That was almost half a million dollars in prizemoney and eight wins ago
So ordinary did the son of Manhattan Rain look, Hulbert was simply hoping for the best, but his win in the $150,000 Mooloolaba Cup (1600m) on Saturday was the latest chapter in what has been an amazing story.
“The owner has family in Brisbane and wanted a horse here, so he bought him sight unseen online for $6000,” Hulbert, who trains in partnership with his father Peter laughed.
“He was an unbroken two-year-old by Manhattan Rain and he was tiny when he rocked up, we thought ‘here we go’, but we gave him a go.
“The stallion was pretty much infertile, so it’s a bit of a miracle really, he’s been bloody good to us.
“It’s nearly half a million he’s earned now, from a six grand online buy.”
The veteran galloper has been a consistent performer in open class around Queensland and Hulbert credited a recent trip to the vet for his form turn around, which saw him knock off the fast finishing Aussie Nugget under jockey Mark Du Plessis.
“I got together with our vet last week and said ‘find me something’, we found something and changed a few things and he has blown them away here today,” Hulbert said.
“We had a look at his joints, general wear and tear being an older horse, so we got his joints done and they always improve when they do that.
“Aidan (Thompson) galloped him on Tuesday morning and he got off and said he hadn’t worked that well in 12 months, he said ‘he’s back’.”
After being pressured on the speed for much of the trip, the well supported Without Revenge finished towards the tail of the field.
Story by Trenton Akers – as published on Racenet https://bit.ly/3XwSkHJ
