Australian champion, Manikato, put down

Press, 16 February 1984, Page 22

Australian champion, Manikato, put down

NZPA-AAP Melbourne Australia's champion sprinter, Manikato, is dead. His trainer, Bob Hoysted, made the difficult decision to have the gelding put down on Monday after months of agonising waiting in the hope of a miracle cure. Last month, in a last ditch bid to get the gelding back to normal, Hoysted had a special drug flown in from Switzerland, but unfortunately it did not work. Manikato, the big barrelled chestnut from Epsom, was buried at Moonee Valley racecourse on Monday evening in a special section to be named “Manikato Gardens.” His regular jockey, Gary Willetts, once said o'f Manikato: “It’s like riding a machine. You slip him out of first and away he goes.” Victoria’s top jockey, Roy Higgins, simply described Manikato as a “freak racehorse.” However, as a youngster

nobody realised just how good the gangly chestnut would be. The late Bon Hoysted purchased the lightly framed yearling for a meagre $3500, but he was so unimpressed by the young colt’s prospects that he had him gelded before his first race start. In a sensational beginning to his career, Manikato demolished a field of two-year-olds at Cranbourne in the summer of 1978. Defeated at his next start, Manikato then took out the two-year-old Blue Ribbon double, the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield and the Golden Slipper Stakes at Rosehill. Soon after those wonderful victories Bon Hoysted died and brother Bob took over the training. Manikato’s career — 29 wins from 47 starts — has been studded with courageous comebacks and record breaking performances, particularly at weight-for-age

at which he had no peer. His record includes five William Reid Stakes wins, four wins in the Futurity Stakes and two wins in the Freeway Stakes again at Moonee Valley. In the Easter of 1980 Manikato seemed set for retirement when he bled after finishing fifth behind Hit It Benny in the Galaxy Stakes at Randwick. He was automatically suspended from racing for three months, and many doubted if he would return. However, the great champion came back even better than ever. The burly chestnut's greatest day came when he joined Kingston Town in passing the million-dollar stakes barrier after winning the A. J. Moir Stakes (1000 m at Moonee Valley on October 23, 1982. The victory took his career earnings to $1,154,210 (NZ51,615,894), and as it turned out that was his career earnings.