Lord Module

Lord Module (9 November 1974 – 8 April 1997)^[1] was a champion New Zealand-bred Standardbred racehorse who raced during the 1970s.

He is notable in that he won the New Zealand Trotting Cup, the richest harness race, and sometimes the richest horse race in New Zealand.^[2]

Arguably the most gifted of all Standardbreds and certainly he could have been the greatest of all but he was troubled throughout his career by bad feet; this led to him losing interest in racing and his subsequent retirement.

He won the New Zealand cup in 1979 but was banned the following year because of his unruly stable behaviour. However, in the final race of the carnival and against one of the best fields ever assembled he finished his career in the best possible way, coming from a hopeless position and storming to victory.

The race call by Reon Murtha is remembered word for word by many harness fans such was the emotion generated by the performance. Straight after the race the crowd stormed out of the stands towards the great horse as if the stands were on fire. Reon Murtha recalled in an interview (January 2007) how he choked back the tears saying it was the most emotional moment in his 47 years of race calling.

A recent poll of current reinsman highlighted their greatest ever horses, Lord Module was the only one who featured more than once of any horse mentioned from the 1950s through to the 1980s.

Lord Module won the following major races:

• 1979 New Zealand Trotting Cup

See also

• Harness racing in New Zealand

References