Champion North Queensland sprinter remembered

By Jordan Gerrans

Regarded as one of North Queensland’s greatest sprinters, Sea Zulu lived a life of luxury right up until his death this week at the grand old age of 22.

The chestnut stallion claimed back-to-back Cleveland Bay Handicaps at Cluden Park back in 2006 and 2007.

If not for some bad luck, Sea Zulu might just have written his name into Townsville racing folklore like the great Party King as a three-time champion of one of the club’s time-honoured features.

Bred locally by Townsville’s Jeff and Deslee Davis, Sea Zulu was known by the Davis family as ‘Willie’.

He was named after former North Queensland Cowboy Willie Mason because of imposing size and strength.

After living out his days at Mareeba in Far North Queensland in recent years, Sea Zulu succumbed to his old age this week at 22 years of age.

“He was our first and favourite,” Jeff Davis said.

“We were very close to him as I pulled him out of the back of his mother when we were on the property.

“We love our horses like we love our kids; they get the best of everything – vets, feed and paddocks – that all gets looked after.

“There is no second rate when it comes to our horses, they get the best of everything.”

Sea Zulu retired in July of 2010 with 13 victories to his name from 32 starts, collecting almost $275,000 in stakes.

The son of Seascay stamped his authority from his earliest days as a racehorse.

He nabbed the Pallarenda Stakes on debut before winning the feature end of season two-year-old event at Cluden Park, which is now known as the 2YO Classic.

As a three-year-old, Sea Zulu won the north’s great sprint race - the Cleveland Bay Handicap – which is a rare feat for a galloper to accomplish at just his 10^th career start.

Experienced North Queensland jockey Jeffrey Felix partnered Sea Zulu on nine occasions on race day, including his two Cleveland Bay triumphs.

The 51-year-old regards the back-to-back victories in the Cleveland Bays as one of his best achievements in his decades of riding across Australia.

“It is unreal to ride horses like him,” Felix said.

“I just used to put him in a happy position where he wanted to be and then I would just let him out and he would go.

“He was a big strong chestnut.

“They are great memories winning those races, they were very special.”

Sea Zulu was the last three-year-old to win the Cleveland Bay and is the only horse to win the event in two straight years.

He went searching for a three-peat of sprint crowns at Cluden Park but a wet track halted the Davis’ dreams.

The legendary Party King won the Townsville Cup in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and is the only horse to do it in three consecutive years in the history of the time-honoured event dating back to 1884.

Sea Zulu would have been in rare air with the former Cups champion if he had won three straight Cleveland Bays.

“It rained the night before and he was just not the same horse on a wet track,” Jeff Davis said.

“Nathan Day rode him on that occasion and he tried to come around the field but the horse just did not let down on a wet track.

“He got beaten just over half a length to run fourth in a four-way photo.

“He was that good a horse, he should have won the race. He was an incredibly strong horse and never wanted horses to get past him.”

Sea Zulu campaigned to South East Queensland on a couple of occasions and while he ran well, he could not add to his win tally he developed in the north of the state.

He won all his 13 races at Townsville’s Cluden Park.

All those 13 victories came from his first 17 starts on his home track.

“He was a really lively horse and a lot of the track work riders would not ride him for that reason,” Felix recalls.

“But, I put up with him and had my ways to get along with him.”

Sea Zulu stood as a stallion in Townsville for a few years before eventually relocating north to Mareeba about a decade ago.

He called the Riverside Spelling and Agistment facility at Mareeba home under the watch of owner Max Hastie until he passed away this week.

While Sea Zulu was not prolific in the breeding barn, he did produce some winners over his tenure as a stallion.

Revouluz, Diamozu and Zulu Tuk all won races as progeny of Sea Zulu.

The Davis’ would head up to Mareeba a few times a year to visit their former champion.

“He has had a good home, Max has always looked after him with his own paddock and shed,” Jeff Davis said.

“We looked after him all the way through, right to the end. He never wanted for anything and was a favourite of our entire family.

“We made that rule that when he retired that we would always look after him and that is what we did.

“For a stallion, he had a kind nature in the paddock at home but when he was racing, he was very strong.”

The two-time Cleveland Bay winner will always have a lasting impact on the Davis’ with the family naming some of their business interests away from racing after Sea Zulu.

The Davis family enjoyed plenty of success breeding with mare Beautiful Victory who they purchased cheaply.

As well as Sea Zulu’s exploits, Mr Punkrocker won eight races including a city triumph at Eagle Farm in January of 2010.  

Wishart also won 14 races and raced in black-type company throughout his career.