Foaled in New Zealand in 1992, Octagonal was sired by champion Thoroughbred racehorse Zabeel, out of the broodmare Eight Carat. The stallion made his debut in 1994 and soon stamped his authority on Australian racetracks after being crowned Australian Champion Two-Year-Old and doing trainer John Hawkes proud. Occy, or ‘The Big O’ as Octagonal is also known, became an endearing crowd favorite by winning the Todman Trial, AJC Sires Produce Stakes, and later placing second in the STC Golden Slipper and AJC Champagne Stakes. .
Octagonal’s record as a three-year-old was impressive with 10 wins from just 16 starts. The coveted triple crown was an easy game for Occy, beating the best in class of him in the Canterbury Guineas, Rosehill Guineas and the Australian Derby. The WS Cox Plate and Mercedes Classic, the highest weight-for-age races on the Australian circuit, was one of his major achievements when he was three years old. At the end of 1996 Octagonal was the Australian Horse of the Year and Australian Champion Three-Year-Old, with the added distinction of being the last horse to win the triple crown, finishing the season with nearly $A4 million in prize money. The only two prestigious races that eluded him when he was three years old were the Australian Derby and the Victoria Derby, where he narrowly lost to Nothin’ Leica Dane.
Octagonal did not get off to a good start as a four-year-old, remaining unranked in six of seven starts, with a lone win coming in the Underwood Stakes in the spring. However, the autumn brought better luck for the stallion with back-to-back wins in the Chipping Norton Stakes, the Australian Cup and the Mercedes Classic. Octagonal finished the season with a second-place finish in the AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes. The season was to be the end of Octagonal’s racing career with a record 14 wins from 28 starts, 7 second places and one third place. Occy did his owners proud with a bet of $5,892,231 AUD at the end of his career. His winning tally included 10 Group 1 wins and 7 second-place finishes in 6 Group One or Group Two races.
Octagonal was retired to stud at Cootamundra, New South Wales, and soon became a champion sire. The most notable offspring of him is Lonhro, another champion Thoroughbred horse with 11 Group One wins and total prize money of $A6 million. He also sired the South African Group 1 winner Suntagonal. His most prominent offspring during his stallion duties at Haras du Quesnay in France in 1998 is the French canter Laverock, winner of two Group 1 races that included the Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris and the Grand Prix du Jockey. Club at the San Hipódromo de Siro in Milan.