52 When Jericho Cup Day was in its embryonic stage, we always referred to Bill the Bastard as ‘Australia’s Greatest War Horse’. A closer examination of history made us add the word ‘arguably’, because if it was true, then Bill only beat Midnight by the narrowest possible margin. Born at midnight on October 31, 1905 at the Haydon property at Blandford NSW, Midnight and Guy Haydon rode off to war nine years later. Midnight was a valuable brood mare, but she had been Guy’s horse all her life. The Haydon family thought it would be worth the loss of her if she gave their son a better chance of surviving the war. How prophetic that decision was to be. During the Charge at Beersheba as Midnight and Guy went over the trenches, a Turkish soldier fired into her. The bullet passed through her, the saddle and into Guy, stopping just short of his spine. Midnight had absorbed much of the impact of the bullet and paid with her life. Guy was on the critical list for three or four days but survived. He sent the bullet home to his family and they still have it today. A silver replica of the bullet is embedded in the plaque that is being presented today. Throughout his life Guy suffered recurring bouts of infection in the wound that ‘was a hole you could put your fist in’. Turns out twelve months earlier a challenge had been organised between the Australian and British Mounted troops. A ‘champion’ was selected to represent each side. Three disciplines were nominated to settle the question of who was the best. You guessed it, Guy and Midnight represented Australia, and won all three events. Midnight, we salute you. The story of By Bill Gibbins MIDNIGHT
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