Renowned breeder and Gooree Park principal died at the age of 85

Gooree Park Holdings principal and Chairman and CEO of San Miguel Corporation, the largest food and beverage corporation in the Philippines and Asia, Eduardo Cojuangco Jr died on Tuesday. He was 85. 

Mr Cojuangco purchased Gooree Stud in Mudgee in 1979 from the Foyster family and the Gooree Park Stud red and black striped colours have become synonymous with success at the highest level in Australia that includes horses including the Gai Waterhouse-trained six-time winner champion Desert War (Desert King) whose wins included back-to-back victories in the Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) in 2004 and 2005. 

Stallions produced by the operation over the years include Snowland (Snippets), Dreamscape (Choisir), Swift Alliance (Don Eduardo), Don Eduardo (Zabeel), Smart Missile (Fastnet Rock), Northern Meteor (Encosta De Lago)  and Your Song (Fastnet Rock). 

Racecourse success was not limited solely to Australia with 1987 US Turf Horse Of The Year Manila (Lyphard) bred by Gooree. 

Gai Waterhouse trained many horses for Gooree Park over the years and Rob Waterhouse tweeted on Wednesday: "Both @GaiWaterhouse1 and I are so sad Mr Cojuangco has died. He adored horse racing and enjoyed so much success. His 'red and black stripes' colours were worn on so many great horses, including champion Desert War. Ironically Gai and I visited his Gooree Stud Mudgee on Monday."

In 2015 Cojuangco was inducted into the Racing Hall Of Fame.