August 1 is the horses’ birthday in Australia and cake could be on the cards for the hard-working animals in training.

The tradition of making all horses’ birthdays on August 1 was introduced to standardise their special days to ease confusion in the racing world, where age matters.

Rocky turns five tomorrow and he hooked into his carrot cake yesterday, as our photo shows.

There’s no rest for the wicked though. Rocky’s trainer, Port Macquarie’s Jenny Graham, said he would continue to prepare for his next race on August 16 in Taree.

“He’s playing the part well,” she said, referring to Rocky’s performance for the camera.

The breeding season of September to October has everything to do with the August 1 date. The gestational period of a horse is 11 months.

In the northern hemisphere the date is January 1.