Racing Career
Balmerino was the champion three year-old of his year, winning both the New Zealand 2000 Guineas and New Zealand Derby. Those wins and his subsequent success against older horses in both the Air New Zealand Stakes and in races in Australia confirmed that he would be a landslide winner of the Horse of the Year award in New Zealand. He also won the Australian Three Year-Old of the Year award for the 1975-76 season.
Later in his career he travelled to the Northern Hemisphere and performed very well in some of the best races in Europe. He won the Group one (G1) Coppa d'Ora in Italy before being relegated to second place, and also ran second in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Coronation Cup, Eclipse Stakes and Gran Premio del Jockey Club.
Balmerino's best performance was in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, a race many consider him unlucky not to have won. He was second in a star-studded field to champion racehorse Alleged (Timeform rating 138).
During 1977 Balmerino had 39 starts in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, England, Italy and France for an extraordinay 21 wins 9 seconds, 1 third and stakes winnings for the equivalent of (AUD)$400,000. He was joint Champion Older Horse in both England and France for the 1977 seasons, and was awarded a Timeform rating of 133 in 1977 and 124 in 1978.
Read more about this topic: Balmerino (horse)
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