Mongolian Khan (foaled 19 October 2011) is a retired Australian-bred

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-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2015 he won the 140th running of the

New Zealand Derby The New Zealand Derby is a set-weights Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds, run over a distance of 2,400 metres (12 furlongs) at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand. It is held on the first Saturday in March, as the opening day o ...

before going on to win the

Australian Derby Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

becoming the first horse to complete the double in 29 years. As a four-year-old he won the

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 ...

Background

Mongolian Khan was foaled at Graeme McCulloch's Grenville stud at Whitemore in Northern

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, Australia, in October 2011. He is a half-brother to Wellington Cup winner Young Centaur, which is why McCulloch decided to sell him in New Zealand in partnership with Ainsley Downs Stud. He was brought to New Zealand by Courtney Howells of Ainsley Downs Stud (Waikato, New Zealand) as a weanling and prepared for the Karaka yearling sales, where he was on sold for $140 000.

Racing career

2014/15: three-year-old season

Mongolian Khan won on debut at

Te Rapa Te Rapa is a mixed light industrial, large-scale retail and semi-rural suburb to the northwest of central Hamilton, New Zealand that is built on a flat area that was previously the bed of an ancient river, the forerunner to the present Waikato ...

at odds greater than 40 to one, but failed in the Group Two Hawke's Bay Guineas in his second career start. Once he stepped up over a mile and beyond he proved a revelation, winning five in a row including the 3yo Salver, Waikato Guineas, Avondale Guineas and New Zealand Derby. The New Zealand Derby was billed as a match race with Volkstok'n'barrell, who had created a big impression of his own in winning five races in a row including the Bonecrusher Stakes, Great Northern Guineas and Karaka Mile. The eagerly anticipated clash lived up to expectations as the two exciting three-year-olds drew well clear of their rivals and fought a memorable struggle down the home straight. Having been clearly headed by Volkstok'n'barrell, Mongolian Khan fought back and proved too strong in the concluding stages, edging away to win by one length. There was a margin of more than five lengths back to the remainder of the field. Mongolian Khan then travelled to Australia, where he finished a disappointing fifth in the Rosehill Guineas. He bounced back impressively from that, however, winning the

strongly from Hauraki and his arch-rival Volkstok'n'barrell. In doing so he became the first horse to win the New Zealand Derby-Australian Derby double since

Bonecrusher Bonecrusher may refer to: * Bone crusher, a machine used to crush animal bones * Bonecrusher (horse), a New Zealand racehorse * Bonecrusher (Transformers), a fictional robot supervillain character in the Transformers robot superhero franchise. * ...

in 1986.

2015/16: four-year-old season

Mongolian Khan began his four-year-old season by finishing seventh to Fawkner in the

Makybe Diva Stakes The Makybe Diva Stakes, previously called the Craiglee Stakes, is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race at Weight for age conditions for three year olds and older, over a distance of 1,600 metres held at Flemington Racecourse in M ...

Flemington Racecourse Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, which is the world's richest handicap and the world's richest 3200-metre horse race. The racecou ...

on 12 September and then ran fourth to Mourinho in the

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 ...

at Caulfield two weeks later. At the same track on 10 October the colt finished third in the

Caulfield Stakes The Might and Power, registered as the Caulfield Stakes is a Melbourne Racing Club Group One, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run under weight-for-age conditions, for three-year-olds and upwards, run over a distance of 2,000 metres at Caulfield R ...

behind Criterion and Happy Trails. On 17 October, Mongolian Khan started the 4/1 favourite in an eighteen-runner field for the

. He took the lead 400 metres from the finish and won by half a length from the British challenger Trip To Paris.Examiner (Launceston, Tas.), 2 February 2015

Pedigree

References