Racing: Champ’s bones to museum

Gisborne's most famous racing thoroughbred, Kindergarten, is to be exhumed from a paddock at Kaiti and taken to Auckland, where his remains will take pride of place at the planned New Zealand Champions Racing Museum.

The operation will be led by Susan Archer, project manager for the racing museum, and Alex Davies, a Massey University professor of equine anatomy.

Kindergarten was buried 36 years ago on a farm recently sold by Bill Fitzgerald, son of Kindergarten's owner-breeder, Ned Fitzgerald.

Bill did not want to leave the horse there.

The family contacted the museum, which immediately expressed interest in Kindergarten's skeleton.

"We do need an equine skeleton for eventual display in the museum and it would be wonderful if it's that of a champion," Archer said.

"Kindergarten unquestionably fills the bill."

The museum will be built at Ellerslie.

Kindergarten, foaled in 1937, won 25 of his 35 starts and was unplaced only four times in a career that co-incided almost exactly with World War II.

His major victories included the ARC Auckland Cup, Easter Handicap (twice), Great Northern Derby & St Leger, WRC Wellington Cup, New Zealand St Leger and Harcourt Stakes (three times), MRC Awapuni Gold Cup, CJC Canterbury Cup (twice) and DJC James Hazlett Gold Cup.

After his 3-year-old career he never carried less than nine stone (57kg) and, despite suffering chronic unsoundness, was out of the winner's circle only four times from 1941 until his final start in October 1946.

One of his best victories was the 1942 Auckland Cup, when he carried ten stone two pounds (64.5 kg) and won easily by five lengths in record time.

Champion jockey Bert Ellis described Kindergarten as a horse with four gears.

In second gear he was the best horse in an ordinary field, and in third he could range alongside any horse Ellis had known.

In fourth gear, no horse in the world had a chance.

- NZPA