Driven by a young Chris Lewis, Carclew pulled off a major upset at 40/1 when he defeated Western Australian champions Pure Steel, with NSW pacer Don’t Retreat finishing third. At just 19 years old, Lewis became the youngest rider in the then 40-year history of the series to win an Inter Dominion Grand Final – a remarkable milestone for a rider who has since amassed more than 6,000 winners and is still competing at the highest level at the age of 70.
Carclew was bred by the Lewis family and bore the blood of the immortal Globe Derby. He was out of their excellent mare Lulu’s Gem, who was crowned Australian Broodmare of the Year in 1976. Lulu’s Gem also produced Auryan, sired by the dam of Lucy’s Pride – winner of the SA Breeders Plate at two and the Southern Cross at three.
Five years after Carclew’s triumph, Lulu’s Gem produced another top performer in Pallaton, a clever free-for-all pacer who dominated the open class in Western Australia in the early 1980s, winning the Bunbury, Pinjarra and Easter Cups for the Lewis family.
Carclew himself was a first-rate performer who went above and beyond his Inter Dominion exploits. He won the SA Guineas at the age of three and later added the Christmas Cup and several free-for-all victories in his home state.
In the 1976 series, Carclew failed to win a heat but qualified strongly with a second ahead of local star Nevada Smoke on the opening night and a third behind Victorian Royal Gaze in the final round of the heats. Lewis, who started driving at the age of 16 and did not obtain his full driving license until 1975, produced a masterful driving style when it mattered most.
What a night it was – Saturday, February 21, 1976 – when a local outsider brought down the sport’s giants in front of a huge crowd in Adelaide. A young racer announcing himself to the running world, and a family-bred pacer etching his name into Inter Dominion folklore.
by Gary Newton for Harnesslink
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