As only one of two women to have trained the winner in the long history of the Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m), New Zealander Moira Murdoch holds a special place in the folklore of one of the world’s greatest races. The 1994 edition of the event was jam-packed with the equine superstars of the time, however, it was a nuggety little gelding named Solvit, who cost just $4500 as a yearling that stole the show and created a legacy for Murdoch. Solvit, a son of Morcon and the Yallah Native mare Yallah Sun, won $1,675,920 in stakes after 15 wins, seven trips to the runner-up stall and four third placings from 52 starts. His bold front-running displays wowed crowds around the country.

Despite his small stature, Solvit showed plenty of promise as a two-year-old, winning two of his five starts as a juvenile, but also displaying his aversion to running the right-handed way of going with several wayward runs. In saying that, he developed into a hard, front running type who set a high cruising speed and just didn’t slow down. Murdoch knew she had something special on her hands during Solvit’s three-year-old campaign where he won back-to-back stakes races in the Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1600m), and Gr.3 Waikato Guineas (1600m), but it was as a four-year-old that he really made his mark. Solvit won the 1994 Kelt Capital Stakes (2000m) at Hastings in 2:00.16, and the previous year he finished a half-neck second to Calm Harbour in 1:59.7. The team took him to Australia as a late three-year-old for the Listed Alistar Clark Stakes (1600m), but he became travel sick and didn’t go very well. However, when they bought the horse back for a second crack he won the Gr.3 Waterford Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley.

A Group One victory at home in the New Zealand Stakes (2000m) in the summer of 1993 saw Solvit establish his elite level credentials, and later that year he contested his first Cox Plate, finishing a gallant second behind fellow Kiwi, The Phantom Chance. 12 months later came his moment of triumph where he led virtually all the way in the 1994 edition of the race. It was a massive field, with River Verdon who was the champion Hong Kong galloper at the time, and there were the likes of Jeune and Redding, who had won the VRC Derby. David Walsh, who retired in 2017 with 2360 wins excelled as a judge of pace, and was a brilliant front-running jockey able to allow horses to run freely. The two were a perfect match for the challenging, tight valley circuit.

He was a hard horse to catch and at the Valley it was always going to make him hard to beat. The 1994 Cox Plate, in which he was ridden by David Walsh, was by far the most significant of three Group 1 wins in a career that started in December 1990 and ended in August 1996. Sent around a 10/1 chance, the then-six-year-old raced in his customary forward position and turned for home in front before holding off the fast-finishing Rough Habit to score by a half-head victory. Punchy, little Solvit just wanted to go faster and Walshy gave him one clip on the turn in to keep him going. The rest struggled to deal with his pace and just couldn't pick him up as the line drew closer. Victoria Derby winner Redding was third, the previous week’s Caulfield Cup runner-up Alcove fourth, with that year’s Australian Cup winner Durbridge (sixth) and 3-1 favourite Jeune (13th), who ten days later would win the Melbourne Cup. Solvit's 2:02.6 clocking as second only to Better Loosen Up's 2:01.5 Cox Plate (2040m) record.

Solvit, who outlasted ‘Roughy’ to win a thrilling edition of the Cox Plate in 1994, died after being struck down by colic in 2015. The story of how the Waiuku mum and her $4500 yearling outgunned the big-name trainers and their expensive blue bloods made headlines all over Australasia. "All the trainers I'd only read about, like Bart Cummings and Lee Freedman were standing beside me," Murdoch said at the time. "I think they all thought it was rather amusing, this little trainer from Waiuku..."

RACE RECORD - 52: 15-7-4

EARNINGS - $2,097,084

Wellington Guineas

Waikato Guineas

Kelt Capital

New Zealand Stakes

Cox Plate