Niconero

A horse very close to the team at Lindsay Park Racing is resident retiree and living legend, 21-year-old Niconero. By Danzero out of star producer Nicola Lass, Niconero raced under the Devitt and Gordon ownership with Lindsay Park Racing. Nicola Lass’ produce includes Lindsay Park Racing graduates Nicconi (Bianconi x Nicola Lass 2005) who was Australia’s most popular stallion in 2016, and a lesser-known stallion in Niconoise (Redoute’s Choice x Nicola Lass 2008) who still holds the 1700m track record at Flemington. Niconero is one brilliant big brother!

Having a total of 55 starts for 13 wins he amassed $3,442,944 in prizemoney, which in 2009 is HUGE winnings! 49 of those starts were in Group or Listed races, where he won and placed 10 times.

Travelling to Dubai in 2009, after taking out the Gr.1 Australian Cup three weeks earlier, travelling companion Bim Fennessy fondly described the champion gelding as ‘the grumpy old horse’. Niconero ran a strong 4th in the Gr.1 Dubai Duty Free and then travelled over to Hong Kong to contest the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, where he sustained a career ending bowed tendon, closing out his career with an impressive 5 Group 1 wins! He returned to Australia and retired to the Lindsay Park Angaston Property.

When he came to Lindsay Park Racing in Euroa from the retiree paddock in Angaston in 2011, Niconero was initially trialled as a lead pony, one of the few things he failed at, purely because the drive to race was still very much in him with a case of ‘white rail fever’ - he was too strong. This forever reserved his place as a professional lawn mower and companion. Famous for his big nose “only a mother could love”, Nico, as he’s fondly referred to, spends his days relaxing in the paddock behind Criterion with fellow living legend retiree 25- year-old All Thrills Too. At 21, Nico has lost all his upper incisors (teeth), not that it’s holding him back in any way, just makes smiling for the camera a bit more challenging.