Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 23. Chapters: Makybe Diva, Lonhro, Sunline, Northerly, Might and Power, Weekend Hussler, Kingston Town, Miss Andretti, Strawberry Road, Better Loosen Up, Gunsynd, Let's Elope, Jeune, Bonecrusher, Octagonal, Emancipation, Saintly, Rain Lover, Vain, Leilani, Manikato, Placid Ark, Rose of Kingston, Hyperno, Red Anchor, Mahogany. Excerpt: Makybe Diva (GB) is a British-bred, Australian-trained Thoroughbred who became the first racehorse to win the famed Melbourne Cup on three occasions: 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2005, she also won the Cox Plate. Makybe Diva is the highest stakes-earner in Australasian horse racing history, with winnings of more than A$14 million when she retired on 1 November 2005. Makybe Diva is one of only five horses to have won the Cup more than once in the long history of the event, which was first run in 1861. The others are Archer, in 1861 and 1862, Peter Pan, in 1932 and 1934, Rain Lover, in 1968 and 1969, and Think Big, in 1974 and 1975. Makybe Diva is the only mare among the list of multiple winners, and is one of only 14 female horses (11 mares and three fillies) to have won the Cup. She is by Desert King (a winner of the Irish Derby and Irish 2,000 Guineas) out of Tugela by Riverman (USA). Tugela was also the dam of the Australian stakes-winners, Musket and Valkyrie Diva. Makybe Diva is owned by South Australian tuna fisherman Tony santic, who named her after five of his employees - Maureen, Kylie, Belinda, Diane, and Vanessa - by taking the first two letters from each of their names. The Makybe Diva story began in 1998 in England. Tony santic's bloodstock agent John Foote purchased Tugela in foal to Desert King for 60,000 guineas at the December 1998 Tattersall's Sale. As normally happens with Santic's British-purchased horses, she was taken to Dick Fowlston's Britton House Stud in Somerset to board before being sent on to Australia. Tugela gave birth to a bay filly weighing 55 kilograms (120 lb) at five minutes past midnight on 21 March 1999. The filly was offered for sale at the 1999 Tatts Newmarket foal sale but did not make the reserve. Named Makybe Diva, the filly remained at Britton House Stud until August 2000 when she and Tugela were shipped to Australia. Originally trained by David Hall, Makybe Diva made her racetrack debut in late-July 2002, as a three-year-old,