A - Z New Zealand Cup : X

There are 3 days to the New Zealand Cup

From now to November 10 we will feature some of the great races, horses and personalities with a new letter for each day.

X = X factor

There are many X factor horses that haven’t won the New Zealand Cup. Young Quinn was third twice in 1973 and 1974, Delightful Lady was second in 1980’s epic duel with Hands Down, and Master Musician was second twice to Bee Bee Cee and Chokin.

Then there’s the hard luck story that is Tiger Tara. The winner of 37 races including seven Group Ones raced in five New Zealand Cups, finishing second twice behind Thefixer (2018) and Lazarus (2016) and also third in 2017 (Lazarus). Initially the horse was trained by Geoff Dunn before heading to Kevin Pizzuto. He earned just shy of $2.5m