Thus a title was coined for the mighty Gunsynd, drawn from the town in Queensland from whence his owners hailed.

Perhaps Gunsynd wasn’t the best Doncaster winner but he was the most popular.

''He had star quality and turned into a racing legend,'' Kevin Langby, his partner in many triumphs, later commented.

''Gunsynd did for racing what Muhammad Ali did for boxing.''

Yet he wasn’t superior over the Randwick metric mile to Super Impose, judged Australia’s best over the distance in Warwick Hobson’s Racing’s All Time Greats.

No doubt character contributed to his appeal. Gunsynd loved the limelight. At times on leaving the enclosure before a race, the stallion would prop until he received the necessary applause.

Unlike many in the public eye he didn’t avoid photographers; folklore maintains he sought them out and would strike a pose like an equine model.

In an epic performance for his farewell in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in 1973 he bowed before the crowd in the main grandstand.

Gunsynd drew 50,000 to Randwick for his second-last race, the Autumn Stakes, little more than an exhibition gallop against common opposition, and was cheered as he bolted away down the straight.

But the 1972 Doncaster ended a sequel of remarkable 1600-metre performances. Earlier he had scored in the Epsom, the Toorak at Caulfield and Flemington’s George Adams (now the Emirates Stakes).

Gunsynd humped 60kg and took on a classy field including the great New Zealander Triton (55kg), trained by  canny Kiwi Syd Brown.

Due to the handicap trainer Tommy Smith decided to use the heavier Roy Higgins on Gunsynd and not Langby, the stable jockey, to cut down on the dead-weight factor.

So Langby was booked for Triton.

''I thought I had the race won with 100 metres to go but I underestimated Gunny,'' Langby later recalled.

''He grabbed Triton in the last few strides but beat him three-quarters of a length.''

Still the autumn of 1972 didn’t end there for Gunsynd. Smith had also set him for the Sydney Cup over 3200 metres.

To season him for the staying test the champion trainer had sent the Goondiwindi Grey around in the Queen Elizabeth, then 2400 metres a week before the Group 1 sprint. He won by six lengths.

Previously trained by Queenslander Bill Wehlow, the grey never finished further back than fifth in 32 starts, always at full throttle against top company, for Smith. The fifth was in the Sydney Cup in 1972 under 58kg on a heavy track.

By comparison five of trainer Chris Waller’s six Doncaster acceptors this year had foundation races before Saturday, being sent around in basically unsuitable events to have them at their peak.

Consistency, too, added to Gunsynd’s appeal. While 1600 metres was his best distance, like Super Impose, he did race boldly in the Melbourne Cup.

Gunsynd, under 60.5kg in the 1972 Cup, went down by two lengths to Piping Lane (48kg) after being three wide throughout.

Super Impose also was effective in the Melbourne Cup but dynamic over the Randwick metric mile, winning two Doncasters and two Epsoms, a feat that will never be equalled.

On his day the gelding was freakish, producing a dazzling sprint from the tail of the field even off a slow pace to overwhelm the opposition.

''That reception beat anything they ever gave Bernborough,'' Brian Killian, a steward at the time, said regarding the win of Super Impose, making light of 61kg, in the 1991 Epsom.

Killian, the leading Sydney apprentice in 1951, had leaned over the fence to see the mighty Toowoomba Terror in action at Randwick.

Yes, and only 20,000 in an era of dwindling crowds were present for the Super Impose ovation but he never maintained the popularity of Gunsynd.

Maybe it was the Melbourne aspect but the Lee Freedman-conditioned gelding lacked Gunsynd’s consistency. In a savage reversal Super Impose was last of six in The BMW at Rosehill on March 23, 1991, but a week later again showed his affinity for Randwick by winning the Doncaster to a cool reception.

Both were convicted bleeders, which meant one more offence would have them barred for life in Australia, but their trainers hardly put them in cotton wool.

Super Impose holds the title but a statue was erected for Gunsynd at Goondiwindi and Tex Morton sang his praises.

''We cheered him in the grandstand; we cheered him on the flat . . .

''A horse we’re really proud of – the Goondiwindi grey.''