Rogan Josh, a 7 year old gelding who hails from Western Australia, went from obscurity to national prominence in the spring of 1999, which culminated in victory in Australia's greatest race, the Foster's Melbourne Cup.
After a narrow loss in the 1998 Perth Cup, Rogan Josh - owned by Wendy Green - was transferred to the Cups King, Bart Cummings and set on the Cups trail. He came to notice with a strong win in the Perrier Stakes on Caulfield Cup day, which qualified him for that race. He ran a bold 4th to Sky Heights in the Caulfield Cup, after a tough run in which he was at least 8 horses wide leaving the straight the first time before pushing up to the lead, which he surrendered only halfway down the straight. He appeared next in the Group 1 WFA MacKinnon Stakes, and surprised with a strong victory. He was then elevated to second favourite for the Melbourne Cup, and with 50kg, proved to strong for Godolphin's Central Park to give Bart an historic 11th Melbourne Cup victory.
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