Media Puzzle foaled in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

 bred by Walter Haefner's

Walter Haefner

Walter Haefner is a businessman and a Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder in Ireland. He was born in Switzerland.As a young man, Walter Haefner went to work in the auto industry as an employee of the Swiss division of General Motors Corporation...

 Moyglare Stud Farm and owned by Dr. M. W. Smurfit. He was sired by Theatrical

Theatrical (horse)

Theatrical is an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1987 Breeders' Cup Turf and is a successful sire.A son of Nureyev, who in turn was sired by Northern Dancer, out of the mare Tree Of Knowledge who won the 1974 Hollywood Gold Cup, Theatrical was bred by Bertram & Diana Firestone at...

, the 1987 U.S. Champion Male Turf Horse

Eclipse Award for Outstanding Male Turf Horse

The American Champion Male Turf Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor. In 1971 it became part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually to a Colt or Gelding, regardless of age, for their performance on grass race courses....

, and out of the mare Market Slide by Gulch

Gulch (horse)

Gulch was an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. Owned and bred by Peter M. Brant, he was sired by the outstanding North American stud and graded stakes race winner Mr...

, the 1988 U.S. Champion Sprint Horse

Eclipse Award for Outstanding Sprint Horse

The American Champion Sprint Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor. Created in 1947, in 1971 it became part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually to the top horse in sprint races usually run at a distance of under one mile)....

. Media Puzzle is the half brother of Refuse to Bend

Refuse To Bend

Refuse To Bend is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse. He was owned by Swiss businessman Walter Haefner and was bred at his Moyglare Stud Farm near the town of Maynooth, County Kildare, in Ireland...

, a four-time group 1 winning entire by Sadler's Wells

Sadler's Wells (horse)

Sadler's Wells was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was later a leading sire in France, Great Britain & Ireland and North America during the 1990s. He was foaled in 1981 in the United States, but achieved most of his racing and breeding fame in Europe....

.

At age three, Media Puzzle's best showings were third place finishes in the Gallinule

Gallinule Stakes

The Gallinule Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in May....

 and St. Leger Stakes

St. Leger Stakes

The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...

.

Plagued by tendon problems throughout his career, after a difficult 2001, Media Puzzle had his best year in 2002. Taken to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, his winning time of 2.25.90 in the 2400-metre Geelong Cup

Geelong Cup

The Geelong Cup is an annual Australian Group 3 Thoroughbred horse race. The race is open to horses of all ages and sexes. The race is held over a distance of 2400 metres at the Geelong Racecourse on the fourth Wednesday of October, and was first run in 1872...

 broke the course record for the race. He went on to win the 2002 Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...

 with Damien Oliver on board. Oliver's brother Jason had died a few weeks before the Melbourne win in 2002.

Media Puzzle was put down

Animal euthanasia

Animal euthanasia is the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, an animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress...

 after shattering a leg at the Ascot Gold Cup

Ascot Gold Cup

The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in June....

.

See also

• 2002 Melbourne Cup
  2002 Melbourne Cup
  This is a list of horses which ran in the 2002 Melbourne Cup....
  
  
• Millionaire Racehorses in Australia
  Millionaire racehorses in Australia
  -Highest 50:Currently out-of-date*Delta Blues has mainly won his prizemoney in Japan. Elegant Fashion has mainly won hers in Hong Kong. Cape of Good Hope has mainly won his prizemoney in the UK and Hong Kong...
  
  
• List of Melbourne Cup winners