Rough Habit was a genuine Queensland cult hero and the most unlikely of champions

Rough Habit was bred as little more than a hobby horse via a free service to an unfashionable imported sire, Roughcast from the unraced mare Certain Habit. The colt's small stature suggested that the experiment was doomed to fail. Roughcast, nor Certain Habit ever won a race, nor did his maternal grandmother. He was so plain that some punters were put off backing him because of his looks, however bred by Isabell Roddick in the Hawke's Bay, Rough Habit won 29 races from the New Plymouth stable of John Wheeler. He may have ended up forever a Queensland icon, but Taranaki considered "Roughie" their horse, as the most successful galloper to ever emerge from the region. He was the horse that launched Jimmy Cassidy's career before he ever arrived in Sydney. Cassidy always said, "once you put a jockey on him, Roughie became an absolute beast."

And win good races he sure did - 11 of them in all at Group 1 level, behind only the mighty Sunline for wins at the highest level by a Kiwi trained horse. He became a cult hero in Brisbane, winning two Stradbroke Handicaps and a record three Doomben Cups. The name Rough Habit has become synonymous with the Stradbroke thanks to his weaving, last-to-first booming finish, which saw Cassidy steal victory from the jaws of defeat to go back-to-back and etch his name into the history books. And that was carrying 58.5kg jumping from barrier 24!!! Faced with a wall of tiring horses at the top of the straight, Cassidy elected to weave a path through the inside and it eventually paid off, knocking off Chris Munce on Barossa Boy and the grey champ, Schillachi. It is regarded as the best-ever Stradbroke ride, and "The Pumper" reckons it's inside his top five best rides. The sheer power of Roughie late in a race was a sight to behold - his last 600 and 200m sectionals were sublime. Rough Habit knew how to win and appeared to hate not being in front, so gave his everything.

An idol of Queensland racing because of the five winter carnivals he spent there between 1990 and 1995, Rough Habit was loved and admired throughout Australia and New Zealand. He won a staggering 29 races and nearly $3.9 million. Cassidy partnered him in 12 of those wins. Roughie seemed to excel in the warmer Queensland climate as apposed to the ice cold, bleak and snowy Taranaki temperatures of winter. To win in New Zealand, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, two trips to Japan, one to America and come back to Australia and still win at Group 1 level, you tell me a horse that’s done all that. There wouldn’t be one.

Rough Habit retired to Cambridge Lodge, where he was the star act for two decades at the property’s Horse Expo tourist attraction. Rough Habit is not mentioned alongside other champions because he did not win a Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, a Doncaster, Epsom or a Guineas. However, his feats show he was excellently placed by his trainer John Wheeler, but that is not to knock him at all because he often beat the best and always raced against them.

However, his win in the 1994 Caulfield Stakes was a classic. In a small field he settled last as usual, but Jim Cassidy started his move at the 600. By the home turn he’d passed two horses but was gaining momentum. Still, he didn’t look a winning chance even at 100 when he unleashed that blistering speed to go pass future Melbourne Cup winner Jeune and Paris Lane, who looked to have it sown up 50 metres from home. Rough Habit’s final win in Australia was in Brisbane in the 2400m Gr.2 P J O’Shea Stakes. You can still hear Wayne Wilson’s rousing call as...
"Rough Habit wins with his unforgettable guts and class"

Rough Habit has a bar at Eagle Farm racecourse in Brisbane named after him, along with a Group Three race, the Rough Habit Plate for three-year-olds held at Doomben racecourse. He was New Zealand Horse of the Year in 1992 and 1995 and inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in 2012. In retirement Rough Habit appeared in a set of stamps issued by New Zealand Post in 1996 with fellow NZ champions, Kiwi, Bonecrusher, and Horlicks. The gelding spent the last 15 years at Cambridge Thoroughbred Lodge where he has regularly starred in the Horse Magic show, walking into the ring for spectators while wearing the Wheeler stable colours. Rough Habit died in November 2014, aged 28.

RACE RECORD - 74: 29-16-7
EARNINGS  - $3.89 million

Queensland Derby (1990)
Sir Byrne Hart Stakes (1991)
Southport Cup (1991, 1992)
Stradbroke Handicap (1991, 1992)
Doomben Cup (1991, 1992, 1993)
Mudgway Stakes (1991)
Captain Cook Stakes (1992)
All-Aged Stakes (1992, 1993)
AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes (1992)
Caulfield Stakes (1994)
P.J. O'Shea Stakes (1995)