When the John McNair galloper Mustard ran his first race back in 2000 at Rosehill, Sydney was preparing to host the Olympics, Bill Clinton was President of the United States and Ansett was still a bird in the Australian sky. Steve Waugh had just finished his first summer in charge of the Australian Test cricket team, Pat Rafter was on the verge of his first Wimbledon final, David Moffett was running rugby league, Nick Riewoldt was about to be the first person taken in the AFL draft and Shane Woewodin was having the season of his life while the likes of Ricky Stuart, Andrew Ettingshausen, Bradley Clyde and Mark Geyer were playing their final year of top grade league.

A horse called Makybe Diva was still two years off hitting the racetrack.

Last Saturday, as a 13-year-old, that same galloper won at Rosehill on the back of a withering burst against horses a third of his age. It was one of the most astonishing wins ever seen on a metropolitan racecourse with no scholar of the turf recalling an older winner. Punters cheered and racegoers applauded as the old greybeard got the cash.

To pay homage to the timeless Mustard, here are 10 of the best sporting efforts from the old-timers.

10. Gordie Howe (Ice Hockey)

"Mr Hockey" made his NHL debut a year after World War II finished and was still playing professionally in 1980, eight years after he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was signed to a one-game contract with the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League where he played a single shift, becoming the only hockey player to play professionally in six decades.

9. Roger Milla (Soccer)

The Cameroon striker became a cult hero at the 1990 World Cup when scoring four goals at the age of 38 but it was at the 1994 World Cup in the United States that Milla etched his name into the history books when he became the oldest player to play in a World Cup and the oldest player to score a goal in a World Cup, both at the age of 42.

8. Bert Ironmonger (Cricket)

Ironmonger is what many would call a late bloomer. Ironmonger made his first class debut for Queensland at the age of 27, his Test debut at the age of 46 and played his last Test only a week short of his 51st birthday. A left arm spin bowler, he remarkably bowled his entire career without his forefinger on his bowling hand. He took a first-class hat-trick at the age of 42 and only two months shy of his 50th birthday he recorded match figures of 11/24 against South Africa, bowling Australia to victory at the MCG. His record as Australia's oldest Test cricketer will likely never be beaten.

7. Satchel Paige (Baseball)

Satchel Paige was a legendary pitcher in the Negro leagues unable to play in the majors due to racism. When baseball was finally integrated, he became the oldest rookie in Major League history, debuting for the Cleveland Indians at the age of 42. He was an All-Star at the age of 47 and in 1965 at 59 years old he pitched a game for the Kansas City Athletics. Such was his longevity Paige even revealed his six "rules for staying young" in a 1953 magazine article.

6. Dara Torres (Swimming)

When Dana Torres won five medals at the Sydney Olympics at the age of 33, she was considered ancient in a sport where 15 year olds thrive. When Torres came back at the age of 41 to compete at the Beijing Games less than two years after giving birth, few knew what to make of her. By swimming at Beijing, Torres became the first female to swim at five Olympic Games and did so amazingly over a 24-year period, debuting at Los Angeles in 1984. On her way to qualification she broke her own 26-year standing world record for the 50 metres and in Sydney she claimed two silver medals at an age twice as old as many of her opponents.

5. Jorrocks (Horse Racing)

Mustard may have become the oldest horse in living memory to win a city race but Jorrocks holds the world record (tied) for being the oldest horse to win a race when scoring at Bathurst at 18 years of age. Jorrocks was foaled in 1833 and began racing at five years of age and was the leading stakes winner in New South Wales eight times, winning at least 65 races in a career that spanned at least 95 starts with "The Iron Gelding" usually racing somewhere between two and three miles. In 1846, at 13, Jorrocks won 30 of his 31 starts and won the best races of the day many times over. His last win at Bathurst came in the Publican's Purse, where he defeated Little John.

4. Stanley Gene (Rugby League)

There is much speculation about Gene's actual age with the Papuan New Guinean estimated to be somewhere between the ages of 32 and 58. Gene has claimed to be 34 for "a number of years" but according to former coach Brian Noble he was born in 1966, making him 44. Gene still plays professionally in England, playing Super League as recently as 2007 and for PNG at the 2008 World Cup.

3. George Blanda (American Football)

A quarterback and place kicker out of the University of Kentucky, Blanda signed with the Chicago Bears in 1949 and was still playing in 1976 at the ripe old age of 48. Blanda retired in 1958 but made a comeback in 1960 with the Houston Oilers and played a total of 26 seasons, more than any other player. His career as a quarterback finished in 1970 but that year he became the oldest signal-caller to start a title game and five years later he kicked a field goal and an extra-point in his final ever match, over a quarter-century after debuting.

2. Tom Watson (Golf)

The British Open has been kind to the greybeards in recent years with 1989 champion Mark Calcavecchia running second after two rounds and our own Greg Norman the Saturday leader in 2008 at the age of 53. It was the performance of five-time champion Tom Watson in 2009 at the age of 60 that set imaginations alight, however, with Watson leading through round two and three and onto the final hole of the tournament. Watson had birdied 17 and needed a par to win the Open Championship but a shaky putt sent it to a playoff which was won by Stewart Cink.

1. George Foreman (Boxing)

George Foreman won the world heavyweight title in 1973 at the age of 24 when he defeated Joe Frazier in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Foreman went on to defend the title against Ken Norton before losing the belt to Muhammad Ali, his first career lost after 40 straight wins, in the Rumble in the Jungle. Foreman went on to defeat Frazier once more before retiring in 1977. Seventeen years later after coming back to the ring, Foreman became the oldest world champion when knocking out Michael Moorer at the age of 45.

NICK TEDESCHI is a freelance sports journalist and regular contributor to BPL.