Opinion: Moifaa the racehorse - a story that deserves to be true

Takapau-bred, Moifaa went on to win the 1904 Grand National at Aintree. Photo / NZME

OPINION

Kiwi horse Moifaa had a story worth telling, writes Ken Ormond.

Have you ever heard of a horse called Moifaa, or a man called Spencer Gollan?

Moifaa was a New Zealand-bred racehorse that won the 1904 Grand National by eight lengths and the owner at the time was Spencer Gollan, a Hawke’s Bay farmer.

However, most of his time was taken up overseas playing golf or racing horses, while he left the running of the farm to his half-brother, Louis de Pelichet.

The Grand National has seen its fair share of spills and thrills. It has also had stories relayed about events that have happened that are really hard to fathom whether true or not.

And that is where Moifaa steps in.

Moifaa was a horse that was on the plain side, in fact, at 17 hands he resembled a camel in some people’s eyes.

He carried a sensational story (whether true or not is debatable), won the Grand National and eventually went on to be a King’s favourite.

It almost seems too good to be true.

The Story of Moifaa

Moifaa was born and bred in Takapau, Central Hawke’s Bay.

He was bred by a blacksmith named William Ellingham and, in due course, William sold the 3-year-old, gangly-looking horse to his jockey brother, Alfred, for £50.

In 1901, Alfred had a great run with this horse, winning 11 out of 16 races but then the horse went a bit doggy, so he sold it to Spencer Gollan’s Estate Manager for £500.

Eventually after suffering a racing injury, Moifaa was used as a hack at Mangatarata Station in Hawke’s Bay and over time one of the shepherds brought him back to soundness.

Spencer Gollan who was a wealthy farmer come-golfer, come horse racer, thought this horse would be ideal for his daughter, but seeing how well it could jump the fences in his paddock when startled by an earthquake, he thought maybe Moifaa might be destined for greater things.

In 1903 a bunch of Gollan horses set forth to England to join up with their master, Spencer Gollan.

The ship was Marere and on board was Moifaa. He, of course, won the Grand National but there was more to this story.

After winning the Grand National, he was purchased for King Edward Vll for 2000 guineas, but he never won again and eventually retired to the hunting fields of Leicestershire.

As for Gollan, he was knocked down and killed by a bus in London in 1934. Aged 74, he didn’t see the bus as he was blind in one eye.

The story I grew up believing

I have grown up all my life (and I am no spring chicken) believing the story told and reading about Moifaa’s swim for survival and then winning the Grand National.

This week while doing some research on Moifaa, I felt quite devastated to learn that it had all been concocted by “an imaginative American Journalist”.

The story goes that Moifaa, who was sailing from Sydney to Liverpool, fell victim to a shipwreck somewhere in the Irish Sea.

To survive he dived off the ship and swam 50 miles to an inhabited Island where he was found by a passing fisherman the next day.

Long story short, he went on to win the Grand National.

Now for the so-called truth. . .or is it?

It so happens that another ship left for England at the same time as the boat carrying Moifaa. There were two horses aboard, both bound for the Grand National.

It was actually the SS Thermopylae that managed to get stuck on the reef off Table Bay just off the Cape of Good Hope.

An Australian-bred gelding named Kiora/Koira did survive that shipwreck and ran against Moifaa.

Moifaa found the bigger-than-normal fences suited his height and his jumping ability and took out the 1904 Grand National.

Moifaa has been inducted into the NZ Racing Hall of Fame, nominated by the Waipukurau Jockey Club.