{{Short description|Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2011}} {{Infobox racehorse | horsename = Subzero | image = 240px|Subzero | caption = | sire = Kala Dancer | grandsire = Niniski | dam = Wiley Trade | damsire = To Market | sex = Gelding | foaled = 26 September 1988<br>Australia | death_date= 29 August 2020 (aged 31)<br>Bendigo, Victoria, Australia | country = Australia | colour = Grey | breeder = Wakefield Stud Management, NSW | owner = D. H. K. Investments | trainer = Lee Freedman | record = 48: 6-6-5 | earnings = $2,008,100 | race = South Australian Derby (1992)<br>Adelaide Cup (1992)<br>Melbourne Cup (1992) | awards= | honours = | updated= 23 June 2007 }} '''Subzero''', nicknamed "Subbie" (26 September 1988 – 29 August 2020<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.studbook.org.au/Horse.aspx?hid=425983|title=Australian Stud Book - Horse|website=www.studbook.org.au}}</ref>), was an Australian thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1992 Melbourne Cup.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com.au/newspapers?id=cfYPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HJADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6804,1552415&dq=subzero+melbourne-cup&hl=en|title=New Sunday Times - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com.au}}</ref>

==Life and career== Subzero was foaled in Australia. Trained by Lee Freedman and ridden by veteran jockey Greg Hall, the four-year-old revelled in the rain-affected going in the 1992 Melbourne Cup to defeat the favourite, Veandercross, and the two-miler Castletown.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.racingvictoria.com.au/|title=Horse Racing In Victoria|website=Racing Victoria}}</ref> The win was to be Subzero's last, but his fame was assured as one of the few grey winners of the race in the post-war era. In May 1992, Greg Hall rode him to victory in the Adelaide Cup.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://racingsa.com.au/files/19581_adelaidecup.pdf?v=488 | title=TAB Adelaide Cup | website=racingsa.com.au}}</ref>

Upon retirement from racing, Subzero was employed as the clerk of the course's horse by Racing Victoria's long-time clerk, Graham Salisbury, and made numerous television appearances at charity functions and schools.<ref>[http://www.racingvictoria.net.au/p_Subzero_School_Visits.aspx "Subzero School Visits"], Racing Victoria website.</ref> In July 2008, he was fully retired as he had developed arthritis.

In October 2009, it was reported that Subzero might need to be put down as the medication he needed for his arthritis became unavailable in Australia. Subsequently, the medication was sourced from the United States, and Subzero continued appearing in public. In his retirement, he was gentle-natured, very patient with children, and remained with Graham Salisbury until Salisbury's death in June 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-10-08/quarantine-decision-threatens-subzero/1095742|title=Quarantine decision threatens Subzero|date=8 October 2009|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/melbourne-cup-winner-subzero-faces-death-sentence-as-customs-stops-import-of-arthritis-powder/story-e6frf7jo-1225784019038|title=Melbourne Cup winner Subzero faces death sentence as Customs stops import of arthritis powder}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justhorseracing.com.au/news/australian-racing/graham-salisbury-sadly-passes-away/613605|title=Graham Salisbury sadly passes away|website=Just Horse Racing}}</ref>

On 29 August 2020, he was euthanized at the Bendigo Equine Hospital due to the onset of heart failure. He was 31.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/horse-racing/racing-muchloved-melbourne-cup-winner-subzero-dies-at-32/news-story/0a5de4c2fa984cb619d57633ba4173d4|title=Racing: Much-loved Melbourne Cup winner Subzero dies at 32|website=The Australian}}</ref>

==See also==

* List of Melbourne Cup winners

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book|last1=Crettenden|first1=Adam|title=Subzero: More than a Melbourne Cup Hero|date=2016|publisher=Penguin Random House Australia|location=North Sydney, NSW|isbn=9780143782094}} {{refend}}

==External links== * [http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2009/11/003.shtml Product-maker flies the Pacific to help ailing Cup winner - Horsetalk.co.nz 1.11.09] * [http://www.pedigreequery.com/subzero Subzero's pedigree and partial racing stats] *[http://www.cyberhorse.net.au/cgi-bin/tve/displaynewsitem.pl?20061101livinglegendsopening2.txt Subzero visiting the Living Legends park] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120203907/http://www.cyberhorse.net.au/cgi-bin/tve/displaynewsitem.pl?20061101livinglegendsopening2.txt |date=20 November 2023 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subzero (Horse)}} Category:1988 racehorse births Category:2020 racehorse deaths Category:Racehorses bred in Australia Category:Racehorses trained in Australia Category:Melbourne Cup winners Category:Thoroughbred family 4-m