A tribute to a racing legend

[ScottyMac]

Just a quick note, not sure if it has been brought up anywhere, but just wanted to recognise Shogun Lodge's place in the history of Australian Racing.

13 victories (three group 1 wins) 20 places (12 seconds in group 1 races) won 4.6 million dollars.

Top horse and part of Aussie racing forever now.

A nice way to finish this i thought was to quote his trainer Bob Thomsen:

"This horse's heart wasn't far behind Phar Lap's. I have trained champion horses and he is right up there with them."

[HAL]

Wow. . . . . thats cheap

[2 PIES IN CAIRNS]

Yeah, good post ScottyMac.
Thought the horse was in for a special few months too after his first two runs this campaign.
It's not very often Bob Thomsen is seen in tears. Must admit I nearly joined him.

[Donny]

World grieves for Shogun Lodge
By Eden Harrington - Fox Sports
November 10, 2003

AN outpouring of grief from around the globe has descended on Bob Thomsen's Randwick stable in the wake of Shogun Lodge's death at Flemington.

The passing of one of the country's highest stakes earners placed a sound cloud over the Melbourne Spring carnival.

For Thomsen the heartache was deep as Shogun Lodge was his favourite. He was touched by a beast with a rare charisma, who had the distinction of instilling hope and passion in success or defeat.

"The tributes to him have been unbelievable," Thomsen said yesterday.

"We have had over 70 emails, 30 SMS messages and the numerous phone calls to the house and stables.

"They have come from the USA, New Zealand, England and Canada. People who have followed him.

"To know that people thought that much to sit down and send an email ... it's a great tribute to the horse."

Shogun Lodge died after suffering what was thought to be a massive heart attack during the running of Saturday's Group One Emirates Stakes at Flemington.

The heartache is still raw but Thomsen said there is unlikely to ever be closure.

Trainers are horse lovers, but few wear their feelings as prominently as the man who conditioned "Shogun".

The trainer admitted returning home has settled him somewhat yet pictures of his mate adorn the walls of his home and stable - images of triumph and elation burned into the memory bank.

Yet Thomsen is felled just as easily by the simplest of stories.

"I remember the good things about him," he said.

"Like on Friday morning the blacksmith was checking his shoes and a young girl at the stable walked down and said 'Mr Thomsen can I pat him?'

"She was patting him," Thomsen said just before his emotions unravel, "and she said to him 'You know you're really famous' ... just little things like that."

Glen Boss won a Melbourne Cup on Tuesday but last week is one he would rather not live again.

The hoop partnered the chestnut in two of his three Group One wins and in many of his near misses and remains tormented by the look Shogun Lodge gave him as he collapsed at Flemington.

"I said to Bob through the week 'If this horse wins the Emirate it will make my year' because it might have been his Group One swansong," Boss said.

"He felt so perfect, he was cherry ripe, we did everything we could with him.

"To see the horse on the ground like that was terribly upsetting."

The hardened veneer of trainer John Hawkes melts when asked what he made of Shogun Lodge.

Like Thomsen he is a horseman, first and foremost.

"[Shogun Lodge] was a great horse. You don't like to see that happen to any horse least of all to those sort of horses that have earned their stripes," he said.

"You would like to see them in a nice paddock.

"It is disappointing for everyone when you see that happen but a horse of that calibre is a huge loss to racing.

"I'd like to have a few bloody like him."