EQUINE WELFARE
2018 Lexus Melbourne Cup winner Cross Counter is enjoying a new career courtesy of the Godolphin Lifetime Care program. When Cross Counter stormed down the Flemington straight to win the 2018 Lexus Melbourne Cup, he finally delivered the race that Godolphin had coveted more than any other around the world. The son of Teofilo was having just his eighth career start and was the brightest young stayer in the world. He would win the $2 million Dubai Gold Cup at his next start, which was sadly his last career win as niggling injuries would allow for just seven more appearances before his retirement, including an eighth in his return to Flemington for the 2019 Lexus Melbourne Cup behind Vow And Declare. Cross Counter was a star, but as a gelding there would be no career at stud for him. In Australia, the Living Legends property at Oaklands serves as a retirement home of sorts for gelded champions like Cross Counter, but Godolphin, the world’s biggest racing and breeding organisation, look after their horses a little differently. At Newmarket in the heart of European thoroughbred country, Cross Counter is embarking on the next phase of his life – not so much a life of retirement, but a life open to opportunity as a part of Godolphin’s Lifetime Care rehoming program. The program takes in retired geldings that have worn Godolphin’s famous royal blue colours and retrains them for a life after racing. Anything from show jumping, dressage and equestrian competition, polo and everything in between has been achieved by graduates of the program and Rehoming Manager Cilla Leonard has been thrilled by what has been achieved globally. CROSSING INTO NEW PASTURES BY MICHAEL SHARKIE
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