Thoroughbred horse racing is an important spectator sport in Australia, and gambling on horse races is a very popular pastime with A$14.3 billion wagered in 2009/10 with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). The two forms of Thoroughbred horseracing in Australia are flat racing, and races over fences or hurdles in Victoria and South Australia. Thoroughbred racing is the third most attended spectator sport in Australia, behind Australian rules football and rugby league, with almost two million admissions to 360 registered racecourses throughout Australia in 2009/10. Horseracing commenced soon after European settlement, and is now well-appointed with automatic totalizators, starting gates and photo finish cameras on nearly all Australian racecourses.
Lonhro was a champion Australian racehorse who is now standing at stud. Nicknamed "The Black Flash", he was from the first crop of the champion Octagonal out of the Group One-placed Shadea, who also produced the Group One winner Niello. Lonhro raced from two to five years of age and won 26 races, including 25 stakes races, ranging in distance from 1,100 to 2,000 metres. These included 11 Group One wins and 18 wins at weight-for-age. He was bred and owned by Woodlands Stud and trained by John Hawkes. Lonhro's name is based on the stock exchange code of the London Rhodesian Mining and Land Company, LONRHO. This arose from his foaling description as "tiny but perfect", a label ascribed to Roland "Tiny" Rowland, CEO of the company. The horse's name is deliberately misspelt.
Elvstroem was a bay Thoroughbred racehorse, by world champion sire Danehill from the former champion three-year-old filly, Circles of Gold.
Gabriel Marie "Gai" Waterhouse is an Australian horse trainer and businesswoman. The daughter of Tommy J. Smith, a leading trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses, Waterhouse was born and raised in Sydney. After graduating from the University of New South Wales, she worked as an actor for a time, appearing in both Australian and English television series. Having worked under her father for a period of 15 years, Waterhouse was granted an Australian Jockey Club (AJC) licence in 1992, and trained her first Group One (G1) winner later that year.
Darci Brahma is a New Zealand thoroughbred colt foaled in 2002 at Pencarrow Stud near Cambridge in New Zealand. He was auctioned at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ltd Yearling Sales in January 2004 and acquired by a syndicate of ten investors for the sum of NZ$1.1 million.
Trelawney Stud is New Zealand’s oldest commercial Thoroughbred horse stud farm. It was established in 1930 by Seton Otway near Cambridge, New Zealand.
Starspangledbanner is an Australian-bred and internationally raced Thoroughbred racehorse who won six of his sixteen group or listed race starts including the group one (G1) Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, G1 July Cup at Newmarket, G1 Oakleigh Plate and the G1 Caulfield Guineas for A$2,198,503 in prize money.
Encosta De Lago was an Australian bred Thoroughbred racehorse that won three group races from eight starts including the Group One (G1), Vic Health Cup against older horses. He was the Leading sire in Australia during 2008 and 2009.
Excelebration is an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. As a three-year-old he recorded wins in the Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen and Hungerford Stakes, before winning his first Group 1 in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp. After finishing second to the unbeaten Frankel in his first two starts of 2012 he recorded successive victories in the Prix Jacques Le Marois and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. These were followed by a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Mile, after which he was retired to stud. He was trained by Marco Botti until being transferred to Aidan O'Brien at the end of the 2011 flat season.
John Marshall was an Australian jockey from Perth, who was best known for riding Rogan Josh to victory in the 1999 Melbourne Cup.
Sacred Falls was a champion New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse and sire.
Excellent Art was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a two-year-old he was trained in England and showed good form, winning the National Stakes and the Mill Reef Stakes and being placed in both the Prix Morny and the Railway Stakes. In the following year he was moved in Ireland and was even better: he won the St James's Palace Stakes, finished second in the Sussex Stakes, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Breeders' Cup Turf and was rated one of the best three-year-old colts in the world. He was then retired to stud and had some success as a sire of winners before being exported to India in 2013.
Ultra Thoroughbred Racing Pty Ltd is a racing syndicate and breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses based in Melbourne, Victoria and owned by Sean Buckley. Although based in Melbourne, the company has significant interests throughout Australia, with land holdings in Victoria and the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. The business primarily bases its racing interests in Australia, however, races internationally with a particular focus on the New Zealand market in recent times.
Hugh Munro was a racehorse trainer in Victoria, closely associated with the St Albans Stud of Geelong. He was the father of noted Sydney jockeys Jimmie Munro and Darby Munro.
Isaac "Ike" Earnshaw was an Australian trainer and owner of thoroughbred racehorses.
Merchant Navy is an Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He showed considerable promise as a juvenile when he was undefeated in three start including the Listed ANZAC Day Stakes. As a three-year-old he proved himself one of the best horses of his generation in Australia over sprint distances, taking the HDF McNeil Stakes and the Coolmore Stud Stakes as well as being placed in both the Rubiton Stakes and the Newmarket Handicap. In the summer of 2018 he was relocated to Europe where he won both his races, namely the Greenlands Stakes in Ireland and the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Chris Waller, is a Hall of Fame trainer in Australian Thoroughbred racing best known for training the racemare Winx, a four-time winner of Australian Horse of the Year honours.
Pierro was an Australian racehorse who is now retired and standing at stud. A bay horse, he stands at 16.1hh. He was from the fifth crop of the champion racehorse and stallion Lonhro out of the dam Miss Rite Note (IRE)(by Daylami). Pierro had a short racing career, racing in just two seasons and retiring to stud as a three-year-old. He ran in a total of 14 races, with 11 wins and 3 placings, including 5 Group 1 wins. His distances ranged from 1200m to 2040m. He was bred at Musk Creek Farm and sold for $230,000 in the Magic Millions sale. He was an unbeaten Triple Crown winner at 2 years, and a dual Group 1 winner at 3 years, earning him the title of both the highest rated Australian juvenile since 1977, and the highest rated 3yo sprinter in the world in 2013. He is now retired to stud at Coolmore, in Jerrys Plains of NSW, where he was purchased for $40 million. This has proved to be a very worthwhile investment for Coolmore thus far, as has had an illustrious career as a stallion to date, including four Group 1 winning progeny. He has had progeny sell for up to $1.1 million, highlighting the promising nature of his progeny for the years to come. His stud fee of $88,000 reflects his high quality characteristics on sale to any buyer who has a worthwhile mare and can afford the fee.
McGinty, known in Australia as Mr McGinty, was a Group 1 winning New Zealand bred and trained race-horse and sire.
Home Affairs is an Australian thoroughbred racehorse that has won multiple Group One races.
