Octagonal

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Octagonal is also an adjective of: Octagon

Octagonal was a champion New Zealand bred thoroughbred racehorse, affectionately called the big O or 'Occy'. He was by Zabeel out of the brilliant broodmare, Eight Carat.

In 1995 Octagonal was crowned the Australian Champion Two Year Old. Octagonal took his two-year-old class by storm winning the AJC Sires Produce Stakes, with an unlucky second placing in the STC Golden Slipper, and AJC Champagne Stakes.

In his 3 year old season Octagonal won seven times. But what was even more remarkable was the standard of his 3-year-old contemporaries. Saintly had already won the Australian Cup. (In the next season Saintly would win both the W S Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup). Nothin' Leica Dane had already been runner-up in the Melbourne Cup. While Filante would go on to impressively win the Epsom Handicap in record time.

Octagonal's seven victories included the 3yo triple crown consisting of the Canterbury Guineas, Rosehill Guineas and the Australian Derby, and he is still the the last horse to have done so. Add to this a victory in the WFA Mercedes Classic and it can be truly seen just how tough Octagonal was, winning 4 Group 1 races in 5 weeks. The weight-for-age championship of Australia, the W S Cox Plate at Moonee Valley was yet another high class event to fall the way of the champion horse in his most dominant season. Already the winner of close to $A4 million, Octagonal was the Australian Champion Three Year Old and deservedly took the 1996 Australian Horse of the Year title as well. Arguably, Octagonal could be described as the best 3yo since Tulloch.

Octagonal continued in the headlines in 1997 when as a four-year-old he collected his second Mercedes Classic plus further Group I wins in the Australian Cup, Underwood Stakes and Chipping Norton Stakes. Octagonal retired to stud after 28 starts with a record of 14 wins, 7 seconds (6 in GI or GII races) and a third, ending his career with a stakes tally of $A5,892,231. The highest of any galloper in Australasia to that point.

Octagonal stands at Woodlands Stud, NSW. He is the Sire of Australian Group 1 winning brothers Lonhro and Niello, the South African Group 1 winner, Suntagonal and the French galloper, Laverock, another of his offspring to have recorded a win at racing's highest level.