Woodbine Farm - Thoroughbred Stud in New Zealand. Roll Of Honour

On 3rd March 2006 the inaugural NZ Racing Hall of Fame event was held. Fourteen elite horses and people were inducted.

The Chianti Stallion Partnership was privileged to be the inductee sponsor of the first inductee - Carbine.

Carbine's story follows:

" Destiny was waiting for Carbine from the time he was bred by Musket from Mersey at Sylvia Park, Auckland, in 1885. As a two year old Carbine had no peer in New Zealand, winning five races from five starts.

Australia beckoned and Carbine embarked on a career that would earn him one of the greatest international reputations for any horse raced or bred in New Zealand.

Australian race crowds quickly warmed to Carbine who became affectionately known as Old Jack. His career as a three-year-old was capped by the first of two back-to-back victories in the Sydney Cup where he carried 9 stone – 12 pounds above weight-for-age. Looking invincible in the distance weight for age events Carbine was set for the 1889 Melbourne Cup. But carrying 10 stone and the added handicap of a cracked heel saw Carbine lose by a length.

Greatness still awaited the 16.1 hands New Zealand bay. Carbine dominated the 1890 Sydney Autumn Carnival, winning five races in four days, including the Sydney Cup on the second day and the All-Aged Stakes and the Cumberland Stakes on the third day.

The real goal was Flemington in November and the 1890 Melbourne Cup. From the statistics it looks an impossible task. Carbine was given a record weight – 10 stone 5 pounds or 66 kilos – in the largest Melbourne Cup field ever – 39 starters. Yet Carbine made the victory even more memorable as jockey Bob Ramage guided him across the finish line in the record time of three minutes 28 and a quarter seconds.
That race time has been surpassed - but the other two records are likely to stand forever.

Carbine retired from racing with 33 wins from 43 starts. He finished second six times, third three times and was only ever unplaced in one race. His stake winnings of 29,626 pounds was an Australasian record for more than 20 years.

Carbine went to stud in Australia for four years, siring the winners of more than 200 races, before being sold to the Duke of Portland for 13,000 pounds. His greatest success in England was with the triple Derby winning dynasty of Spearmint, Spion Kop and Felstead.

Perhaps a true measure of Carbine’s international career is the fact that he was an inaugural member of the Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in 2001

Carbine was the first New Zealand thoroughbred to be accorded international fame and his legacy as one of the greatest racehorses and sires ever bred in the Southern Hemisphere endures to this day."