Equine Showpiece Gearing Up For World Cup

Rugby World Cup visitors with an interest in horse racing have the chance to visit three equine millionaires during a trip to Cambridge Thoroughbred Lodge in the Waikato.

Millionaire gallopers Rough Habit, Christopher Vance and Xcellent are all resident at Cambridge Thoroughbred Lodge which is set on a 40 hectare farm in a picturesque rural setting on the Rotorua Thermal Highway on SH1, approximately 25 minutes drive from Hamilton.

The New Zealand Horse Magic Show is staged at set times at Cambridge Thoroughbred Lodge. Complimentary morning tea will be provided while lunches can be ordered by arrangement.

This show features numerous breeds of horse from the miniature horse to the thoroughbred horse and is the only place in New Zealand where you can see the many different breeds of horses all in the same place.

The Show is presented by a ringmaster and audience participation is encouraged. Afterwards there is an opportunity for people to ride a horse which makes it a unique experience.

Featuring in the show is one of New Zealand’s highest stake-earning thoroughbred champions of all time, Rough Habit.

The winner of $5.2 million in stakes, Rough Habit was named the New Zealand Horse Of The Year on two occasions. He was an icon of Queensland winter racing carnivals where he won the Doomben Cup (twice) and the Stradbroke Handicap (three times).

Christopher Vance was a champion standardbred pacer with stake earnings of $2.5 million with his major race wins including the pretigious Miracle Mile in Sydney, the New Zealand Free-For-All and the Great Northern Derby.

Xcellent earned $1.6 million during his outstanding racing career. His major wins included the Group 1 New Zealand Derby, Group 1 New Zealand Stakes, Group 1 Mudgway Partsworld Stakes, Group 1 Kelt Capital Stakes and finished third in the 2005 Melbourne Cup behind Makybe Diva.

People wishing to visit the farm are advised to contact Cambridge Thoroughbred lodge on (07) 827 8118, Tarissa Mitchell on 027 4911170 or email: ctl@clear.net.nz

The Rugby World Cup games in Hamilton are NZ v Japan on September 16, Wales v Samoa on September 20 and Wales v Fiji on October 2.