By PAUL YANDALL
On a cool Canterbury morning in 1943, jockey Norm Holland rode the greatest horse he had ever seen.
Asked to take champion racer Kindergarten out for a training gallop in Riccarton, Christchurch, the jockey was told by the horse's trainer to "give him a bit of a kick if he starts to slack off."
"I got the shock of my life. He just took off. We broke the track record that morning," said Mr Holland, now the Auckland Racing Club's jockey liaison officer.
Kindergarten won just £16,405 in his career, a paltry amount compared with Sunline, who is poised to become the first Australasian horse to earn $10 million in stake money.
She arrives back in New Zealand this morning, flush with international success.
Her wins in Melbourne's Cox Plate and the Hong Kong Mile have brought her earnings to $9.6 million, well clear at the top of Australasia's money earnings table.
Even with the winnings of other great champions, from Phar Lap through to Bonecrusher, indexed to take account of inflation, Sunline is still well clear of the field.
But money is not everything and the experts have other ways of rating a horse's class.
Mr Holland, for instance, has no doubt about whether Kindergarten or Sunline was the greatest horse.
"Kindergarten and Sunline are just freaks. The difference for me is that Kindergarten was a freak over any distance."
Sunline, by comparison, is as complete a racer as modern racing, with its distance specialisation, will allow, he says.
"Sunline's the best miler around, but the longer distances are a question mark."
Frank Ritchie, the trainer of modern champion Bonecrusher, said Sunline was the best horse he had seen.
"She's certainly the finest I've ever seen race and I've seen some terrific ones in my time."
He also rated New Zealand horse Show Gate, who raced in the 1970s, and Australian horse Kingston Town, who raced in the early 1980s.
"What's different about [Sunline] is what I call her cruising speed. Her ability to lead and force others to catch her is amazing."
He said a strong example of that was Sunline's Cox Plate win in Melbourne last October, when the mare led from the front to win by seven lengths.
"I've never seen anything like it and I don't think I'll see anything like it again. She's a great horse, there's no doubt. But I wouldn't say Kingston Town wouldn't be able to catch her."
Trainer Colin Jillings, who has collected four Auckland Cups and five New Zealand Derby titles with horses such as McGinty and Uncle Remus, said Sunline was the best 1600-metre horse in the world.
But the best Kiwi horse ever?
"It's impossible to compare horses from one era with another. There are too many differences."
The incomparable Phar Lap and Kindergarten were given special mention.
"Kindergarten stands out for me. He was absolutely outstanding and equally well-respected in his era."
He said the prizemoney won by previous champions could not compare with present prizes as there was a lot more money in the sport today.
The secret of Sunline's success, he believed, was her attitude.
"She's a hussy all right, she doesn't like being beaten. That gives her real character."
Horse breeder and Cambridge Stud owner Sir Patrick Hogan said Sunline was the complete racer.
"She's the best I've seen: huge heart, huge lung capacity, and a brain for racing - the perfect specimen."
He said Sunline's pedigree was not extraordinary, although distantly related to Phar Lap.
"It's a strong, solid pedigree. There's nothing fancy, but there's a lot of power within the pedigree."
Sir Patrick said it was not only difficult to compare horses from different eras but also different types of horses.
He rated Balmerino, who raced in the 1970s, as the best colt; Kingston Town as the best gelding; and Sunline as the best mare he had seen.
Racing journalist John Costello, co-author of Tapestry of Turf - The History of New Zealand Racing, said he would rate Sunline as one of three of the best horses he had seen.
"She's up there with Kindergarten and Kingston Town."
Although she was unproven at greater distances, there was no reason for her to run longer races.
"Why would they [trainers the McKees] do that? There's no reason to change her racing and if they did you'd have to ask why."
Mr Costello said Sunline needed to win one more big international race in either Europe or America before she could replace Phar Lap in racing lore.
Unfortunately, he said, there was no one around who could compare Sunline with Phar Lap.
Racing: Pundits ponder racing's best
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.