ONE of Queensland's favourite racehorses, Vo Rogue, has died at the ripe old age of 28.

The bold front-runner, which won 26 wins from 83 starts, most at the top level.

Vo Rogue was trained by battling trainer Vic Rail, who was a victim of Hendra virus in 1994, and ridden by unfashionable jockey Cyril Small and the trio's story captured the public's imagination in the 1980s.

Vo Rogue won Group One races in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth and won the Australian Cup twice over 2000m. Incredibly, he also won the William Reid Stakes over 1200m in 1988.

The gelding beat stars of the turf such as Bonecrusher, Super Impose, Myocard, Military Plume, Campaign King and Our Poetic Prince.

SUPERMAN had kryptonite . . . Vo Rogue had mud.

The difference is Vo Rogue's problem was real not a myth originally designed to add intrigue for readers of the Superman comic books.

Muddy conditions really did weaken the racetrack performances of Vo Rogue who died late on Tuesday at part-owner Jeff Perry's Mt Tambourine property aged 28.

Statistics sometimes mislead. Not this one. Vo Rogue started six times on a track rated dead and once each on slow and heavy.

His return from those races. Zilch. Not a single placing. Bear in mind some of those runs were in lowly company when few had heard of Vo Rogue.

When I heard of Vo Rogue's passing I rang Cyril Small and Les Harris, two of the 10 jockeys to have ridden the cult hero under race conditions.

Small had such a stunning record on the frontrunning wonder horse and Harris was beaten 14 lengths and 17 lengths at the Gold Coast and Doomben at consecutive starts on March 31 and April 16, 1986.

"Vo Rogue hadn't raced for eight weeks when I rode him at the Coast and (trainer) Vic Rail said he had missed a fair bit of work and might be less than fully fit. It was also a slow track," Harris said.

"The next day at Doomben, Vo Rogue missed the start and was lost racing behind horses. It was also a dead track.

"I don't think the boys were unhappy he was beaten a fair way."

In fact, Vo Rogue's first win came at his next start, his career fifth run, and he landed a massive betting plunge at Eagle Farm where he strolled home by five lengths with blinkers on.

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In December that year Small rode Vo Rogue in a 1000m Improvers Handicap at Murwillumbah - the equivalent to a Class 1 race now - and the then three-year-old finished fourth, beaten more than two lengths.

At his next ride on Vo Rogue on March 9 in the A. R. Creswick Stakes over 2000m at Flemington, the combination which was to become a national headline over the next four years breezed home by a neat eight lengths after being backed in from $7 to $5.

I well remember that Melbourne campaign. When Rail told me he was taking Vo Rogue to Melbourne after he won by a neck at a midweek meeting at Doomben over 1350m, laughter was my only response.

Six weeks later Vo Rogue won the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes at Moonee Valley.

Small, who developed an uncanny knack of rating the free-running Vo Rogue beautifully in front, is well qualified to rate the champ's best effort.

From his 22 wins on Vo Rogue, Small nominated the 1990 Australian Cup at his most memorable performance. Considering the next three home were Better Loosen Up, Super Impose and Stylish Century, it's hard to argue otherwise.

"He had a tremendously big stride and he picked them up and put them down pretty quickly," Small observed when asked for a clue what made Vo Rogue so special.

"A lot of people have said over the years Vo Rogue might have had a better record if he had been with one of the top stables. That's rubbish. Vic did a terrific job with the horse. But he had a good offsider with Jeff Perry. He had a lot of say in the way Vo Rogue was handled."