5 Shades of Grey Racehorses – Surround

The great grey Surround was quite simply a brilliant racehorse. One of the very best fillies & racehorses to have ever competed in Australia. She had a short but incredible career, winning 17 of her 28 starts, with 10 of them in succession, at distances from 1200 to 2500 metres.

Australian racehorse of the year

Surround is the only filly to ever win the Oaks treble, taking the honours in Victoria, Queensland & New South Wales, and she is the only 3yr old filly to win the Cox plate, her 3 length victory in this race in 1977 cemented her as a great of Australian racing and confirmed her as the Australian horse of the year.

What a horse

Altogether she won 12 out of 16 races in top company over distances from 1200 to 2500 metres, including the Caulfield Guineas, with 10 of her wins coming in successive races.

The bond between Jockey & Horse

“If she could cook, I would marry her” Jockey, Alan Trevena. It is a quote from Alan that today would probably wake the woke, he was Surround’s jockey and for those that can see the beauty of the bond between jockey and horse, they will see the absolute love for this horse in his comment.

Racing retirement & breeding winners

Back in training as a four-year-old, her racing was brought to a premature end by an injury to her foreleg which forced her retirement. In retirement she was the Dam of 8 foals, 7 of whom were to race; all were winners with 3 stakes class.

One of the great racehorses

She rightfully took her place in the Australian Racing Hall of fame in 2014 and is clearly one of the greatest.

If you’re short of time, here’s a more condensed look back at the amazing grey.