Carrot cakes are being shared among the equine industry today, as every horse in the southern hemisphere celebrates its birthday.

August 1 marks the standardised birthday for every horse, with northern hemisphere equines celebrating their special day on January 1.

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The date, based on the equine breeding season, is used to standardise the industry, particularly horse racing, which uses the date to put horses in their age grades for races.

Basil Nolan, from Raheen Studs in Warwick, Queensland, said standardising the age of horses was essential for the racing industry.

"It is a little bit like kids in school. You have to have a single date you can use to make it more uniform," he said.

"Say a horse is born today — the first of August — he or she will race with horses from now until the end of November, December. That puts them all in the same age group.

"It is very important to have restrictive races. You can't just have it willy-nilly."

While he saw the importance of the horses' birthday, Mr Nolan said he was not planning to crack out the party hats.

"We didn't make too many cakes at Raheen [Stud] today," he laughed.

"The horses don't know it is their birthday, as every day is the same to them.

"There would be a few of those things today, but it is just business as usual here."

According to Mr Nolan, August 1 was an important day for the whole industry, falling just before Spring.

"It kicks off the new breeding year," Mr Nolan said.

"The foaling season has started now, and the covering of mares can begin on the first of September."

Former Melbourne Cup winner celebrates 28th birthday

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Subzero, the thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1992 Melbourne Cup, celebrated his 28th birthday today, an old age for a horse.

"That is a good age to get to for a horse like him, to be 28. They don't get much further than that — maybe to 30," Mr Nolan said.

After his Melbourne Cup win, Subzero retired in 1993 to a job with long-time clerk of the course Graham Sailsbury.

He retired from that role in 2008 after developing arthritis, and now visits primary and secondary schools around Victoria with the program, Subzero Goes To School.

"He did a lot of promotional things. He would have been really well looked after, as all thoroughbreds are," Mr Nolan said.

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