Empire Rose (1982–2002) was one of the most popular

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, 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 th ...

s to race in New Zealand and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. She was a gigantic

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

, only just fitting into the barrier stalls in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Trained by Laurie Laxon, one of New Zealand's foremost trainers, at the Laurie Laxon Racing Stables at

Cambridge, New Zealand Cambridge () is a town in the Waipā District of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. Situated southeast of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, on the banks of the Waikato River, Cambridge is known as "The Town of Trees & Champi ...

, Empire Rose raced 48 times for nine wins and eight placings for NZ$2,644,234 ( A$1.95 million).Empire Rose's racing career
/ref> Among her major successes were the 1987

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 Nov ...

, the 1988

LKS Mackinnon Stakes The VRC Champions Stakes, registered as the ''LKS Mackinnon Stakes'', is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run under Weight for Age conditions over a distance of 2000 metres at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia o ...

, the 1988

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...

and the 1989

Trentham Stakes The Trentham Stakes is a Group 3 weight-for-age race held for thoroughbred racehorses at Trentham Racecourse near Wellington, New Zealand conducted by the Wellington Racing Club. Held over 2100 metres in January, it is seen as the main lead-up ...

. Empire Rose was by the champion New Zealand sire,

Sir Tristram Sir Tristram (7 April 1971 – 21 May 1997) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who stood at stud in New Zealand, where he sired an extraordinary 45 Group One winners, including three Melbourne Cup winners. His progeny earned him 17 off ...

(IRE), from Summer Fleur by Sovereign Edition (IRE), and was expected to perform well like other Sir Tristram progeny. She showed promise when fifth in the

1986 Melbourne Cup The 1986 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 5 November 1986. The race, run over , at Flemington Racecourse. The 1986 Melbourne Cup was won by At Talaq, who was bought by Sheik Hamdan bin Rashid Al ...

behind At Talaq, one place behind former winner

Kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), an informal name for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible hairy fruit with many seeds * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of curren ...

. In the 1987 Melbourne Cup she was second to the fellow New Zealand bred Kensei in a bumpy finish and eleven days later she won the 3200m

Riccarton Park Racecourse Riccarton Park Racecourse is the main thoroughbred horse racecourse for the Christchurch city area in New Zealand. History The Canterbury Jockey Club was established in 1854 and held its first meeting at Hagley Park in Easter 1855. The Riccart ...

. The following year Empire Rose won the

Mackinnon Stakes The VRC Champions Stakes, registered as the ''LKS Mackinnon Stakes'', is a Victoria Racing Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run under Weight for Age conditions over a distance of 2000 metres at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia o ...

on Saturday 29 October, then made her third attempt at the “Race that stops two nations” in the

1988 Melbourne Cup The 1988 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 1 November 1988. The race, run over , at Flemington Racecourse. The race was won by Empire Rose, the popular New Zealand mare who had finished fifth in 1 ...

on the following Tuesday, November the 1st. Young rider Tony Allan had the mare handily placed all the way and she led the big field around the home turn. Despite a flashing finish from Natski, Empire Rose refused to give in, winning by a short head on the line. Natski's rump was actually ahead of hers, highlighting her large size. She was given a rousing reception for her win, given it was the first time a mare had won the race in 23 years - the last being the New Zealander

Light Fingers Light Fingers (1961−1988) was a New Zealand bred thoroughbred racehorse who won the Melbourne Cup in 1965. In 2017 Light Fingers was inducted to the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. Background The lightly built chestnut was by the highly succes ...

. In 1989 Empire Rose won the

. Later that year as a seven-year-old, Empire Rose finished 3rd in the

Cox Plate The W. S. Cox Plate is a Group races, 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 Racin ...

behind

Almaarad Almaarad was a Thoroughbred race horse owned by Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who won a number of stakes races both in Europe and Australia. Trained in Australia by Colin Hayes, he is best known for his win in the 1989 Cox Plate when ridden by Mic ...

and Stylish Century followed by a 5th in the

behind

Horlicks Horlicks is a British sweet malted milk hot Malt drink, drink powder developed by founders Sir James Horlick, 1st Baronet, James and William Horlick. It was first sold as "Horlick's Infant and Invalids Food", soon adding "aged and travellers" ...

. She then started favourite but struggled to 15th in the

1989 Melbourne Cup The 1989 Melbourne Cup was a handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 7 November 1989 over 3200m, at Flemington Racecourse. The race was won by the New Zealand bred stallion Tawriffic, trained by Lee Freedman and ridden by Shane Dy ...

won by

Tawrrific Tawrrific (1984–1999) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who is best remembered for winning the 1989 Melbourne Cup. Trained by Lee Freedman and ridden by Shane Dye, he won in the then record time of three minutes and 17.1 seconds. Early career A ...

, and was retired to stud. On 12 March 2002 Empire Rose was euthanized at her birthplace and home, Whakanui Stud, in Hamilton, New Zealand, due to deteriorating health and an incurable foot problem. During her racing career, Empire Rose was often ridden in training work by

Sheila Laxon Sheila Kathleen Laxon is a New Zealand/Australian racehorse trainer. Born in Wales, she became the first female Thoroughbred horse trainer to win the Australian cups double, the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup, with mare Ethereal in 2001. In 2 ...

, the then wife of trainer Laurie Laxon.Sheila Laxon profile
/ref> Sheila Laxon went on to become a successful licensed trainer in her own right, training

Ethereal Ethereal may refer to: * Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 * Ethereal (musician), American rapper and record producer * Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music * W ...

to win the 2001

Caulfield Cup The Caulfield Cup is a Melbourne Racing Club Group races, Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held under Handicap (horse racing), handicap conditions. This is for all horses aged three years old and older. It takes place over a distance of 2400 met ...

double and she co-trained

Knight's Choice Knight's Choice (foaled 20 September 2019) is a Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Norm and Di Bazeley at Elswick Park, a stud in Walcha, New South Wales, Walcha, northern New South Wales, he was the winner of the 2024 Melbourne Cup, ridden by Robbi ...

, winner of the

2024 Melbourne Cup The 2024 Melbourne Cup, known commercially as the 2024 Lexus Melbourne Cup, was the 164th running of the Melbourne Cup, an Australian thoroughbred horse race. The race, run over , was held on 5 November 2024 at Melbourne's Flemington Racecours ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Empire Rose's pedigree and partial racing stats
1982 racehorse births 2002 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in New Zealand Racehorses trained in New Zealand Melbourne Cup winners New Zealand Cup winners Thoroughbred family 8

See also

References

External links