The Phantom Chance, a gelding by Noble Bijou out of The Fantasy, was a member of one of New Zealand's best-known Thoroughbred families bred by A.G (Tony), K.J.
But then he won eight races on end, six of them at stakes level, including the Derby and the Group 1 Cambridge Stud International Stakes against the older horses to confirm his status as New Zealand's champion three-year-old for the season.
He started his Australian career with a narrow win in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, and after a Group 1 placing at Caulfield became the second New Zealand Derby winner in three years (after Surfers Paradise) to win the Cox Plate, beating fellow New Zealander Solvit by a length and a half in the 1993 running of Australia's weight-for-age championship.
On 28 November 1993, ridden by Robert Vance, he placed 12th of 16 in the Japan Cup won by Legacy World.
He continued to race through to the age of 8, and occasionally experienced success in both New Zealand and Australia at stakes level.