Cover image courtesy of Sportpix
In the era that Rogan Josh won the Melbourne Cup, which was 1999 for those that don’t recall, ‘the race that stops a nation’ was in its oldest, fullest pelt. It was the race that everyone dreamt of, when local song and story were king.
In that era, the Cup was won by the likes of Doriemus (NZ) (Norman Pentaquad {USA}), Saintly (Sky Chase {NZ}), Might And Power (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) and Brew (NZ) (Sir Tristram {Ire}), and when the affable Rogan Josh won it, he fell right into the realm of the big dreamers.
Rogan Josh was bred in Capel, Western Australia, in 1992 by local man Tom Forrest. Forrest, a veteran of war and a good, everyday, hard-on-his-luck bloke, had his theories on breeding racehorses. He didn't have the money for the best stallions, but believed the sixth generation of a family would cough up a champion, and so he held on to his mares and bred them with the Cup in sight.
Rogan Josh (light blue and white silks) winning the 1999 Melbourne Cup | Image courtesy of Sportpix
In 1992, when Rogan Josh came along, the horse was a son of the Group-placed Eastern Mystique (Hammed {NZ}). He was a big horse and, in a family negotiation, retained by Forrest’s daughter, Wendy Green, for $7500.
The gelding began racing at the age of five. He went from the knockabout stable of Marcus Forrest, Wendy’s brother, to the yard of Perth trainer Colin Webster. In Webster’s hands, he won the Listed Pinjarra Cup and G3 Bunbury Cup, going down a head to King Of Saxony (Spartan Valley {USA}) in the G2 Perth Cup on New Year’s Day, 1999.
It was that day at Ascot Racecourse that Webster stood next to Bart Cummings, and, in the months that followed, Rogan Josh relocated to Cummings in Melbourne.
The alliance lasted only half the year, but that’s all that was needed because, in Cummings’ care, Rogan Josh landed the only race that mattered to Tommy Forrest. He won the Melbourne Cup.
Bart Cummings (holding the Melbourne Cup trophy) and connections of Rogan Josh celebrating his Melbourne Cup victory | Image courtesy of Sportpix
The gelding raced twice more after his famous victory, but without success. His final appearance was at Sha Tin in the G2 Hong Kong Vase in 1999, but after finishing fifth, he was retired.
Because he’d been a pin-up of Australian racing, and because his story had resonated so well, Rogan Josh earned a spot at Living Legends, where he lived out the rest of his life until June 24 last year. On that day, he was euthanised with colic complications at the age of 25.
So many of that era’s champions had lived out their lives around him… Might And Power and paddock mate Doriemus. These were darlings of the Australian turf in racing and in retirement.
Gallery: Some of the Australian champions in the 1990s era who lived out their retirement with Rogan Josh, images courtesy of Sportpix
Rogan Josh was the last surviving Cup winner of the 1900s. He won close to $2.7 million across 13 races and seven placings. He was the 11th Cup winner for Bart Cummings.
Wendy Green spent much of her horse's retirement travelling Australia with his story, and right up to his death, Rogan Josh was the centre of Green’s world. The outback schoolteacher has vivid memories still of the big horse that delivered the family dream.
“Fate wins Melbourne Cups,” she told Max Presnell some years ago. Is that still the case?
