Having been warned by his Housemaster not to waste his time on racehorses, Old Boy – and the co-breeder with wife Susan Archer of the legendary double Cox Plate winner Sunline – Michael Martin (7863) wryly smiles when recalling his school days.

Despite the admonishment, he also “fondly remembers the wonderful woman cleaner who used to place bets” for the Flower’s House boys.

Michael points out that many “College Old Boys from my era have an impressive record of success in thoroughbred breeding and racing, including John Rattray (7887), Philip Kerr (7847), Stephen Montgomery (7868), Mick (7999) and Arthur Ormond (7208), Richard Rutherford (7894), John Wigley (7641), Roger Gordon (7829), David Woodhouse ( 7774), and Hamish Williams (7913)”.

“Between them, they have bred and/or raced many winners of major cups, classics, and sprint races in Australia and New Zealand,” he adds.

However, Michael is first past the post in breeding circles, thanks to the incredible feats of Sunline.

“It’s fair to say that we exceeded even our wildest dreams when we bred Sunline in 1995,” he says. “She went on to win 32 of her 48 starts across six seasons, including 13 Group 1 races in Australia, Hong Kong, and New Zealand, earning A$11 million, a total of seven Horse of the Year titles, and induction into both the Australian and New Zealand Racing Halls of Fame.”

It has certainly been an adventurous racing journey for a boy from Blenheim.

A first-generation College Old Boy, Michael grew up in Marlborough where his parents, Dublin-born Bruce and Londoner Jean, had settled after emigrating to New Zealand in the wake of World War II.

“Dad trained in medicine at Trinity College in Dublin, volunteered as a doctor for the Royal Navy, based on the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, and, after the war, completed further study in Edinburgh,” Michael says. “He had a 30-year career as a GP and general surgeon and later, several years as a consultant to ACC, while my mother helped to set up the Citizen’s Advice Bureau in Blenheim and was very active for many years in Girl Guides.”

Michael was sent to The Cathedral Grammar School for three years before attending College from 1966–1970.

“I treasure the lifetime friendships I made at College and have very much appreciated the opportunity to reconnect with my schoolmates at the 40 Years On, 50 Years, and, most recently, 60 Years On reunions,” he says. “I would have been the second member of my family to attend College, but for the sudden death of my older brother, David, in January 1963 – just before he was to begin his final year as Head Boy of Cathedral Grammar. However, my younger brother, Dermot, followed me to College, from 1971–1975.”

Following his school days, Michael moved to Wellington, living in eight flats – ”an education in itself in the 1970s” – while attending Teachers Training College.

“I believed then – and believe now – that education is a critical key to lifetime opportunities, and I was part of a quite idealistic cohort of young teachers who, once qualified and working in schools, found the public education system of the time rather inflexible and unsupportive,” he says. “We were a pretty lively group that, among other things, organised a historic and eye-opening student trip to China in 1975, just before Chairman Mao died. However, many of us left teaching after a few years to pursue a wide range of careers in, for example, politics (Trevor Mallard), journalism (Audrey Young), and activism (Dame Catherine Healy).

“As for me, I decided to follow my dream of working in the thoroughbred horse racing and breeding industry, so I moved to Cambridge in 1979 and purchased part of the Hogan family’s Fencourt Stud, in partnership with College friend – and fellow Flower’s House member – Philip Kerr. Initially with Philip, and then with my Southland-born wife, Susan Archer, I operated Fencourt Farm as an agistment and yearling preparation business, later setting up a Special Partnership with investors to buy broodmares.”

While the “1980s were exciting in many ways”, they also generated “a great deal of painful disruption in some industries which forced many of us to change direction in our mid-30s”.

“At 35, I realised we couldn’t carry on with our own bloodstock business so we sold Fencourt Farm and moved to Auckland where I worked with the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (NZTBA) before taking up the role of Chief Executive of the Tasmanian Racing Authority, with responsibility for thoroughbred, harness, and greyhound racing, and a seat on the Tasmanian TAB Board,” Michael recalls. “We had a very busy, challenging, and successful five years in Tasmania before returning in 1996 with our children, Thomas and Alexandra, to Auckland where I worked as NZTBA Chief Executive for the next 20 years – 10 of those years with Susan as our media officer.”

Meanwhile, Michael and his wife continued to breed horses, ending up with a couple of mares, including Songline, the daughter of a mare that Susan’s parents, Robin and Muriel Archer, had bought at the National Yearling Sale in 1981. Songline’s female family traced to a full sister to the legendary champion Phar Lap and it became a “big, hairy goal” to breed another great champion from the family.

Soon, another superstar was born.

“We couldn’t afford to race Sunline ourselves at the time, so we weren’t part of her ownership group, but our NZTBA roles gave us a wonderful chance to promote the New Zealand thoroughbred, so that’s what we did,” Michael says. “Looking back, I’m proud of how we handled the media attention, and Sunline’s record only gets better. She was everything we set out to achieve as breeders and she will always have a place in turf history.”

Alongside enjoying his role as a successful thoroughbred breeder, Michael has been “able to contribute to initiatives in equine health, education, bloodstock taxation, and administrative reform”.

Equally, he has appreciated the opportunity to “work alongside some very good people, including another College Old Boy, the late Arthur Ormond, who was a courageous and far-sighted NZTBA President.

“I also very much enjoyed mentoring young people in the thoroughbred industry, especially by way of the NZTBA Sunline International Management Scholarship.”

Following his retirement in 2017, Michael and Susan moved from Auckland to their present home between Queenstown and Arrowtown in 2021.

“I am a late-blooming gym attendee, enjoy gardening, some voluntary work, keeping in touch with local and visiting friends, and being ‘Gaga’ to our grandsons, Jack and Kit Golder. I continue to follow racing and breeding closely and enjoy supporting Susan in her work as Media and Communications Manager with John Messara’s outstanding Arrowfield Stud – the leading Australian-owned stud farm.”