'She was a special one' - Melbourne Cup heroine Verry Elleegant dies after complications giving birth

Verry Elleegant, the brilliant Australian racemare whose finest moment came when winning the 2021 Melbourne Cup, has died following complications giving birth.

Retired in 2022 after a stunning career on the track, she had been in foal to Sea The Stars but was three weeks overdue and could not be saved during a breech birth. The foal died too.

Trained by Chris Waller for most of her career, Verry Elleegant won 11 Group 1s including an impressive four-length triumph in the Flemington showpiece in November 2021 under James McDonald. She also landed the Caulfield Cup a year earlier and was the 2020-21 Australian Horse of the Year.

The star mare was transferred to Francis Graffard in 2022 for an ambitious European campaign and a tilt at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. She never ran in that race and was winless in four starts in Europe, including when ninth behind Emily Upjohn on Champions Day at Ascot in October 2022.

McDonald, who partnered her to nine of those Group 1 triumphs, told Australian radio station SEN: "It was unbelievable to receive the news, it just doesn't feel real. I don't really get too emotional, but it brought a little tear to my eye.

"I had a pretty big soft spot [for her]. She arguably gave me my greatest day on a track in my life. She was such a great horse and she wore her heart on her sleeve every time. She was a special one."

Verry Elleegant: stormed to an impressive victory in the 2021 Melbourne CupCredit: Robert Cianflone / Getty

Her other two victories at the highest level came under Mark Zahra, including when denying 2019 Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck by a head in the 2020 Caulfield Cup.

He said: "She always holds a special place with me as it was my first major win in a Caulfield Cup. She gave 110 per cent every start and you knew if she was in a photo-finish, she'd beat any horse around her."

Verry Elleegant earned more than £8.1 million in prize-money during her glittering career. The Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes, which she won in 2021 and 2022, has been renamed the Verry Elleegant Stakes by the Australian Turf Club and takes place at Randwick on March 2.

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