Former Horsham racehorse Surprise Baby has retired from racing, less than two years after she was Melbourne Cup favourite.
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Trainer Gavin Bedggood told Racing.com the decision to call time on the star racehorse's career was not made lightly.
"He had obviously reached his pinnacle and (was) probably unlucky not to have won a Melbourne Cup," Bedggood told Racing.com, referencing a hairline fracture sustained in February 2021 that kept Surprise Baby off the track for a year.
"His injury was well publicised and even though there was no issues with the horse, we were just of the belief that he was never going to climb the scale that he did in previous campaigns.
He was never going to climb the scale that he did in previous campaigns.
- Gavin Bedggood
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"We didn't want to be seen as just sending him around so in his best interest we decided he would be retired."
Bedggood took over training of the prize thoroughbred after it left the care of Horsham trainer Paul Presuker in June 2021, after 14 starts.
At the 7-year-old geldings peak, Surprise Baby ran 5th in the 2019 Melbourne Cup, and was favourite to win the race in 2020, before finishing 13th.
Surprise Baby was born in September 2014 in New Zealand, the son of 2009 Melbourne Cup winner Shocking and dam Bula Baby.
Owner Fiteni and Preusker purchased Surprise Baby in 2018, for just $NZ5,500 via online auction site Gavelhouse.
The star racehorse's biggest win came in its sixth start when it won the TAB Adelaide Cup in March 2019, defeating favourite Top of the Range.
In its final race, Surprise Baby finished 11th at the Chairmans Handicap in April 2022 before the decision was made to rehome the star.
According to racing.com, Surprise Baby will be ridden as a pony club horse at its new home.
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Alex Blain
I am a general news/sports journalist with the Wimmera Mail-Times in Horsham. My work has appeared in the Age, the Geelong Advertiser, the Australian, the Jakarta Globe and across the airwaves on Radio Australia.
I am a general news/sports journalist with the Wimmera Mail-Times in Horsham. My work has appeared in the Age, the Geelong Advertiser, the Australian, the Jakarta Globe and across the airwaves on Radio Australia.
