The little horse who won hearts and a great race

As only one of two women to have trained the winner in the 99-year history of the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m), New Zealander Moira Murdoch holds a special place in the folklore of one of the world’s greatest races.

Murdoch was able to rekindle some of those memories when getting up close with the 2020 Cox Plate on Friday, which is currently touring New Zealand to mark the centenary year of the great race.

The 1994 edition of the event was jam-packed with the equine superstars of the time, however, it was a nuggety little gelding named Solvit, who cost just $4500 as a yearling, that stole the show and created a legacy for Murdoch.

Murdoch is the first to admit it could have been a completely different story if one of New Zealand’s training legends in Jim Gibbs had decided to push the boat out a little further when bidding at the 1990 yearling sale where Solvit was purchased.

Murdoch and her husband Mike, along with Doug Alderslade and his wife Adrienne (Mike’s sister), had decided they were keen to purchase a horse from the sale at Karaka so went along with a view to inspecting youngsters by somewhat unheralded stallion Morcon.

“We went to the sales that year to have a look at two by Morcon as we liked the look of him as a sire,” Murdoch said.

“He (Solvit) was the only one in as the other had been withdrawn, so we took a look at him and liked what we saw.

“We were very fortunate as Jimmy Gibbs was also interested but he stopped bidding otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to afford him.

“We actually had $10,000 in the kitty and the balance went on a rather unmemorable filly the next day, who went on and did nothing. We would have been better keeping that money in our pockets so it does show you don’t always get it right.”

Despite his small stature, Solvit showed plenty of promise as a two-year-old, winning two of his five starts as a juvenile but also displaying his aversion to running the right-handed way of going with several wayward performances.

“He was reasonably wayward as a baby,” Murdoch said.

“He had a very short back and a huge stride so his legs sort of went everywhere. He struggled a little right-handed as he used to run off.

“He ran off in a couple of his two-year-old starts even though he raced well.

“He ran off very badly at Pukekohe when he won his first race, he missed the jump and was almost out of the picture and then just arrived.

“Once he got control of his legs, he got a lot better even though he still used to roll off the rail going that way later in life.”

Murdoch knew she had something special on her hands during Solvit’s three-year-old campaign where he won back-to-back stakes races in the Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1600m) and Gr.3 Waikato Guineas (1600m) but it was as a four-year-old that he really made his mark.

“We took him to Australia as a late three-year-old for the Alastair Clark (Listed, 1600m) but he got travel sick and didn’t go any good,” she said.

“We went back home and then came back again and won the Waterford Crystal Mile (Gr.3, 1600m) at Moonee Valley.

“That was the race that convinced us that that was the course for him and we thought he would get the 2000m so the Cox Plate was always in our sights from that point of view.

“He loved going left-handed and loved to scoot along the rail and once he had established his racing style, he became a hard, front running type who set a high cruising speed and just didn’t slow down.

“He was a hard horse to catch and at the Valley it made him hard to beat.”

A Group One victory at home in the New Zealand Stakes (2000m) in the summer of 1993 saw Solvit establish his elite level credentials and later that year he contested his first Cox Pate, finishing a gallant second behind fellow kiwi, The Phantom Chance.

12 months later came his moment of triumph where he led virtually all the way in the 1994 edition of the race, downing another kiwi legend in Rough Habit by a short head and providing Murdoch with the thrill of a lifetime.

“It was a massive field when you go back through and see who was in it that year,” Murdoch said.

“River Verdon was the champion Hong Kong galloper at the time and there were the likes of Jeune and Redding, who had won the Derby.

“We were sitting behind the owners of Rough Habit and I think they thought they had won but I was pretty sure we had held on.

“They were wonderful about it all and it was nice that they had sat all the kiwis together which is something that Moonee Valley does really well.”

Murdoch still has many vivid memories of the victory and the aftermath including a slightly unorthodox celebration later that evening.

“We were staying with trainer David Brideoake and his family as we were very good friends through a showjumping connection we had,” she said.

“It was all a bit of a daze straight after the race but later on we were all driving home in the car with the horse on behind and it started to sink in that we had actually done it.

“We had David’s kids with us and because of that we went to a local pizza restaurant down in Mornington for dinner and to celebrate.

“It doesn’t sound that posh but it really was quite flash.

“I went back about four years ago and the guy still remembered us and said hi which was quite cool.”

The recognition that goes with winning a major race is something that Murdoch has found has stood the test of time and is something that she loves most about the thoroughbred racing industry.

“You meet a lot of lovely people that make it really special,” she said.

“As I’m still one of just two women trainers to have won it, that also makes it quite special.

“It did change our lives a lot as we bought a little horse at the sales, bought him hoping to maybe win a trial and sell him to make some money and look what he turned into.

“We met people that we still have relationships with today and that’s the thing about racing and good horses, they take you far and wide where you meet so many people that have an impact on you and your lives.” Solvit contested the 1995 running of the Cox Plate to no avail and was retired later in the season with a record of 15 wins from 52 starts with $2.1 million in stakes earnings.