Peter Mitchell, famous as the owner of champion galloper Bonecrusher, died suddenly overnight.
The 73-year-old Aucklander was a regular sight at northern race meetings, and loved nothing more than a bet.
"This is the biggest shock I've had in my life," said current racehorse owning partner, Auckland lawyer Grand Halse, currently holidaying in Vietnam.
Bonecrusher made Peter Mitchell and trainer Frank Ritchie close to household names during the 1980s.
Mitchell purchased Bonecrusher at the Waikato yearling sales for a budget $3250 and the lanky, athletic chestnut won 18 races from 44 raceday appearances for $674,225 here and A$1.67m in Australia. He won four Gr1s in New Zealand and six in Australia. The Bonecrusher - (Our) Waverley Star stirring battle in the 1986 Cox Plate, was won by Bonecrusher and it gave him legendary status in Australia. The same year he would have won the then world's richest race, the Japan Cup, but came down with a massive infection and did not race.