TRAINING DUO LEE AND CHERIE CURTIS HAD A DAY OF FLUCTUATING FORTUNES AT ROSEHILL
Most trainers love to see horses hit the line with ears pricked! Modella duly obliged - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Very few race meetings go by when at least one win on the programme isn’t a direct result of an improved barrier draw. Saturday’s Midway win by Modella is a perfect example. On September 13th the four year old mare went back to last from the outside gate to be twelve lengths from leader and winner African Daisy at the 600m. She finished third, just 1.63 lengths from African Daisy with Apache Breeze nosing her out of second money. Form analysts agreed it was the run of the race.
Fast forward to September 27th and it was a massive class rise into the Gr 2 Golden Pendant. To the dismay of training partners Lee and Cherie Curtis, Modella drew the extreme outside gate in a ten horse field. Same old story. Straight back to last and off the track on the hometurn. She felt the pinch in the last 80 metres but still wound up only 3.36 lengths from the winner Manaal with Gerringong second and Firestorm third. To Saturday’s Midway, and this time the mare had the luxury of gate 4 in a twelve horse field. Is it any wonder she wound up a $2.20 favourite and not surprisingly scored one of the softest wins of the day.
Zac Lloyd quickly had her into a cosy spot one horse off the fence. At the 800m Harry’s Bar led Direct Fire with well supported Vetwelve in third spot outside Bellenth and Alabama State caught on a limb three wide. Modella was in a beautiful rhythm on the back of Vetwelve. Lloyd had a few anxious moments when held up on straightening and was relieved to see a gap appearing between Vetwelve and the tiring Direct Fire. That gap was all Modella needed to put the race beyond doubt in a few strides. There was a touch of arrogance about the win as Lloyd allowed her to coast to the line well clear of Vetwelve and Harry’s Bar.
As easy as you like! Modella coasted home in the Midway - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Lee Curtis has had a great liking for Modella from the moment he first identified her on the Arrowfield draft at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. “To begin with she’s by Castelvecchio from Ms. Rodarte, an I Am Invincible mare who won a two year old race at Canterbury in 2018,” said Lee. “Castelvecchio is already established as a top shelf stallion with Gr 1 winners like El Castello and Aeliana putting his name up in lights. She appealed to me instantly, even allowing for her four bold white stockings and an irregular blaze. We secured her for $200,000 and brokered a deal with Arrowfield who agreed to stay in the filly along with their partner Katsumi Yoshida, founder of Japan’s famous Northern Farms. The remaining shares were taken by long time stable clients Christine Cook, Liam and Janet Tansey, Jacquie Mealing and my wife Cherie. She hasn’t quite recouped her purchase price yet, but that should happen in the near future.”
Lee and Cherie gave their Castelvecchio filly plenty of time to grow into herself, and it was fifteen months after the sale before she had the first of four barrier trials. It was two years after the Gold Coast Sale when she debuted with a second to Believe In Angels in a Warwick Farm midweek 3YO maiden. Three weeks later Modella comfortably won a Kembla Grange maiden with Jeff Penza in the saddle. A brief freshen and a soft barrier trial was followed by a neck second to Tuned in a Warwick Farm BM72. Then came the run that stamped the filly as a potential stakes performer. Rising sharply in class she travelled three wide all the way before finishing 5th just 1.28 lengths behind Lilac in the Gr 3 James Carr Stakes during The Championships.
Modella gets her name on the board - an easy Maiden win at Kembla 29/01/2025 with Jeff Penza - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Next assignment was the Hawkesbury Guineas at the club’s stand alone Saturday meeting. Modella’s horror run of barriers continued with gate 12, and Heavy 8 going wasn’t ideal. Once again, she never got on the track but was doing her best work late to finish 5th only 3.1 lengths from winner Media World. The Curtis training partners were satisfied and the three year old filly was sent immediately to the paddock. The benefits of that spell have been evident since she began her current preparation, and at Rosehill on Saturday she looked like a mare who’s just beginning to put it all together.
There’s no game like the racing game to produce shifting fortunes. Buoyed by Modella’s emphatic win the Curtis training duo looked forward to the appearance of their second stable runner Bauhinia in the Gr 3 Nivison later in the day. The Hellbent mare was coming off a cracking second to Idle Flyer at Randwick three weeks earlier and had come up with barrier 2. That soft gate brought about Bauhinia’s downfall. Bonita Queen went out with a big lead and set a frenetic pace in the middle stages. Bauhinia made ground rapidly along the fence in the straight but was unfortunate enough to be caught behind Bonita Queen when that leader hit a brick wall at the 100m. Bauhinia went from looking dangerous, to being carted straight back through the field.
It’s ridiculous to look at The Nivison result and see that Bauhinia was placed officially last, almost ten lengths from the winner Gangsta Granny - the kind of result that leaves owners and trainers with a sickly feeling in the pits of their stomachs. Lee Curtis can only hope that ATC selectors will be kind in their assessment of Bauhinia when finalising the field for The Invitation to be run at Randwick over 1400m on October 25th. “I’d love to run both Modella and Bauhinia in the The Invitation, so I’m hoping the selectors will take all aspects into account. Modella had respectable Gr 3 form last preparation, while Bauhinia’s run last Saturday shouldn’t count. We’ve got the fingers crossed.”
Bauhinia had better luck in this one at Wyong last December with Tommy Berry in the saddle - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Lee Curtis still has to pinch himself to believe he unearthed a genuine Group horse very early in his career. In the late 1990’s he was one of several Canterbury trainers to be offered the option by the Sydney Turf Club of relocating to Rosehill. Some of the older trainers decided to cease operations, but Lee was one of a number who decided to try their luck at the alternative venue. He was 37 at the time and had won his share of races with handy horses like Black Routine, Prince of Play, Voltabolta, Turbulent Jet and Press Report who finished on the heels of the placegetters in a couple of Gr 1 races. He had no idea what to expect from the little Strategic colt he’d bred from his own mare Volcanic Mist. He called him Mistegic and what a ride awaited the young trainer.
Lee guided Mistegic’s career with skill, patience and judgement. The sprinter raced 31 times for 6 wins, 15 placings and $1.68 million dollars, a tidy sum more than twenty years ago. Top jockey Brian York was sceptical when the little known Rosehill trainer told him the unraced colt would win the 2000 Breeders Plate despite the extreme outside barrier. Lee’s judgement proved spot on when Mistegic won narrowly from Newquay and Viscount who later won three Gr 1 races.
It took Mistegic a long time to win again, but good times lie ahead. He would go on to win another five stakes races, highlighted by the 2002 GR 1 Galaxy with Glen Boss in the saddle. The best barometer of his ability is the fact that he was placed in a Lightning Stakes, an Oakleigh Plate, a Newmarket and a Manikato Stakes. He provided his young trainer with an invaluable learning curve and took him on a thrilling ride at racing’s elite level.
Mistegic (Glen Boss) gives his trainer a maiden Gr. 1 in the 2002 Galaxy defeating Century Kid - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Lee has enjoyed tremendous support in recent years from Frank and Christine Cook who rarely race a horse in exclusive ownership. They like to involve friends and associates, and as Christine often says the more girls the better. Some of their syndicated horses have totally female ownership groups. Frank’s colours are maroon, white crossed sashes, yellow armbands and cap. Horses raced by female syndicates carry a slightly different version of the same colour combination - maroon, white diamond, yellow armbands and cap with two large white diamonds on either sleeve. One very talented mare Lee trained for nine girls was Meryl (Epaulette - Academy idol) and named after Meryl Streep who won three Academy Awards. The four legged Meryl won Gr 3 races at Doomben and Moonee Valley.
Lee at home with dual stakes winner Meryl.
The best known collaboration between Lee and the Cooks revolved around the unique staying filly Lasqueti Spirit who showed little in the early part of her two year old preparation. She finished third in a five horse maiden at Wyong on debut and followed that with a plodding tenth in the Gr 3 Bailleau Hcp at Rosehill. Lee then went to the 1600m Fernhill Hcp at Randwick in which the filly improved markedly to finish third behind Prized Icon and Crown Him. He wasn’t totally surprised by the improved showing because trackwork riders had been telling him for weeks that the filly wanted to keep running at the end of her gallops. The trainer felt a little better about the future as Lasqueti Spirit went to the paddock after her Fernhill placing.
The daughter of Beneteau took forever to get going in her following preparation. Her first six runs yielded only two placings in maiden company at Hawkesbury. On October 22nd, 2016, she “whacked away” into fourth place in a 2400m Cl 1 at Kembla Grange. Lee didn’t deviate from the plan he’d hatched for Lasqueti Spirit from the start of the preparation.
She went into the Crown Oaks at Flemington friendless in the betting at $101 with Brenton Avdulla on board. She was ridden along to be one of the leaders at the post the first time before striding to the lead turning into the back straight. Lee was confident the filly would maintain the gallop all the way, and Avdulla executed the plan perfectly. Lasqueti Spirit broke the hearts of her rivals to win the famous race by almost four lengths from Harlow Gold with Eleonora third. She didn’t win again in twelve starts but did finish second in a Chipping Norton Stakes and third to Bonneval in the ATC Australian Oaks. Lee’s previous Gr 1 performer Mistegic had been a veritable speed machine. His second was a filly who didn’t get warm under a mile and a half.
Stewards censured Brenton Avdulla about his over exuberance as Lasqueti Spirit went past the post in the 2016 Crown Oaks - courtesy Racing Photos.
It’s well documented that Lee Curtis is the father of six. He had three children with first wife Megan, and they’re all well on their way in the world. Brittany (29), Courtney (26) and Larry (21) all closely follow the progress of Dad’s horses and often visit the Rosehill stables. Lee and second wife Cherie are the proud parents of Harvey (13), Jackson (9) and Alexis (6). The astute trainer believes he deserves a spot in the Guiness Book Of Records for having had a “kid’s seat” in his car for close to thirty years. Just recently he contemplated the removal of the last child’s seat from his current car. That plan was put on hold when daughter Courtney revealed that her first baby is due next April. The mother-to-be has already suggested that he should keep the seat just in case his help is required for babysitting duties down the track.
Horse lover Cherie at the races with Achira after a Midway win in 2022.
