Castletown (horse)

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Castletown


caption =
sire = One Pound Sterling
grandsire = Sovereign Path
dam = Mona Curragh
damsire = Levmoss
sex = Gelding
foaled = 1986
country = New Zealand flagicon|NZL
colour = Bay
breeder = B J McCahill
owner = P M Bussuttin, B J McCahill & K P Morris
trainer = Patrick Bussuttin
record = 103:16-9-11
earnings = $2,467,761
race = New Zealand Derby (1989)
Wellington Cup (1991, 1992, 1994)
Auckland Cup (1992)
Kelt Capital Stakes (1991)
awards=
honours =
updated= July 3, 2007

Castletown is a champion New Zealand thoroughbred racehorse who won over $2 million in prize money and is best known for winning the Wellington Cup on three occasions.

He is known for his toughness and stamina, but Castletown possessed a large amount of talent on top of that, as shown by his third placing over 1600m (1 mile) in the 2000 Guineas and his subsequent 2-length win in New Zealand's premier classic race, the New Zealand Derby. He also won what is now New Zealand's most prestigious weight-for-age race, the Kelt Capital Stakes over 2000m (10 furlongs).

But it is his feats over two miles that made him a legend. He won both of New Zealand's toughest staying races in the summer of 1992 in the Wellington Cup and Auckland Cup, after having won the Wellington Cup for the first time the previous season. After tasting a rare defeat in the race in 1993 he returned to his favourite hunting ground for his fourth attempt at the Wellington Cup, and with the memorable commentary by Tony Lee "the dream bursts into reality", Castletown carried his 58kg topweight to victory and earned himself a special place in New Zealand racing history.

He ran well in Australia, but was never able to challenge the best horses. He started second favourite in the 1991 Melbourne Cup won by Let's Elope, but finished unplaced.

References

* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/castletown Castletown's pedigree and racing stats]