QUEENSLAND HORSE OF THE YEAR TITLE IS AWARDED TO THE OAKLEIGH PLATE WINNER, UNCOMMON JAMES

By Graham Potter | Sunday, October 8, 2023

Uncommon James is the Queensland Horse Of The Year for the 2022/23 racing season.

The Steven O’Dea and Matthew Hoysted trained son of Cable Bay, beat the Magic Millions winner Skirt The Law and the Queensland Guineas and Derby winner Kovalica to the line to claim the prestigious award.

Uncommon James ended the season as a six-time winner from ten starts … half of those results coming in the season under review.

In those five runs, which kicked off with a Listed win in the Regal Roller at Caulfield, Uncommon James excelled by winning the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate at Sandown and finishing second in the Group 1 Galaxy … as well as claiming second place in the Group 2 Rubiton.

Earlier in his career Uncommon James had wasted no time in franking his above average ability.

After finishing as runner-up on debut, Uncommon James quickly put together an impressive winning sequence of five straight wins, a run of success which took him from his win in Maiden company to that away win in the Listed Regal Roller.

The only slight hiccup came when Uncommon James suffered a minor setback when, as the stable statement said at the time, it found he was ‘presenting with a minor filling in his near front.’

Uncommon James was spelled and did not see race action for a full seven months between the Regal Roller and his return in the Rubiton.

At that stage connections were already receiving very substantial offers to purchase Uncommon James, all of which they knocked back.

The horse’s connections were rewarded for both that decision and the careful and considered handling of Uncommon James’s welfare with that Group 1 success in the Oakleigh Plate … and now they have the Queensland Horse of The Year title to go along with his other notable achievements.