Big Philou (foaled in 1965) was a notable

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

bred

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse. He was by the good sire Le Filou (imported from France) from Pink Lady by Contact and he was trained by

Bart Cummings James Bartholomew Cummings (14 November 1927 – 30 August 2015), also known by his initials J. B. Cummings, was one of the most successful Australian racehorse trainers. He was known as the Cups King, referring to the Melbourne Cup, as he w ...

. He is best remembered for the controversy surrounding his withdrawal from the 1969 VRC

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...

when as the hot favourite he was the victim of a doping scandal and was withdrawn from the race 39 minutes before the start. Jockey Roy Higgins believed that the horse was a certainty to win the race.

Rain Lover Rain Lover (1964-1989) was a champion Australian Thoroughbred racehorse best remembered for his back-to-back wins in the 1968 and 1969 VRC Melbourne Cup. Background Rain Lover was sired by the good racehorse, Latin Lover (GB) (a son of the un ...

went on to win the Cup and created history as the first back-to-back winner since

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

in 1861 and 1862. Although he missed out on winning a Melbourne Cup the horse did record wins in the 1969 VATC

Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under handicap conditions, although the Melbourne Racing Club is in the process of turning the race into weight for age (WFA) conditions. This is for all horses ...

, 1970 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Autumn) and the 1970 VATC

Underwood Stakes The Underwood Stakes is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race, run over 1800 metres under weight-for-age conditions, held at Caulfield Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in late September each year. Total prize money for the ra ...

.ASB - Big Philou (NZ)
Retrieved on 2009-6-19

Pedigree

References

External links

Big Philou's pedigree
1965 racehorse births Racehorses bred in New Zealand Racehorses trained in Australia Caulfield Cup winners Thoroughbred family 20-a {{racehorse-stub