Courage Under Fire (1 August 1995 – 29 July 2017) was a

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 champion

Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

race horse notable for being undefeated in his first 24 race starts. A diminutive horse, he was known as Mighty Mouse.

Racing

Courage Under Fire was undefeated in both his two- and three-year-old seasons of racing. As a three-year-old he won a record six derbies. In the Australian Derby at Moonee Valley he broke the track record defeating local star Shakamaker.Addington Hall of Fame
www.hof.co.nz As an older horse Courage Under Fire was defeated for the first time in a heat of the 2000

Inter Dominion Pacing Championship :''for winners of the trotting event see: Inter Dominion Trotting Championship'' The Inter Dominion is a harness racing competition that has been contested since 1936 in Australia and New Zealand. The Inter Dominion was the brain child of Western ...

after winning his first 24 races. After the 2000 Inter Dominion he was relocated from the New Zealand stables of Bruce Negus to Australian trainer Brian Hancock however his career plateaued.Alexy's win fitting tribute,

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...

, 31 July 2017 He later won the South Australian Cup,

Queensland Pacing Championship The Queensland Pacing Championship is the most important event in Queensland harness racing. It is usually the opening leg of the Australasian Pacers Grand Circuit. The race was previously known as the Albion Park Ten Thousand between 1969 and 1974 ...

and

Australian Pacing Championship The Australian Pacing Championship is a harness racing event showcasing some of Australia's and New Zealand’s best pacers. It is currently held annually at Gloucester Park in Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian s ...

. He was narrowly beaten in the

Miracle Mile Miracle Mile may refer to: Places in the United States * Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, a district of Los Angeles * Miracle Mile (Coral Gables), a shopping area in Coral Gables, Florida * Miracle Mile (Manhasset), New York, a premium sho ...

and Victoria CupVale Courage Under Fire
Harness Racing Australia, Retrieved 3 August 2017 and he won six heats of the

and was fourth in the final in 2001. In the South Australian Cup at

Globe Derby Park A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...

in 2001 he set a track record that stood until broken by his son Smolda in 2017. A popular horse, large crowds often surrounded his stall for a glimpse. Courage Under Fire won 41 of 56 starts and earned $NZ1,551,941 in stakes.

Stud career

At stud he sired more than 400 winners in New Zealand and more than 300 winners in Australia including

winner Smolda and was expected to serve a full book of mares in the 2017–18 breeding season. He died at Yirribee Stud near

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

after being purchased by Yirribee in July 2017.Thank you Courage Under Fire
Alabar Farms, Retrieved 3 August 2017

References

{{Reflist 1995 racehorse births 2017 racehorse deaths Standardbred racehorses bred in New Zealand Racehorses trained in New Zealand Racehorses trained in Australia

Racing

Stud career

See also

References