Statue commemorating Waverley’s Melbourne Cup-winning racehorse Kiwi to be unveiled after four years

Waverley racehorse Kiwi and jockey Jim Cassidy crossing the line to win the 1983 Melbourne Cup.

A statue commemorating Waverley-born racehorse Kiwi is ready to be unveiled in the town after a four-year project.

Brian Rook, head of the committee in charge of the statue, said the project started before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and had suffered delays because of it, so to get to this stage was a big relief.

“It’s been a long time and we’re thrilled that we’ve got to where we are now.”

Trained by Waverley’s Snow Lupton, Kiwi won the Melbourne Cup in 1983. He had won the Wellington Cup earlier that year, becoming the first and only horse to do the double.

A life-size plasticine mould of Kiwi with jockey Jim Cassidy in full flight on the day of the historic Melbourne Cup win was donated to Waverley by late New Plymouth artist Fridtjof Hanson.

The statue committee was allocated $155,000 from Waverley’s Masterplan Arts Grant to finish the statue.

Delays in the bronzing mean its unveiling will now happen 40 years after Kiwi’s historic double.

The unveiling will take place at Gulley Park in Waverley at 10am on Sunday, September 10.

Rook said speeches would be given by Hanson’s son, racing broadcaster and journalist Des Coppins, Nickie Andrews on behalf of Snow and Anne Lupton, and South Taranaki Mayor Phil Nixon.

The committee and Waverley Racing Club wanted to make a day of the unveiling, so applied for an extra day of racing to kick off after the statue ceremony, which should be finished by 11am.

He hoped the statue would give travellers a reason to stop over in Waverley and spend some time in town and its shops, especially with its new Four Square opening on September 21.

“We’re hoping people will stop and businesspeople will get some revenue out of it.”

The statue was also a recognition of Waverley’s racing history and the achievement of a world-beater who came from humble origins.

“His training regime was mainly going out and getting all the stock in with Snowy riding him, that was his day. Sure they put in extra work to make the horse run faster [but] basically he was another tractor on the farm,” Rook said.

“It’s a recognition of what everybody has been talking about over the last 40 years.”

Rook wanted the Kiwi statue to become something the town was known for, like other neighbouring memorials such as the Sir Peter Snell statue in Ōpunake or the bull statues in Bulls.

The statue was now complete, but work was not yet finished on the project as other aspects, including lighting and information boards, would be installed later.

The committee was still fundraising for the final additions to the park and was doing so by selling personalised bricks to be laid at the statue’s plinth.

“People can buy a brick and have their name or their family name or whatever they want lasered into the brick,” Rook said.

Once the project is completed, the statue will be gifted to the South Taranaki District Council so it will be looked after in the long term.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.