Better Loosen Up

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Better Loosen Up (29 August 1985 – 15 March 2016) was an Australian Thoroughbred racehorse who became a national icon after an outstanding career that included a Japan Cup victory. A bay gelding by Loosen Up out of Better Fantasy, he was bred in New South Wales and trained by several of Australia's top handlers during his career.

He raced 45 times from ages two to seven, winning 17 times and earning about A$4.77 million. He collected eight Group One wins: the 1989 Honda Stakes, Winfield Stakes and Railway Stakes; the 1990 Cox Plate, Mackinnon Stakes and Japan Cup; and the 1991 Blamey Stakes and Australian Cup.

Better Loosen Up rose to his peak under trainer David Hayes (after earlier stints with Les Theodore, Bart Cummings and Colin Hayes). In 1990–1991 he dominated Australian racing, highlighted by the Cox Plate win in course-record time and the Japan Cup victory—the only Australian horse ever to win that race. For his achievements, he was named Australian Horse of the Year in 1991 and later inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.

A leg injury cut short his later years, and he retired in February 1993. He spent his retirement at Living Legends, a Melbourne sanctuary for champion horses, and died in 2016 at the age of 30.