One year to the day after winning the $525,000 Perth Cup at Ascot racecourse, Black Tycoon will be paraded before the running of the Inverell Cup.

Black Tycoon has been retired after a career that produced 11 wins including the Perth Cup, a second in the Adelaide Cup and over $800,000 in prize money. 

When Inverell’s David and Karen Fenton were in West Australia sharing in the mining boom, they joined a syndicate of hobby punters to race Black Tycoon, hoping for a bit of fun around Kalgoorlie. 

The Black Tycoon story is one of racing’s fairy tales. After he was beaten in a maiden race at Kalgoorlie on Anzac Day 2011 he then took his owners on the ride of their life. 

He progressed from the bush races to being a consistent winner in Perth and then the glory of the Perth Cup over 2400 metres on New Year’s day 2014. 

After the second placing in the 3200m Adelaide Cup, he was transferred to Victoria with the ultimate hope of making it to Flemington for the Melbourne Cup, another 3200m race. 

The dream was only fulfilled in part. He raced at Flemington on Cup Day, but not in the Melbourne Cup. He ran in one of the support races, and after a disappointing performance he was retired.

Inverell Jockey Club president Don Bartlett has recently returned from a study tour of racing on the mid-north coast and said the club was grateful to the Fentons for allowing Black Tycoon to make the guest appearance.

“We hope the local crowd turns up to give them a big welcome, like they did when champion sprinter Takeover Target was our guest a few years ago,” Bartlett said.

“Since the sapphire boom finished and Nathan Tickler left, we don’t get too many tycoons in town, so we hope to have a big crowd on the day. 

“After the dry summer the course looked a bit like Kalgoorlie, but the recent rain and hard work by the ground staff has the track is in first class order.” 

The Inverell carnival started on Boxing Day with five races.

Racing supporters will be saddened to hear that we have lost another of the men who have been synonymous Inverell racing, with the passing of former trainer Pat Adams on Thursday, December 18. 

“Pat trained many winners from his Cameron Street stables before retiring and was part of a group of men that made Inverell a racing strong hold in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s,” Bartlett said.