australia horse racing

While the attention of horseracing fans and the media is focusedalmost exclusively on the horse's performance on the racetrack orfor male horses or possibly its success as a sire, but littlepublicity is given the brood mares. Such is the case of LaTroienne, one of the most important mares of the 20th century towhom many of the greatest thoroughbred champions, and dams ofchampions can be traced.In Australia the most famous horse is Phar Lap. However, thishorse is from New Zealand, as was Cardigan Bay, a pacing horsewho enjoyed great success at the highest levels of Americanharness racing in the 1960s. Racing in Australia has enjoyedgreat success with races such as the Melbourne Cup, which hasrecently been attracting many international entries.The most famous horses from Canada are Northern Dancer, who afterwinning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness went on to become themost successful Thoroughbred sire ever, and his son Nijinsky II.In Canada, however, harness racing is more popular thanThoroughbred racing. Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, home of theQueen's Plate, Canada's premier thoroughbred stakes race, and theNorth America Cup, Canada's premier standardbred stakes race, isthe only race track in North America which stages Thoroughbredand Standardbred (harness) meetings on the same day. The NorthAmerica Cup has the largest purse of any Canadian horse race.In Ireland, noted for its great racing history, the Derby winningThoroughbred race horse Shergar was kidnapped on February 8,1983. He has never been found.