Rough Habit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rough Habit was a New Zealand racehorse who was a prolific winner on both sides of the Tasman, and won New Zealand's Horse of the Year Award in 1992 and 1995.

By Roughcast out of Certain Habit, the bay gelding with an untidy white blaze was trained by John Wheeler, and made numerous trips to Australia. He won major races in Sydney and Melbourne, but really shone at the Brisbane winter carnivals, where his wins included the Queensland Derby, two Stradbroke Handicaps, and a record three Doomben Cups.

Rough Habit won feature races from 1,400 to 2,400 metres, on wet tracks and dry, and was narrowly beaten, as an eight-year-old, by fellow New Zealander Solvit in the 1994 Cox Plate. Later in the season, Rough Habit took the PJ O'Shea Stakes, in Brisbane, in a fairytale farewell.

In 1996, Rough Habit appeared in a set of stamps issued by New Zealand Post with fellow champion thoroughbreds Kiwi, Bonecrusher, and Horlicks, and the harness racing champions Blossom Lady and Il Vicolo.