Kiwi (horse)

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Kiwi (foaled 1977 in New Zealand) was a race horse who in 1983 won the most important double featuring races in both Australia and New Zealand, the Wellington Cup and the Melbourne Cup.

Kiwi raced from 1980 to 1987 and is the only horse ever to win both cups. He was bred by H. B. Fischer and bought by Waverley sheep farmer Snow Lupton for only NZ$1000, originally to be used as a stock horse on the farm, and was never intended to be tried as a thoroughbred racing galloper.

Legend has it that as Kiwi proved to be a fast and tireless horse on the Lupton paddocks, Lupton was convinced by his friends to enter Kiwi in a race at nearby Wanganui, to see how he ran. Kiwi instantly showed promise, especially over longer distances. He was an unknown quantity at the two mile distance when he was entered in the 1983 Wellington Cup, and won handily. Because no Wellington Cup winner had previously won the Melbourne Cup, and because many believed the quality of the Wellington Cup field had not been particularly strong, Kiwi was considered very much an outsider when entered for the Melbourne Cup.

Despite having won over the two mile distance, he was still a distant long shot with the bookmakers and punters alike on race day, and started at 10/1. Yet he managed to come from last in the final straight to take the victory and capture the hearts of racing aficionados. After the victory, Kiwi was controversially scratched from the 1984 Melbourne Cup, ran fifth in 1985 and looked to repeat his 1983 'come from behind' victory in 1986 but sadly pulled up lame close to the finish line. He ran a creditable fifth in the Japan Cup. He was retired to the Lupton's farm.