Legends Day is just over a week away and we can't wait to see who'll claim our two Group 1 features - gaining legendary status in their own right.
To make the day all the more special, our friends at LOVERACING.NZ have arranged for 9 legends of the track (now retired) to return to Te Rapa for pats, adoration and to celebrate the athletes that make our sport great.
We can't wait to welcome Mufhasa, Bostonian, Seachange, Catalyst, Werther, Ping Hai Star, Tallyho Twinketoe, Rangipo and On the Rocks to the course and, to give you a taste of just how legendary these racehorses are, we've rounded up some of the key successes they've achieved.
In 'Part 2' we're celebrating Werther, Ping Hai Star, Tallyho Twinketoe, Rangipo and On the Rocks.
Missed 'Part 2'? Check it out here.
Without further ado...
Werther and Ping Hai
We’re lucky enough to, once again, be having Werther and Ping Hai Star join us, taking time off from their all-important role as ‘nanny’ for every equine from kids ponies to injured racehorses.
Both horses are Hong Kong legends, with Werther a triple Group 1 winner and dual Hong Kong Horse of the Year and Ping Hai Star a HK$18m Hong Kong Derby winner. They live a life of retired comfort at Highden Park and Sam and Libby Bleakley are thrilled to be able to provide them with that opportunity.
Werther was raised at Highden Park before going on to the care of Andrew Campbell who trained him to victories in the G2 Championship Stakes and G2 Eagle Farm Cup and placings in the G3 Manawatu Classic, the G1 Queensland and G1 South Australian Derbys.
He was then sold to Hong Kong interests and he went on to make his mark in the Asian racing jurisdiction, winning a plethora of the nation’s prestigious races and more than HK$54 million in prizemoney.
He also performed well in his sole start in Japan, finishing runner-up in the G1 Takarazuka Kinen.
Ping Hai Star, when taking out the $18m Derby, clocked 2m 01.18s, the fastest time in 19 runnings since the four-year-old feature was upped to 2000 metres back in 2018.
Ping Hai Star has the overall record of six wins and four placings from 12 starts and won over $17m in prizemoney.
“It goes without saying just how proud and delighted we are to have Sardine (Werther) and Ping here at Highden Park and living their best life,” Libby Bleakley said.
“Looking out at them in their paddock each morning brings a smile to my face and to be able to give them a loving forever home is our pleasure."
WATCH: Werther's 2016 Hong Kong Derby win
Tallyho Twinkletoe
A legend on both sides of the Tasman, Champion jumper Tallyho Twinkletoe has etched his name into Australasian jumping history, becoming the first horse since 1930 to win both Australia's Grand National Hurdle and Steeplechase in the same season.
Trained by Kevin Myers, the 11-year-old gelding made history again by completing the New Zealand and Australian Grand National Hurdle and Steeplechase double, securing his 11th victory from 15 starts over fences.
Purchased for just $9000 at the 2012 New Zealand Bloodstock South Island Sale, Tallyho Twinkletoe, affectionately known as 'Albee,' won 15 of his 33 career starts, earning over $667,000 in prizemoney.
With his impressive stamina and jumping ability, it will come as no surprise that Albee is thriving in his life after racing with Tiffany Loasby enjoying taking to the field once again, this time with Taupō Hunt Club.
WATCH: Tallyhoe Twinkle Toe's incredible life after racing
Rangipo
Immortalised forever as the horse that ‘Derby King’ Vinnie Colgan was aboard when he took out his sixth win in the G1 New Zealand Derby, Rangipo is a true champion.
In his three-year-old season, the Tony Pike-trained Rangipo was a force to be reckoned with. Winning both the G2 Waikato Guineas and the G2 Avondale Cup he put the G1 NZ Derby in his sights. Finding the line in breath-taking fashion, he triumphed in the 2016 edition of the G1 feature, making it 3 wins in a row, cementing his status as a legend.
He won 8 races and had 3 placings across 32 starts over his career for over $760,000 of prize money with 7 of those wins coming in his aforementioned 3YO season.
He retired to the home of his former trackwork rider and multiple G1 winning jockey Mark Hills who commented “I wanted him to have a really good home and a really good life so he ended up here and that’s what he’s got!”
WATCH: Rangipo living the good life
On the Rocks
On the Rocks is no stranger to Te Rapa, having taking out the 2019 running of the G1 Herbie Dyke Stakes with the 2025 edition of the Group 1 feature one of the highlights of Saturday’s Legends Day.
On the Rocks was already a dual Group 2 winner before he went into the $400,000 Group 1 Herbie Dyke Stakes at Te Rapa having triumphed in the G2 Auckland Guineas and the G2 Rich Hill Mile.
With an impressive performance in New Zealand’s richest (at the time) weight-for-age race, On the Rocks will be remembered, especially on Legends Day, for years to come.
He was retired in 2023 with co-trainer Pam Gerard commenting at the time, “we’ve been lucky enough to secure a very good home for him which is more important [than winning].
“He’s going to Dylan Ferguson and Jo Stevens and their three-year-old daughter Gracie, and he absolutely loves her. No doubt we’ll see him out in the show ring.”
WATCH: On the Rocks in the Herbie Dyke Stakes (a chat with Pam Gerard)
We'd love to welcome you oncourse to Legends Day on Saturday, 8 February. Hospitality is all-but-sold-out but general admission is free to all. Each of our 'legends' will be available for pats and photos prior to parading with the fields of the day's races. Check back closer to the time for the race allocation.
Use the link below for more information.