The Hawk (foaled 1918) was an exceptional
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 ...
racehorse. He had 136 race starts, winning top quality races in both New Zealand and
Australia, and set Australasian records for six and eight furlongs. In an exceptional career he won over all distances from 4 furlongs to 12 furlongs and his last race was as a rising 13-year-old.
Breeding
He was by the good racehorse and great sire, Martian out of the unraced, Sparrow Hawk (GB) by Land League. Sparrow Hawk was the dam of only two foals, of which only The Hawk was named and raced.
The Hawk was purchased as a yearling for 350 guineas by W.J. Douglas and, on his death in 1922, was sold to New Zealand trainer J.M. Cameron for 700 guineas.
Racing record
He won six of his ten races as a two-year-old and broke the Australasian record for six furlongs as a three-year-old in winning the Waterloo Stakes.
As a five-year-old The Hawk had his first season racing in Australia where his wins included the
Hill Stakes
The Hill Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race run at Weight for Age over a distance of 2000 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in September. Total prize money for the race is A$1,000,000.
History 1921 ...
,
St George Stakes
The Peter Young Stakes, registered as the St George Stakes, is a Melbourne Racing Club Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race held under weight for age conditions over a distance of 1800 metres at Caulfield racecourse, Melbourne, Australia in late Febru ...
,
Futurity Stakes, Essendon Stakes and C M Lloyd Stakes. At aged six he continued his Australian campaign winning the
Caulfield Stakes
The Might and Power, registered as the Caulfield Stakes is a Melbourne Racing Club 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 Racecourse ...
,
Challenge Stakes, St George Stakes, Essendon Stakes,
Rawson Stakes
The Ranvet Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older over a distance of 2,000 metres, held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia in March. Total prize money is A$7 ...
and
All Aged Stakes
The All Aged Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred Weight for Age horse race, run over a distance of 1,400 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in April or May during the ATC Autumn Carnival. Prize money is A$6 ...
.
In the autumn of 1925 he returned to New Zealand to meet the great old champion
Gloaming (then rising ten years old) in a match race in the Hawke's Bay J.D. Ormond Memorial Gold Cup at
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
. The event attracted many thousands of spectators to the Hastings Racecourse where, in the run to the line, Gloaming lengthened his stride to pass The Hawk and win by a length in record time.
The Hawk continued racing in New Zealand until the age of 13. His wins during his later years included the 1927 WRC Metropolitan Handicap, the 1927 and 1928
Taranaki Stakes, and the 1930 Taranaki Cup when aged 11. At age 12 he won his thirty-first, and last race in the Dannevirke Cup.
References
External links
The Hawk's pedigree
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawk (Horse)
1918 racehorse births
Racehorses trained in Australia
Racehorses bred in New Zealand
Racehorses trained in New Zealand
Thoroughbred family 25