Redcraze
Encyclopedia
Redcraze was a champion New Zealand
Thoroughbred
racehorse
who raced both in Australia
and New Zealand
, winning major races in both countries.
A chestnut
son of the Hyperion
stallion Red Mars from the mare Myarion he is considered one of the finest horses not to win a Melbourne Cup
, despite three attempts.
Often asked to carry big weights in handicap races his big frame and amazing recuperative powers saw him race until he was seven.
Originally trained by Syd Brown in New Zealand he was transferred to the stables of Tommy Smith
in Australia as a late five-year-old.
It was in the care of Tommy Smith that he realised his huge potential.
Perhaps his greatest effort was when he ran second in the 1956 Melbourne Cup to the quality staying mare Evening Peal. As Redcraze usually raced at the tail of the field he produced a big finish, coming from the rear and just failing to win by a half-neck. What made the performance amazing is that he was carrying a handicap of conceding to the winner.
He was retired following an unplaced effort in the 1957 Melbourne Cup. His prize money at the time was an Australian record.
In New Zealand
In Australia
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
Thoroughbred
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...
racehorse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
who raced both in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, winning major races in both countries.
A chestnut
Chestnut (coat)
Chestnut is a hair coat color of horses consisting of a reddish-to-brown coat with a mane and tail the same or lighter in color than the coat. Genetically and visually, chestnut is characterized by the absolute absence of true black hairs...
son of the Hyperion
Hyperion (horse)
Hyperion was a British bred Thoroughbred, a dual classic winner and an outstanding sire. Owned by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, Hyperion won £29,509 during his career - a considerable sum at the time. His victories included the Epsom Derby and St...
stallion Red Mars from the mare Myarion he is considered one of the finest horses not to win a Melbourne Cup
Melbourne Cup
The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
, despite three attempts.
Often asked to carry big weights in handicap races his big frame and amazing recuperative powers saw him race until he was seven.
Originally trained by Syd Brown in New Zealand he was transferred to the stables of Tommy Smith
Tommy Smith (racing)
Thomas John Smith AM MBE also known as Tommy Smith or T. J. Smith was a leading trainer of thoroughbred racehorses based in Sydney, Australia. He is acknowledged for his record number of Sydney Trainers Premierships and for training many champion racehorses including Tulloch, Gunsynd and Kingston...
in Australia as a late five-year-old.
It was in the care of Tommy Smith that he realised his huge potential.
Perhaps his greatest effort was when he ran second in the 1956 Melbourne Cup to the quality staying mare Evening Peal. As Redcraze usually raced at the tail of the field he produced a big finish, coming from the rear and just failing to win by a half-neck. What made the performance amazing is that he was carrying a handicap of conceding to the winner.
He was retired following an unplaced effort in the 1957 Melbourne Cup. His prize money at the time was an Australian record.
Major Wins
Redcraze won the following major races:In New Zealand
- 1955 WRC Summer Cup – (12f)
- 1955 WJC Wanganui Cup – (12f)
- 1955 MaRC Awapuni Gold CupAwapuni Gold CupThe Awapuni Gold Cup is held annually in Palmerston North, New Zealand. It is run at weight-for-age over 2,000 metres and is worth $100,000. It is notable as even though it is only worth $100,000, it has been won by many of New Zealand's most famous racehorses. These horses have gone on to become...
– (10f) - 1955 ARC Nolan Handicap – (12f)
- 1955 ARC Oliver Nicholson Handicap – (11f)
- 1955 HBJC Ormond Gold Cup – (10f)
- 1956 WRC Hutt Handicap – (1m)
- 1956 ARC Nolan Handicap – (12f)
- 1956 ARC Oliver Nicholson Handicap – (11f)
In Australia
- 1955 VRCVictoria Racing ClubThe Victoria Racing Club was founded in 1864. It was formed following the disbanding of the Victoria Turf Club and the Victoria Jockey Club. A legacy passed from the Victoria Turf Club was the annual “race that stops a nation”, the Melbourne Cup, which was first contested in 1861.From its...
Turnbull StakesTurnbull StakesThe Turnbull Stakes is a 2000 metre Group 1 Australian Thoroughbred horse race, run under set weights with penalties conditions. The race is held at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne in October. Total prize money is A$502,000. It is one of the important races of the Spring Racing Carnival along...
– (12f) - 1956 QTCQueensland Turf ClubThe Queensland Turf Club was founded in August 1863.It began on a piece of land in Ascot, Queensland, later called Eagle Farm Racecourse, given to the club by government grant. The first meeting of the club was held on 14 August 1865....
O’Shea Stakes – (10½f) - 1956 QTC Brisbane CupBrisbane CupThe Brisbane Cup is a Group 2 Australian Thoroughbred horse race for three year olds and upwards, run under handicap conditions over a distance of 2400 metres at Eagle Farm Racecourse, Brisbane in June...
– (2m) - 1956 STCSydney Turf ClubThe Sydney Turf Club was founded in 1943 and is the youngest of Australia's Principal Race Clubs. It was formed following an Act passed by the New South Wales parliament called the Sydney Turf Club Act...
Hill StakesHill StakesThe Hill Stakes is a STC Group 2 Australian Thoroughbred horse race at run at Weight for Age over a distance of 1900 metres at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse, Sydney in September.-Past winners:*2011 - Trusting *2010 - Descarado *2009 - Miss Marielle...
– (8½f) - 1956 AJCAustralian Jockey ClubThe Australian Jockey Club was founded in January 1842. It morphed from the former Australian Racing Committee set up in May 1840 to set the standards for racing in the colony...
Colin Stephen Stakes – (12f) - 1956 Metropolitan Handicap – (13f)
- 1956 VATC Caulfield StakesCaulfield StakesThe VATC Caulfield Stakes is now a Melbourne Racing Club Australian Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race run under weight-for-age conditions, for three-year-olds and upwards, at Caulfield Racecourse. The race was previously known as the Caulfield Stakes but since 1997 it has been referred to as the...
– (9f) - 1956 VATC Caulfield CupCaulfield CupThe Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest Thoroughbred horse races and the richest of its type in the world is held annually by the Melbourne Racing Club. The race is a handicap like the Melbourne Cup, which means that horses that compete in the Caulfield Cup are capable of running on the...
– (12f) - 1957 QTC O’Shea Stakes – (10½f)
- 1957 STC Hill Stakes – (8½f)
- 1957 VATC St George Stakes – (9f)
- 1957 VRC Queen’s Plate – (10f)
- 1957 VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes – (12f)
- 1957 STC Rawson Stakes – (9f)
- 1957 AJC Autumn Stakes – (12f)
- 1957 MVRC W.S. Cox PlateCox PlateThe W.S. Cox Plate is an Australian Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne every October by the Moonee Valley Racing Club to honour W.S. Cox, the club's founder. For three-year-olds and over, the race is considered to be the Weight for Age championship of Australasia...
– (10f)