An unassuming stayer destined to be a jumper due to his grumpy nature, Polo Prince would go from rural Woodville to winning the 1964 Melbourne Cup

In 1964, POLO PRINCE achieved a significant milestone for Woodville, surpassing the previous attempts of its esteemed predecessors, ILUMQUH and HOWSIE to win the prestigious Melbourne Cup. The bustling training center had long awaited a cause for celebration, and Polo Prince delivered precisely that. It is worth noting that Howsie and Ilumquh were narrowly defeated by the Palmerston North mare, HI JINX, in the centenary Melbourne Cup of 1960, and three years later, Ilumquh was defeated by GATUM GATUM.

In 1950, Trelawney Stud owner Seton Otway upon returning from Britain, purchased the successors to the highly successful sire FOXBRIDGE, namely MARCO POLO II and KHORASSAN. A significant factor in Otway's achievements to date had been made possible by the exceptional sire Foxbridge (GB), whom he purchased in 1935 for 2,765 guineas. A super-sire of his era, Foxbridge headed the NZ sire’s premiership for 11 straight seasons, dominating the racing scene in the 1940s. A sense of his dominance was recorded at Ellerslie on Boxing day in 1944. Six of the winners on the eight-race card were sired by Foxbridge. Khorassan would sire the great TULLOCH who was arguably become the most famous horse to come off Trelawney.

Foaled in 1958, POLO PRINCE was by the sire MARCO POLO II (La Pacha) from the mare SOU'EAST (Ruthless). The dams mother, LIGHT FANTASTIC (1942) is a historic New Zealand Thoroughbred broodmare whose legacy is defined by her prestigious pedigree, being sired by the legendary English stallion Foxbridge out of the mare TRIPPING (1915 by Nigger Minstrel). She is well known among racing historians for her strong female family, which traces back to DAINTY STEP.

The stallion FOXBRIDGE had already produced Melbourne Cup winners: HIRAJI (1947), FOXZAMI (1949), MaCDOUGAL (1959), and HI-HINX (1960) by this point, as the roster of champions continued to expand for Trelawney Stud. This period would be characterised by New Zealand-bred elite stayers, many of whom were also owned and trained locally, securing the Melbourne Cup 14 times between 1952 and 1972.

POLO PRINCE was trained at Woodville under the guidance of John Carter, who established his racing career as one of New Zealand's most skilled jumping riders. Carter was entrusted with the horse's training by owner 'Lucky' Laurie Davis, owing to his proficiency as a hurdles and steeplechase rider, in the event that Polo Prince did not perform adequately in flat races and could be developed into a nice hurdler due to his temperament and staying qualities. Unfortunately Polo Prince was not known for the sunny nature his owners possessed. The crotchety youngster was sent to former top jumps jockey turned-trainer John Cater to be taught some manners and for a potential career over jumps. Carter recognised some genuine talent and thoughts of a jumping career were put on hold.

Laurie Davis was known as ‘Lucky’ due to an extremely successful TAB bet, a lottery win, and his overall good fortune on the racecourse. Davis was living in Mangere when one refreshing Saturday morning he took a double at Te Awamutu with MANGERE (first leg) and REFRESHING. He coupled the pair for three quid and collected 18,846 quid when the result came in. Davis purchased a small rural property with the winnings and gifted a 120 guinea mare named SOU'EAST to his wife Edna. She named the resulting foal (from a mating to Marco Polo II), POLO PRINCE, not only because of the name of his sire but because of her husband's keen interest in polo. The horse was provided with ample opportunities to demonstrate its capabilities, competing in 41 races as a three, four, and five-year-old. During this period, Polo Prince achieved six victories, yet the gelding did not exhibit the performance level comparable to that of other local heroes, Ilumquh or Howsie.

But POLO PRINCE showed his staying ability as a five-year-old, winning the Woodville Cup, with dual seconds placings in the 1964 Auckland Cup to the Ivan Robinson trained SENOR (Le Filou) and the Wellington Cup to GAY FILOU, so cementing the idea to tackle the two-mile Melbourne Cup event as a realistic proposition. Polo Prince exemplified the quintessential New Zealand thoroughbred of that era; characterised by a lean physique, resilience at the endurance trip, and extensive racing experience, which significantly contributed to Trelawney's remarkable achievements over that two-decade period.

Owner Lucky Davis and trainer Carter demonstrated their commitment by retaining Polo Prince's regular New Zealand jockey, Ron Taylor, for the Melbourne campaign, despite Taylor's previous disciplinary issues with New Zealand stewards. He had only picked up the ride on Polo Prince for the Woodville Cup after his original ride broke down on the Thursday, so he rung up Johnny Carter and asked if he had a horse for him. The team stayed loyal to Taylor from that point on and it paid off as Taylor's performance during his time in Melbourne was exemplary.

Carter and Taylor spent six weeks at their Victorian location, however, the horse did not acclimate to the Melbourne environment well during the initial three-week period and did nothing in three runs. Nevertheless, once the horse's condition improved and he started eating properly, Polo Prince demonstrated a significant transformation. Ron Taylor was frustrated with how the horse was going and was ready to pack his bags and bugger off back home to New Zealand after failing to get any extra rides in Melbourne. The barman at the hotel where he was staying convinced Ron he had a job to do and couldn't leave without seeing it all out.

At one point, Johnny Carter had concluded that the horse would not recover and we should take him home, but owner Davis insisted on "just one more run" and Polo Prince turned the corner when finishing fourth in the Moonee Valley Gold Cup after being two lengths clear in front at the 50m. They then took the easy option of the LKS Mackinnon Stakes on the Saturday prior to Cup Day Tuesday. Having run an excellent fourth in the VRC Mackinnon Stakes - won convincingly by Cup favourite SIR DANE - Polo Prince was allotted just 8 st 3 lb (52 kg) for the cup. He was backed in from 20/1 to 12/1 on the Cup eve to win, with the Bookies worried by the influx of late money on the Kiwi horse.

A crowd of 85,000 people braved cold conditions to watch the six year old POLO PRINCE win 1964 Melbourne Cup in fine style by just over a length ridden by 23-year-old New Zealand jockey R. W. Taylor. Onlookers included Dawn Fraser, who had won gold at the Olympics of the same year in Tokyo. Taylor had Polo Prince perfectly positioned during the race and made his move once into the long Flemington straight. Three-year-old STRAUSS was running a great race, taking the field up to the tearaway, ROMANDA, then leading to the furlong post. Taylor hit the go button and Polo Prince dashed away at the Furlong mark in magnificent fashion with the rest of the pack left to chase. He went to the line a comfortable winner over another Kiwi horse, ELKAYEL, ridden by Grenville Hughes, with WELLTOWN third. POLO PRINCE won just a fraction outside the track record time in 3:19.60. The Australians claim on a clear Melbourne day when the winds blowing just right, you can still hear Ronnie Taylor screaming at POLO PRINCE down the Flemington straight.

Ron soon left the course and went round the corner to the hotel where he grabbed a jug of beer and sat watching the replay on T.V. A few guys nearby reckoned he looked a bit like that guy on the telly, with Ron telling them, "It’s me." He never had to pay for a beer after declaring his identity as the Melbourne Cup winning jockey, but was still miffed at being ignored by the Melbourne stables in his time there. He'd never ridden in Australia or in the Cup, but would go on to enjoy a 26 year long career in the saddle.

POLO PRINCE came back home and ran in the Auckland Cup once again, but was never able to recaptured his Melbourne form of 1964. The Melbourne Cup saga for Ron Taylor wasn't over as he combined with RED CREST to run second to RED HANDED in the 1967 Cup. In contrast to today's massive stake money, of more than $10 million, Davis picked up $38,500 for Polo Prince's victory which was still a massive windfall. New Zealand bred horse’s would win six more Melbourne Cups over the next ten years, including LIGHT FINGERS (1965), GALILEE (1966), RED HANDED (1967), BAGHDAD NOTE (1970), SILVER KNIGHT (1971) and THINK BIG (1974) who would win again in 1975. Subsequently, VAN DER HUM, GOLD AND BLACK, ARWON, and HYPERNO would collectively usher in a golden era for Kiwi breeders in the esteemed race over the ensuing decade.

Sadly, Polo Prince died in 1973 after being struck by a car several years after his racing career ended, though the specifics of the tragic road accident were never heavily documented in racing archives. The 1964 Melbourne Cup fetched $140,300 at a 2018 auction in Sydney. The nine-carat gold trophy, won by New Zealand horse, had been held in a private Queensland collection since 1999. The buyer paid more than $50,000 over the estimated sale price and wanted to remain anonymous.