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MELBOURNE - Former Melbourne Cup winner Arwon, who was bred and raced early in his career in New Zealand, has died at the age of 33.
Arwon, who had been the oldest living Melbourne Cup winner, was humanely put down at trainer George Hanlon's Leopold property on the Bellarine Peninsula near Geelong on Friday.
Arwon gave Hanlon his second of three Melbourne Cups when he beat Dandeleith by a half neck in 1978.
He ran in two more Melbourne Cups, finishing ninth to Beldale Ball in 1980 and fifth to Just A Dash in 1981.
Arwon was a regular drawcard at the traditional Melbourne Cup Parade until two years ago.
Hanlon, who also won Melbourne Cups with Piping Lane (1972) and Black Knight (1984), described Arwon as "a good mate".
"He was a great old horse and I will miss him," Hanlon said.
"He was still eating well but his muscle had gone in his hindquarters and he was finding it hard to get up. It wasn't fair to keep him going any longer."
Arwon was a tough New Zealand-bred gelding by Aritzo from Fair Flash.
He won as a 2-year-old in NZ, where he was known as Flash Guy, and after being placed at Waikato and Cambridge as an early 3-year-old, was sold to a Canberra-based syndicate headed by ex-jockey Ted Doon.
-AAP
