A Story From The Vault A STORY FROM THE VAULT
hospitals, aged care facilities….. you name it, he did it. He made an appearance at a Dubai World Cup and visited countless racetracks across the country and even made it up the lift in Crown Towers onto the roof top garden! He also made a regular cameo appearance at Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour events over the past 17 years. He displayed an unusual sense of empathy rarely seen with the horse and for many he was almost human. When on the road with handler Graham Salisbury, who only passed away two months prior, he often would make a bee-line to those most affected whether they be a young wheel chair bound child or an elderly But winning a Melbourne Cup would be half the story for Subzero as he proved such a great ambassador post racing being the star of Racing Victoria’s ‘Off the Track’ program. He visited schools, SUBZERO’S PASSING PAVED THE WAY FOR OFF THE TRACK PERFORMANCE By Joe McGrath There have been 160 Melbourne Cup winners, some multiple, throughout the history of the race. While the likes of Phar Lap (1930), Carbine (1890) and Maybe Diva (2003-05) are hard to top in terms of performance on the track, Subzero (1992) stands alone as a trail blazer off it. One of only six greys to win the race, Subzero was trained by Hall of Famer Lee Freedman and ridden mainly by multiple group one winning jockey, Greg Hall. He was noted for being relaxed, talented and capable of running out a strong two miles. A win in the Adelaide Cup earlier in 1992 was proof for those looking to earmark a prospective stayer for the spring. Subzero was purchased more or less to win a Golden Slipper but as many will know, genetics is an inexact science and it was realised early on sprinting was not his genre. Accordingly to Hall, he was so relaxed and an absolute joy to ride. ‘He was such a tractable horse…you could do a lot with him in the run’, Hall would often say on the road with the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour. “He made my dreams come true.”
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