One of the cult heroes of New Zealand racing has passed away, with news coming through that former Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) winner and successful stallion Jimmy Choux was humanely euthanised earlier in the week.
The multiple Group One winner was the standout story of racing in New Zealand during the 2011 calendar year, where he captured four Group One titles and went within a length of a fifth when finishing runner-up to Pinker Pinker in the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) of that year.
His accomplishments for owners and breeders Richard and Liz Wood put fledgling trainer John Bary and former jumps jockey turned flat rider Jonathan Riddell on the map, with Bary quick to pay tribute to his mate and stable star.
“We got the news from his home at Rosalee Park Stud in Western Australia on Tuesday that he had to be humanely euthanized as he was suffering from nose cancer,” Bary said.
“It certainly brought back some very special memories, as he was such a lovely horse and a great character, and he put a novice trainer and a battling former jumps jockey on the map.
“The support he had from the general public was quite amazing, as they really seemed to take him to heart, and he returned that affection by trying his heart out every time we lined him up.
“He wasn’t a natural talent, but he had a big heart and a big brain, which meant he did things that a lot of horses couldn’t do. It would be great to have a few more like him in the stable.”
Bary nominated his 2011 New Zealand Derby win as one of his fondest memories and was philosophical about the lowlight, which was the narrow defeat in the Cox Plate later that year.
“He gave me my first stakes victory when he won the Wakefield Challenge Stakes at Trentham (Gr.2, 1200m) and then in his three-year-old season he won the Derby, which was worth $2.2 million at the time, which was just enormous for us all.
“He went close to becoming the first horse to complete the Triple Crown at Hastings as he finished runner-up in the Makfi Challenge Stakes (Gr.1, 1400m) before winning the next two legs,” he said.
“We took him to Australia for the Cox Plate, and he went so close to winning that day.
“Jonathan rode a ten out of ten race that day, and we got beaten by an eleven out of eleven effort by Craig Williams on Pinker Pinker.”
Following his successful racetrack career, Jimmy Choux found his way to Rich Hill Stud at Walton in the Waikato, where he produced Group One winners The Bostonian and Two Illicit amongst his five individual stakes winners.
“Jimmy was with us for eight seasons after his racetrack career,” Rich Hill principal John Thompson said.
“He was an easy horse to promote as he had such a following, and he left some very nice horses without quite reaching the heights we wanted him to.
“He had The Bostonian and Two Illicit but was probably a very good bread and butter stallion, and it is sad to hear about his demise as he was a lovely horse to have around the farm.
“The breeders here didn’t want to support him in the end, but he found a lovely home in West Australia.”
Jimmy Choux won twelve of his 26 starts and more than $3.6 million during his career on the track and produced 141 individual winners from his time at stud.
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