The Chosen Few, A quest to name the ten greatest Australian and New Zealand racehorses of all time
Oct 28, 2025
Zoom Meeting, Andrew Rule, Journalist, Author
The Chosen Few, A quest to name the ten greatest Australian and New Zealand racehorses of all time
'Andrew Rule has reported on life and crimes and catastrophes (and sometimes sport) for more than 45 years. He has worked for each of Melbourne’s daily newspapers and also spent time in radio and television production and making documentaries on subjects ranging from crime to horse racing. His podcast Life & Crimes is one of News Corp’s most listened-to products'.
(Source: Herald Sun).
 

He is also the author of many books. His latest book is The Chosen Few, and is described by his publisher  Allen And Unwin:

'Who are the greatest Australian race horses? And what qualifies them for this honour? Racing enthusiast and award-winning writer Andrew Rule has the answers.

They are the greatest Australian and New Zealand racehorses of all time, the giants who transcend the sport, who broke records and captured hearts.

But which are the best of the best? Is it Carbine or Malua from the nineteenth century or Tulloch or Phar Lap in the twentieth? Winx or Black Caviar in our own time? Perhaps it is impossible to compare incomparables outside their own eras.

Andrew Rule was too big to be a jockey, too small to be a mounted policeman. But all his life he has watched horses and horse people and has written about both. About people who are not always admirable and about horses who so often are.

The horses he names in The Chosen Few include the sprinters, the stayers, the freakish all-round competitors who could do everything. But he also teases out myths and mistakes, pulls focus on racing's history and ponders the tantalising list of 'coodabeen' champions whose careers were cut short.

The result is a collection of stories about beauty and bravery, speed and greed'.

M.C. David Rush 

Photo: Allen and Unwin Book Publishers