Prince of Penzance

Prince of Penzance is a New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred race horse who won the 2015 Melbourne Cup. He was trained by Darren Weir, who has since been banned from horseracing & charged with animal cruelty offences.[5] In the race, he was ridden by Michelle Payne, who became the first female jockey to win the race.[4][1]

Prince of Penzance
Prince of Penzance winning the 2014 Moonee Valley Gold Cup with Michelle Payne
Sire	Pentire[1]
Grandsire	Be My Guest
Dam	Royal Successor[2]
Damsire	Mr Prospector
Sex	gelding[2]
Foaled	20 November 2009[2][3]
Country	New Zealand[1][4]
Color	Bay[2]
Breeder	Rich Hill Stud, Matamata[4]
Trainer	Darren Weir[1][4]
Major wins
Melbourne Cup (2015) Moonee Valley Cup (2014) Mornington Cup Prelude (2014)

Background

Prince of Penzance is a bay gelding with a white blaze bred by Rich Hill Stud in the Matamata region of New Zealand's North Island. He was sired by Pentire, a British horse who recorded his biggest win in the 1996 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and had his biggest success in New Zealand where he sired Mufhasa (Telegraph Handicap), Rangirangdoo (Doncaster Mile) and Xcellent as well as Prince of Penzance.[6] His dam Royal Successor is a daughter of the Irish-bred mare Only Royale who won the Yorkshire Oaks in 1993 and 1994.[7] The name is a reference to the place name of Penzance in Cornwall.

Racing career

Prince of Penzance's first notable win was in autumn 2014, in the Listed Mornington Cup Prelude.[2] Races in the remainder of the year, and in early 2015, resulted in wins and placings, including a win in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup, a second place in the Queen Elizabeth Handicap and a third in the Zipping Classic.[2] In the 2015 Melbourne Cup, Prince of Penzance started a 100/1 outsider in a 24-runner field. The Japanese challenger Fame Game was the 4/1 favourite ahead of British gelding Trip To Paris, the winner of the Ascot Gold Cup. Other overseas contenders included Max Dynamite, Bondi Beach and Kingfisher from Ireland, Big Orange (Goodwood Cup), Snow Sky (Hardwicke Stakes), Quest For More (Northumberland Plate) and Red Cadeaux from England and Hokko Brave from Japan. The best of the Australian-trained contingent appeared to be Preferment (Turnbull Stakes), Almoonqith (Geelong Cup) and Criterion (Australian Derby). Prince of Penzance was always travelling strongly, took the lead in the last 100 metres and won by half a length from Max Dynamite with Criterion in third.[8]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Prince Of Penzance (NZ), bay gelding, 2009[3]

Sire Pentire (GB) 1992	Be My Guest (USA) 1983	Northern Dancer	Nearctic
			Natalma
		What A Treat	Tudor Minstrel
			Rare Treat
	Gull Nook (GB) 1983	Mill Reef	Never Bend
			Milan Mill
		Bempton	Blakeney
			Hardiemma
Dam Royal Successor (USA) 1999	Mr Prospector (USA) 1970	Raise A Native	Native Dancer
			Raise You
		Gold Digger	Nashua
			Sequence
	Only Royale (IRE) 1989	Caerleon	Nijinsky
			Foreseer
		Etoile de Paris	Crowned Prince
			Place d'Etoile (Family: 9-e)[7]

References

1. Tom Decent and Greg Tourelle (3 November 2015). "Kiwi-bred Prince of Penzance wins Melbourne Cup". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
2. "Prince of Penzance (NZ)". Racing.com. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
3. "Prince Of Penzance pedigree". equineline.com.
4. Radio New Zealand and agencies (3 November 2015). "Prince of Penzance wins Melbourne Cup". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
5. "Darren Weir charged with animal cruelty offences". abc.net.au. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
6. "Pentire - Stud Record". Racing Post.
7. "Maid Of Masham - Family 9-e". Thoroughbred Bloodlines. Retrieved 2013-08-10.
8. "Melbourne Cup result". Racing Post.

Further reading

• Manning, Kristen (2016). Prince of Penzance: The Extraordinary 2015 Melbourne Cup. Melbourne: Melbourne Books. ISBN 9781922129987.
• Payne, Michelle (with Harms, John) (2017). Life as I know it (Revised ed.). Parkville, Vic: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 9780522870169.