From Phar Lap to Sunline, if a NZ horse does well, the West Islanders will claim it as their own.
Nothin' new there! The Brits have laid claim to the many horses that were bred and trained in Ireland that then went on to become part of British racing legend.
Although one horse's legend lives in the Irish song with words and music by Dominic Behan : (Mighty Millhouse) "ARKLE"
"It happened in the Springtime of the year of 'sixty four,
When Englishmen were making pounds and fivers by the score. He beat them in the hollows and he beat them on the bumps. A pair of fancy fetlocks he showed them o'er the jumps.
Verse II:
He's English! he's English! As English as you've seen
A little bit of Arab stock and more from Stephen's Green*
Take a look at Mill House and throw out your chest with pride
He's the greatest steeplechaser on the English countryside."
(*Stephen's Green is in Dublin.)
I won't bore you with the next five verses!
The great horse was riden by Pat Taffe whom I had the privilege of meeting when in Ireland in 1972! The horse was bred by Mrs. Lawlor's stable (The lady is a distant cousin!)
Puffed up with pride in a great Irish horse emoticon
And, being Irish with horse love in the veins, I send a deep bow to the great Phar Lap.
