Young apprentice Luke Cartwright is dreaming big ahead of his first Black Type assignment, hoping to claim victory in the Hareeba Stakes at Mornington on Saturday.
Cartwright heads to the Listed 1200m contest off a career milestone last weekend, where he celebrated his first Saturday metro win at Bendigo — which soon turned into a winning double. Now, he’ll take his first shot at Stakes company aboard Curran as part of the Mornington Cup meeting.
Curran is trained by Cartwright’s grandmother Lyn Tolson and his mother Leonie Proctor, with the young rider already landing seven wins for the family stable.
“I’ve ridden quite a few winners for them, but this is one of my better rides,” Cartwright said.
“They’re also giving me my first ride in a Black Type race, so to get a result for them would mean the world to me.”
The race has an extra layer of emotion for Cartwright’s grandmother, who once worked with Hareeba — the iconic sprinter the race is named after — during his peak when trained by Ken Newman at Mornington.
“She worked at the track when Hareeba was in his best form, and she loved him,” Cartwright said.
“To win the Hareeba would mean more to her than winning the Cup at the home track, so I’ll be doing my best.”
This will be Cartwright’s first official race ride aboard Curran, a consistent galloper with five wins from 37 starts and close to $900,000 in earnings.
His brother Matthew — now based in New Zealand — partnered Curran to four of those wins, while Craig Newitt piloted him to a major win in the Country Discovery at Geelong last year.
Cartwright recently trialled the gelding to a solid second at Caulfield Heath and highlighted the importance of ensuring Curran breathes comfortably during the run.
“His trial and gallops have been faultless, so I think if he brings his best form, he can run a good race, but you have to make sure he’s got clean wind,” Cartwright said.
“If he’s breathing right and he gets the right run in transit, gets a cart up, he’ll be right in the finish.
“He’s run against some very nice horses in his time, and he’ll probably find this a touch easier, but he is going up in class from his first-up run, but he wasn’t completely right then.
“He usually runs well this time of year, and if there’s a bit of rain about that, he’ll appreciate that a lot more.”