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Bonecrusher Dies

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It has been with great sadness that the Mitchell family (owners) and the Ritchie family (trainers) have announced the passing of the people's champion, Bonecrusher, in his thirty-third year. 

He has been humanely euthanized after contracting laminitis (the same hoof disease that caused the death of the champion mare, Sunline). 

Bonecrusher will forever be part of Australasian racing folk law. Not since the great Phar Lap, who was also a striking chestnut, has a horse captured the imagination of the Australasian racing public. Who will ever forget the "Race of the Century" and Bill Collin's famous call when Bonecrusher raced into equine immortality with his victory over Waverley Star in the 1986 Cox Plate. 

He was the first thoroughbred to earn a million dollars in New Zealand, achieving that milestone at the age of three. He was ridden in all but one of his wins by Gary Stewart, a jockey who grew another leg, when he piloted the "Crusher". 

What Bonecrusher did in his three and four-year-old seasons had never been done before in Australasia and is not likely to ever be repeated. As a three year old he won seven consecutive races, including the New Zealand Derby, Air New Zealand Stakes, Tancred Stakes and the AJC Derby. As a four year old he won five races including four Australian Group Ones being the Underwood Stakes, Caulfield Stakes, Cox Plate and Australian Cup. 

In his career he won nine Group One races and a total of eighteen races in all winning from 880 metres to 2400 metres with all but three of his wins being Group or Listed races. His total earnings were almost NZD $3,000,000.00.

Had he not been struck down by a severe virus in Japan in late 1986, which almost claimed his life, his record would surely have been incomparable. Although he was never quite the same he still continued to win Group Ones producing a mighty effort to catch the Melbourne Cup winner and Northern Hemisphere Stallion At Talaq in the Australasian Cup and went on to defeat Horlicks in the 1988 Air New Zealand Stakes. 

His final resting place will be at Ellerslie where a memorial will be erected in his honour. 



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