Little horse that could

VO ROGUE gallops into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame this week but trainer Vic Rail found the small, ungainly Queenslander so unremarkable at first sight that he made the sound “Erk” as though he was going to be sick.

However “Erky”, as the little bay gelding with the big heart was known around Rail’s Hendra stables, led from the front so spectacularly for so long that “doing a Vo Rogue’’ became a popular catchphrase for a runaway victory in the late ’80s.