Cardigan Bay racing in America driven by Stanley Dancer. Photo: Steve Wolf Collection
A battle over the remains of New Zealand's most famous race horse may be heading to the High Court.
The champion Gelding, Cardigan Bay, died in 1988 and was laid to rest at Alexandra Park in Auckland.
However, the Auckland Trotting Club now intends to cover his gravesite for a potential car park, outraging racing historians who wish for Cardigan Bay to be exhumed and moved to a new home.
Committee member Barry Lichter believed the public would be furious to know they could potentially be parking their car on top of the grave of one of Aotearoa's greatest sporting heroes.
"Nobody likes the thought of digging up remains, human or otherwise, but I think to pave over New Zealand's greatest resource is even more offensive."
Auckland Trotting Club president Jamie MacKinnon said they will be vigourously defending the right for Cardigan Bay not to be dug up and to remain at Alexandra Park.
"We don't want it. I don't believe our members want it, and certainly the trustee of Cardigan's Bay Estate doesn't want it."
Cardigan Bay left an incredible racing legacy.
He was the first standardbred to win a million dollars, the first inductee into the New Zealand Trotting Hall of Fame, and was immortalised on a postage stamp.
The late Audrey Dean was Cardigan Bay's owner before selling him to US interests.
After carving out a dominant career on Australasian tracks, Cardigan Bay was sold to an American syndicate where he would go on to achieve even greater fame and success.
He even appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, just before the Beach Boys sang Good Vibrations.
After his death at 31, the racing icon was buried at what was considered his home, Alexandra Park.
But the club has since fallen into financial hardship after it was left owing close to $100 million following issues during the building of apartment and retail complexes.
"It is widely known that the club is venturing into a number of different developments to ensure the ongoing prosperity of the club and we've got an apartment complex which is going up adjacent to the grave site, and then the big tourist apartment is going to be called The Cardigan Bay and memory of the horse," said MacKinnon.
With the Hall of Fame moving to Cambridge as part of the redevelopment, the committee believes Cardigan Bay should be honoured at their new home.
"What race did he win down at Cambridge? This horse was trained at Alexandra Park and in the Dean's words, his rightful home was Alexandra Park."
The champion Gelding died in 1988 and was laid to rest at Alexandra Park in Auckland. Photo: supplied
The champion Gelding died in 1988 and was laid to rest at Alexandra Park in Auckland.
MacKinnon said he had approached the Dean's estate regarding an exhumation and relocation.
"He said to me they were of the belief that once a horse or human is buried, they're buried and they're not disturbed. So he said 'we would be happy if you just left the horse here, whether you put steel, concrete or building on top of that, as long as it's recognised, that's where he is."'
Both the club and Hall Of Fame are claiming rights to the remains.
"The Hall of Fame isn't claiming ownership of Cardigan Bay, but we've established that he is still owned by the syndicates in America because he was sold to these people and when he came back to New Zealand in 1970. They still owned him there was no change of registration," Lichter said.
The Hall of Fame said it had tracked down the sole surviving member of the syndicate, Jody Dancer.
"She has given us permission to exhume the remains so that we can move them somewhere so he can have a proper memorial built rather than be covered by a carpark and forgotten."
However, the club said Fred Tong is the sole trustee of Cardigan Bay and that he has indicated he does not want the horse exhumed.
"She (Jody Dancer) didn't marry Stanley until 1985. She wouldn't even known the horse. We can't see how she could possibly think she has any sort of a claim," said
Lichter said it was a shame legal preceding must now ensue.
"We've tried to solve this amicably, but we haven't been successful and so now we're forced to go to the High Court to get a declaration on who actually owns the horse. I would have thought that it would be a no brainer that the controlling club wants to preserve the memory of our greatest resource, but I'm afraid it's come to a stage where we're forced to take that action."
He said the Hall of Fame has arranged a team from the Auckland University and the New Zealand Archaeological Association are prepared to exhume the remains pro-bono.
"They are skilled at this kind of thing, will treat the horse with respect and it's not going to cost anybody anything."
Lichter said he was confident the courts would side with the Hall of Fame.
"We're quite clear that our documentation shows that Jody Dancer is the only surviving member of this and it gets to own it because when the horse retired from racing, the only condition that Audrey Dean put on the sale was that the horse come back to New Zealand, which is what he did."
MacKinnon said no matter what happens, Cardigan Bay's resting place will always be acknowledged.
"We will have the co-ordinates drawn up so it's always known where Cardigan Bay is, whether it's a road, a car park or a building."