Great Sensation was a champion New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 bred Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 stayer

Stayer (horse)

In horse racing, a stayer refers to a horse that may be a better performer over a longer distance, such as more than 1-1/2 miles. Sometimes, the term may also refer to a horse that is not able to quicken or speed up.-External links:*...

. He was sired by Cassock and out of the mare, Speedy. Great Sensation began his racing career in 1956 at Wingatui Racecourse in Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

.

Nicknamed Cracker, he was ridden by Bob Skelton

Bob Skelton

Robert J. "Bob" Skelton was a top jockey in New Zealand and Australian Thoroughbred horse racing who competed from the 1950s through the 1980s. Among his many major race wins, Skelton rode Great Sensation to three victories in the Wellington Cup and won the Auckland Cup on Rose Mellay in 1974 and...

, who rates him as the best stayer he had even ridden.

Great Sensation won a number of important New Zealand races but is best remembered for his winning three consecutive Wellington Cup

Wellington Cup

The Wellington Cup is a Group 2 Thoroughbred horse race in New Zealand held annually in late January at Trentham Racecourse in Trentham by the Wellington Racing Club....

s from 1961 through 1963. In winning his first Cup in 1961, Great Sensation posted an Australasian record time of 3:17.50 for two miles.