- Kiwi (horse)
"Kiwi" (foaled 1977 in
New Zealand ) was a race horse who in 1983 won the most important double featuring races in both Australia and New Zealand, theWellington Cup and theMelbourne Cup ."Kiwi" raced from
1980 to1987 and is the only horse ever to win both cups. He was bred by H. B. Fischer and bought by Waverley sheep farmerSnow Lupton for only NZ$1000, originally to be used as a stock horse on the farm, and was never intended to be tried as a thoroughbred racing galloper.Legend has it that as Kiwi proved to be a fast and tireless horse on the Lupton paddocks, Lupton was convinced by his friends to enter "Kiwi" in a race at nearby
Wanganui , to see how he ran. Kiwi instantly showed promise, especially over longer distances. He was an unknown quantity at the two mile distance when he was entered in the 1983 Wellington Cup, and won handily. Because no Wellington Cup winner had previously won the Melbourne Cup, and because many believed the quality of the Wellington Cup field had not been particularly strong, "Kiwi" was considered very much an outsider when entered for the Melbourne Cup.Despite having won over the two mile distance, he was still a distant long shot with the
bookmaker s and punters alike on race day, and started at 10/1. Yet he managed to come from last in the final straight to take the victory and capture the hearts of racing aficionados. After the victory, "Kiwi" was controversially scratched from the 1984 Melbourne Cup, ran fifth in 1985 and looked to repeat his 1983 'come from behind' victory in 1986 but sadly pulled up lame close to the finish line. He ran a creditable fifth in theJapan Cup . He was retired to the Lupton's farm.References
* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/kiwi3 Kiwi's pedigree and partial racing stats]
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