ANNE Maree Curran will have her entire stable running in pursuit of happiness at Manangatang on Saturday.
The Bendigo-based trainer only has a pair of horses and they both have something to prove.
Martini Sunset will be looking for a maiden win in the Emmetts Goldacres Handicap Maiden Plate, while Elusive King is looking for his elusive form in the day’s main race, the Agfarm Manangatang Cup.
Curran, meanwhile, is hoping for happier times than her last visit to Manangatang.
“My last time at Manangatang was probably the most devastating day I’ve had in racing,” she said.
“We took our old stable stalwart Niptious to run in the cup, and he broke down after the line and had to be put down. It was horrible.
“It would be nice to go back to Manangatang and get a happier result.”
Curran devotes most of her time to the family business, training horses with dad Danny and mum Carmel, and the Curran team have had a successful year with the likes of bargain filly The Big Dance and Group 2 winner Written Dash.
Her own small team, though, is a motley crew.
Elusive King went through two states and three trainers before the Currans bought him last December.
Anne Maree had worked with the horse in her previous role at Contract Racing, and when her dad was done with him, she couldn’t let him go.
“It was very much a sentimental connection,” she said.
“I really liked him as a younger horse. Dad said I was wasting my time.
“I’m stubbornly intending to get him to the races and prove him wrong. This is exactly the sort of race i was hoping to get him back for.”
For more on this story, pick up a copy of today’s (Friday, October 9) The Guardian…
