Nightmarch
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nightmarch, foaled in 1925 was an outstanding
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 known as ''The Kiwi''. He won 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 ...
and Dunedin Cup as a three-year-old before going to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
where he became the first horse to win both the
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 Melbou ...
and
Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racing Club at Moo ...
in the same year, as well as other Principal races. He was by
Night Raid Night Raid (foaled 1918 in England) was a Leading sire in Australia of Thoroughbred racehorses. He sired two leading racehorses, namely Phar Lap and Nightmarch. Background He was sired by the Doncaster Cup and Goodwood Cup winner, Radium and h ...
, the sire of Phar Lap, out of the good racemare and broodmare, Marsa (1911) by Martian, a mare that traced to Manto. Marsa produced five foals, all of which raced and were winners.


Racing record

As a two-year-old he had eight starts and won two, the Dunedin J.C. Juvenile (by two lengths) and Hopeful Handicaps, having dead heated with Full Feather in the latter race. Nightmarch was then sold privately to Alan Louisson, and won the Canterbury Linwood Handicap,
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 ...
, Marton Cup, Dunedin Cup, and Great Autumn Handicap for him when he was a three-year-old.Barrie, Douglas M., "The Australian Bloodhorse'', Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1956 In the spring of 1929, Louisson took Nightmarch to Sydney where he was unplaced in his first start at
Rosehill, New South Wales Rosehill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rosehill is located 18 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta and is part of the Greater Wester ...
. The big betting punter, Eric Connolly offered £10,000 for Nightmarch (which was rejected) after a
betting plunge The Australian and New Zealand punting glossary explains some of the terms, jargon and slang which are commonly used and heard on Australian and New Zealand racecourses, in TABs, on radio, and in the horse racing media. Some terms are peculia ...
by others, had been made on Nightmarch's
Metropolitan Handicap The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile", is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile (8 furl ...
winning chances. Connolly instead became the horse's "campaign manager" and his training was then altered to suit the one mile of the AJC
Epsom Handicap The Epsom Handicap is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, under handicap conditions over a distance of 1,600 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in early October. Prize money i ...
instead of the 13 furlongs of the Metropolitan Handicap. A big betting plunge succeeded then when Nightmarch won the Tattersall's Spring Handicap. A Metropolitan Handicap start agreed upon and was won by Loquacious (a sister to Windbag) with Nightmarch, who carried 9 st. 12 lbs. (75.5 kg), a ½ length away in second place. After the race Connolly received numerous threatening phone calls, some indicating possible personal injury.Cavanough, Maurice, ''The Melbourne Cup'', Jack Pollard P/L, North Sydney, 1976 Nightmarch firmed from 20–1 to 3–1 favourite before he won the AJC
Epsom Handicap The Epsom Handicap is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older, under handicap conditions over a distance of 1,600 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in early October. Prize money i ...
(carrying 9 stone 4 pounds). Following this he won the Randwick Plate, the
W S Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racing Club at Mo ...
and the Melbourne Cup (after another huge betting plunge by Connolly, which netted him at least £100,000) with two pounds over
weight-for-age {{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Weight for Age (WFA) is a term in thoroughbred horse racing which is one of the conditions for a race. History The principle of WFA was developed by Admiral Rous, a handicapper with the English Jockey Club. Rous ...
from Phar Lap. After that, until the end of his long career, Nightmarch was seldom unplaced. In
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
, New Zealand Nightmarch won the James Hazlett Gold Cup and back again in
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 ...
won the Rawson Stakes and AJC Autumn Stakes (defeating Amounis). During his four-year-old season he had a total of 16 starts for 8 wins, 3 seconds and 4 thirds. As a five-year-old he placed third to Amounis and Phar Lap in the Warwick Stakes and was also third in the Canterbury Stakes. In his next four starts he ran second to Phar Lap each time—in the Chelmsford Stakes, Hill Stakes, AJC Spring Stakes, and
Craven Plate The Craven Plate is an Australian Turf Club Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race run over 2,000 metres, under Weight for Age conditions for three-year-olds and older, at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia. Total prize money for the race is A$750 ...
. Back in New Zealand he won the
New Zealand Cup The New Zealand Cup is a thoroughbred horse race run at the Riccarton Park Racecourse in Christchurch. New Zealand Cup week The New Zealand Cup is raced on the final Saturday of Christchurch "Cup week" held each year in the second week of Novem ...
and Canterbury Cup and was second in the GG Stead Memorial Gold Cup before winning the Trentham Gold Cup and Awapuni Cup, and ended his fourth racing season with a second at Canterbury, New Zealand, in the CJC Challenge Stakes, conceding the winner 43 pounds. At his first start as a six-year-old Nightmarch was second in the James Hazlett Gold Cup. Back in Sydney, Ammon Ra defeated him into second place in both the Rawson Stakes and AJC Chipping Norton Stakes. He won his next two races, the AJC Autumn Stakes and AJC Cumberland Stakes, which he won from Veilmond on each occasion. In the A.J.C. Plate he was unplaced to Veilmond but finished the racing year by again winning the Awapuni Cup. As a seven-year-old Nightmarch did not win again, although he was second to Peter Pan by half a length in the Rosehill Hill Stakes next spring. His last stake-earning was third place behind Veilmond in the AJC Spring Stakes.


Summary

Nightmarch was the first horse to win both the
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 Melbou ...
and
Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old and over under Weight for age conditions, over a distance of 2040 metres (approximately 1m 2f), that is held by the Moonee Valley Racing Club at Moo ...
in the same year (1929), a feat repeated by Phar Lap the following year (1930), fellow New Zealand racehorse
Rising Fast Rising Fast (1949 - 1978) was a champion New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who is the only horse to complete the Spring Grand Slam, winning the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, and Cox Plate in 1954. He also won the 1955 Caulfield Cup and c ...
in 1954,
Saintly Saintly (21 September 1992 – 16 December 2016) was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who was named Australia's champion racehorse in 1997. A giant chestnut gelding by Sky Chase out of All Grace (by Sir Tristram), he was bred by his tra ...
in 1996 and Makybe Diva in 2005. Overall he had 69 starts for 23½ wins (including a
dead heat A dead heat is a rare situation in various racing sports in which the performances of competitors are judged to be so close that no difference between them can be resolved. The result is declared a Tie (draw), tie and the competitors are awarde ...
), 18 seconds and 11 thirds for £32,116. At the time the two greats
Gloaming Gloaming may refer to: * Twilight, the period after sunset and before the darkness of night * The Gloaming, an Irish traditional music group ** ''The Gloaming'' (album), their first album * Gloaming (horse) (1915–1932), a Thoroughbred racehorse ...
and Nightmarch were considered New Zealand's true champions.


Stud record

Nightmarch stood at stud in New Zealand, where his matings with the Limond mare Praise produced these important winners: * Regal Praise (won ARC Great Northern Oaks and ARC Great Northern St. Leger Stakes) * Representative (AvJC Avondale Guineas, ARC Great Northern Guineas and AvJC Avondale Cup) * Russian Ballet (ARC Great Northern Champagne Stakes and Wanganui Guineas) * Serenata (WRC Summer Handicap and 1940 New Zealand Cup)ASB: Nightmarch (NZ) – SW progeny
Retrieved 2010-9-18
He was the sire of winners of more than £110,000 in stakes and died in October 1954, aged twenty-nine years old.


See also

*
Thoroughbred racing in New Zealand The racing of Thoroughbred horses (or gallopers, as they are also known) is a popular gaming and spectator sport and industry in New Zealand. History Thoroughbred horse racing commenced soon after European settlement. The first totalisator machin ...


References

{{Reflist 1925 racehorse births Racehorses bred in New Zealand Racehorses trained in New Zealand New Zealand Cup winners Melbourne Cup winners Cox Plate winners Thoroughbred family 18 1954 racehorse deaths