Shogun Lodge (25 September 1996 – 8 November 2003) was an Australian

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 ...

racehorse by American sire

Grand Lodge A Grand Lodge, also called Grand Orient, Obedience, or by another similar title, is a name for the overarching governing body of a fraternal or other similarly organized group in a given area, usually a city, state, or country. In Freemasonry A ...

. Shogun Lodge won three

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

races, and remarkably ran 2nd in a further 12 Group 1 races. On 8 November 2003, Shogun Lodge collapsed and died while competing in the

Emirates Stakes The VRC Champions Mile, registered as the ''Cantala Stakes'', is a Group 1 Victoria Racing Club quality handicap Thoroughbred horse race run over 1,600 metres at Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia on the fourth and last day during the ...

. It was later revealed he died of a heart attack after suffering a lung haemorrhage during the race.

Racing career

Shogun Lodge made a winning debut in the Listed Canonbury Stakes at

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

on 3 October 1998, and won three of his four starts prior to the Golden Slipper, in which he started favourite and finished a close third. At three and four, Shogun Lodge won his Group One races, the

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 ...

, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and the

George Main Stakes The King Charles III Stakes (formerly known as the George Main Stakes), is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run under Weight for Age conditions, over a distance of 1600 metres at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia in S ...

, in which he defeated the champion mare

Sunline Sunline (29 September 1995 – 1 May 2009) was a champion New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the world's highest earning race mare of her time. She won 32 of her 48 races with earnings of NZ$14,200,000. She was named t ...

. Shogun Lodge won stakes races at two, three, four, five, and seven, and prize money of $4,640,315. In addition, Shogun Lodge was runner-up in 12 Group One races, including the

Doncaster Handicap The Doncaster Mile, registered as the Doncaster Handicap is an Australian Turf Club Group One Thoroughbred handicap race for horses three years old and older, held over 1,600 metres at Royal Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia. Although the ra ...

(twice) and the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

and AJC Derbies, and, since the introduction of the Group system in the late-1970s, few if any horses have been runner-up in more. These 12 races included defeats by the

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world championships, and ...

Northerly, Sunline, and Lonhro, and he lost three races by a short-half-head. In one of his greatest performances, Shogun Lodge was beaten by Sunline in head-bobbing finish to the 2002 Doncaster Handicap, in which both horses carried topweight of 58 kilos, and gave 6.5 kilos to Defier, who went on to win three Group One races at

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. Rou ...

. At his next start, in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Shogun Lodge ran one of his worst races, finishing second-last, and, in an 'ominous' sign, was found to have had an 'irregular heart reading'.

Death

After his first and only winless season at six, Shogun Lodge won the City Tatt's Lightning Handicap first-up as a seven-year-old (coincidentally, over the same course as his debut win, five years earlier), and was sent to Flemington for two further races. In the early stages of the second of these races, the

, Shogun Lodge suffered a fatal

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. His upset trainer, Bob Thomsen, said 'Oh God... I've probably handled the best horse this country's ever had. The best horse ever to put his head through a bridle was Tulloch and I handled him... his heart weighed 14-and-a-half (pounds)... I'll tell you what, Shogun wasn't far behind him...'The Age - Shogun shock mars big race
Retrieved on 6 June 2009

Race record

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 1996 racehorse births 2003 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Australia Racehorses trained in Australia Thoroughbred family C12 Horses who died from racing injuries

Racing career

Death

Race record

Pedigree

See also

References