Dulcify (14 October 1975– 6 November 1979) 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 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

-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 Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic ...

. His

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

-bred sire was the 1970

Irish 2,000 Guineas The Irish 2,000 Guineas is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres), and it i ...

winner, Decies (GB), a grandson of Pharis (FR), the very important French sire whom ''Thoroughbred Heritage'' says is ''considered one of the greatest French-bred runners of the century''. Dulcify's dam was the Australian

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than f ...

Sweet Candy (AUS), a daughter of 1957

Golden Slipper Stakes The Golden Slipper Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses run over 1,200 metres on turf at set weights conditions, held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier t ...

winner and

Australian Racing Hall of Fame The Australian Racing Hall of Fame is part of the Australian Racing Museum which documents and honours the horseracing legends of Australia. The museum officially opened in 1981 and created the Hall of Fame in 2000. The numbers in brackets a ...

inductee

Todman Todman (7 October 1954 – 1976) was one of the greatest Australian Thoroughbred racehorses and an important sire. He was perhaps best known as the winner of the inaugural STC Golden Slipper in 1957, being the first of Star Kingdom's five s ...

(AUS). He was owned and raced by

Colin Hayes Colin Sidney Hayes (16 February 1924 – 21 May 1999) was an Australian champion trainer of thoroughbred racehorses based in Adelaide, South Australia. During his career he trained 5,333 winners including 524 individual Group or Listed ...

, who purchased him for $3,250. Hayes called him the best horse he ever raced

A patient, come-from-behind runner, his most important career win came in the 1979

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 ...

, which he won by a still-standing record of seven lengths. The

betting Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

favourite for the 1979

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 Me ...

, he suffered a broken pelvis during the race and had to be

euthanized Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

. In 2014, he was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

References

{{reflist
Dulcify at the Horse Directory Australia website

Video biography of Dulcify at YouTube

External links

Dulcify's pedigree and partial racing stats
1975 racehorse births 1979 racehorse deaths Cox Plate winners Victoria Derby winners Horses who died from racing injuries Racehorses bred in New Zealand Racehorses trained in Australia Australian Racing Hall of Fame horses Thoroughbred family 3-e