Carbine

Carbine (1885–1914) was a champion New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won 30 principal races in New Zealand and Australia. He was very popular with racing fans, and sporting commentators of the day praised him for his gameness, versatility, stamina and weight-carrying ability, as well as for his speed. He was one of five inaugural inductees into both the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame and the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. Background Carbine was foaled at Sylvia Park Stud near Auckland, New Zealand on 18 September 1885. He was a bay stallion who was sired by the Ascot Stakes winner and successful sire Musket. His dam was the imported British mare Mersey, whose sire was Knowsley. Carbine was inbred to Brown Bess in the third and fourth generations. He was a half-brother to the stakes winning stallion Carnage who won the Victoria Derby, Champagne Stakes, Spring Stakes, and Essendon Stakes. When fully mature, Carbine stood about 16 hands 1 inch in height, possessed good conformation and temperament, although he had some foibles. Racing career During his career on the race track, Carbine started 43 times for 33 wins, six seconds and three thirds, failing to place only once due to a badly split hoof. Carbine, nicknamed "Old Jack", was undefeated in five starts in top-class races as a two-year-old in New Zealand. He then was taken to Australia, where he won nine of 13 starts as a three-year-old. One highlight that year was his win in the AJC Sydney Cup of 2 miles (3,220 metres) carrying 12 lb (5.5 kg) over weight-for-age. Despite suffering interference at the half-mile post and being buffeted back to last place, Carbine won by a head in a record time of 3 min 31 s. (Race times were slower in Carbine's era than now due, among other factors, to the rough state of tracks and the upright posture in the saddle assumed by 19th-century jockeys.) At the end of his three-year-old racing season, Carbine was sold by his owner-trainer Dan O'Brien for 3,000 guineas and prepared by his new owners for racing in Sydney and Melbourne.