Thoroughbred horse racing is a 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.
Octagonal was a champion New Zealand-bred, Australian raced Thoroughbred racehorse, also known as 'The Big O' or 'Occy'. He was by the champion sire Zabeel, out of the champion broodmare Eight Carat, who also produced Group One winners Mouawad, Kaapstad, Diamond Lover and (Our) Marquise.
Balmerino was a bay Thoroughbred stallion that was foaled at Cambridge in the Waikato region of New Zealand. He later became a champion racehorse with many international successes.
Gunsynd was a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who won 29 races and A$280,455 in prize money. In his seven starts over one mile he was only once defeated, by half-a-head in the Epsom Handicap.
Poseidon was an Australian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. He won 19 races over distances ranging from five furlongs to three miles. Sixteen of these wins were "Principal Races", eight of them now of Group 1 (G1) status.
Ajax was a champion Australian bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, who won 18 consecutive races before he was defeated at the odds of 40/1 on, causing a huge racing sensation. He had wins from 5 furlongs (1,000 metres) to 1½ miles (2,400 metres), equalled the Australasian record for a mile (1,600 metres), and created three new race records. At stud in Australia, Ajax proved to be a good sire. He was then sold as a 14-year-old horse and exported to the United States before he was later sold to Bing Crosby and Lin Howard. Ajax was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.
Birdcatcher (1833–1860), or Irish Birdcatcher, was a Thoroughbred racehorse and a leading sire.
Stockwell (1849–1870) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and a Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland seven times; he was second on the sires' list a further four times during a 14-year period.
Sky High was an outstanding Australian Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Some of his major race victories include the 1960 STC Golden Slipper Stakes, 1960 VRC Derby, 1961 and 1962 VRC Lightning Stakes and the 1961 AJC Epsom Handicap.
Shannon (1941–1955), named Shannon II in America, was an outstanding Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He created new racecourse records in Australia before he was sold to an American buyer who exported him to California in 1948. There Shannon equalled the world record of 1:473⁄5 for the nine furlongs in winning the Forty Niner Handicap Stakes, then one week later equalled the world record of 1:594⁄5 for a mile and a quarter. Shannon was named the 1948 American Champion Older Male Horse. At stud in America he proved to be a good sire.
Damascus was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1967 Horse of the Year after winning the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Woodward Stakes, and Dwyer Stakes. Damascus also came third in the Kentucky Derby that year.
Bimelech was a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won two Triple Crown races and was a Champion at both age two and three. He was ranked #84 among U.S. racehorses of the 20th century. After retiring to stud, he sired 30 stakes winners and his daughters produced 50 stakes winners.
Street Cry was a Thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 2002 Dubai World Cup, the 2002 Stephen Foster Handicap and runner up in the 2002 Whitney Handicap. He was an international shuttle stallion that stood at the Darley Studs in Australia and the US.
Royal Palace (1964–1991) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from June 1966 until July 1968, he ran eleven times and won nine races. After being rated the best English-trained two-year-old of 1966, he won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the 2000 Guineas and the Derby in 1967. He returned for an unbeaten four-year-old season in 1968 when he won four races which are now Group One events.
Noholme (1956–1983) was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1959 Australian Horse of the Year and who took nearly a full second off the race record in winning the prestigious Cox Plate.
Nodouble (1965–1990) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from 1967 to 1970, he won eleven races from across the country, including the Arkansas Derby, Hawthorne Gold Cup (twice) and the Santa Anita, Brooklyn and Metropolitan Handicaps. He was twice voted American Champion Older Male Horse by the Thoroughbred Racing Association. After retirement to stud, he became the leading sire in North America of 1981 and was also a notable broodmare sire.
Nassipour was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and a Leading sire in Australia. He was bred in Kentucky by the Aga Khan. His sire, Blushing Groom, was the 1977 European Champion Three-Year-old and the 1989 Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland. Nassipour's dam was Alama, a daughter of the very good runner Aureole, who was owned by Queen Elizabeth II. Aureole's wins include the 1954 Coronation Cup and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. At stud, Aureole sired 1960 Epsom Derby winner, St. Paddy.
Last Tycoon was an Irish bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Breeders' Cup Mile and as a leading sire in Australia.
Ragstone (1970–1978) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. A specialist stayer, he was unplaced in his only run as a two-year-old but won all four of his races in 1973. When moved up in class as a four-year-old he won the Aston Park Stakes and the Henry II Stakes before taking Britain's premier long-distance race, the Ascot Gold Cup. After seven successive wins he was beaten in his next race and retired to stud. He showed some promise as a breeding stallion before dying at the age of eight.
Pay Up was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a two-year-old in 1935 he showed promise as he won one race and was place in his other three starts. In the following spring he won the Free Handicap and then recorded his biggest success in the 2000 Guineas. He started favourite for Epsom Derby but finished fourth, sustaining leg injuries which ended his track career. He had little success as a breeding stallion.
