2017 at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club meeting.
Three $500,000 bonuses (known as the Queensland Summer Crowns) will be offered for any horse that can win three stipulated races in sprinter, 2YO and 3YO categories, and $100,000 for any horse that wins both the Group 2 Villiers in Sydney and the Bernborough Handicap in Brisbane.
Racing Queensland chief executive officer Dr Eliot Forbes predicted the bonuses would attract significant interest from owners and trainers. “The Queensland Summer Crown races will be run during meetings on December 3 and 31 at Eagle Farm, and December 17 at Doomben, leading into Australia’s richest race day – the $10 million Magic Millions on Saturday January 14, 2017. Because of the structure of the Queensland Summer Crown bonuses put in place, it is possible that each bonus could potentially be won leading into or on Magic Millions race day. The races are specifically programmed to provide an excellent pathway through the carnival’s Black Type pattern,” he said.
Dr Forbes also announced details of the new Villiers/Bernborough bonus – a $100,000 bonus payable to the connections of any horse that wins both the Group 2 Villiers on December 17 at Randwick and the Listed Bernborough Handicap at Eagle Farm on December 31.