The regally-bred gelding who threw no fewer than six jockeys off his back has finally realised his potential – and manners – ahead of Saturday’s The Kosciuszko.
Talbragar, a five-year-old gelding by Snitzel out of Golden Slipper winner Overreach, has had just the three career starts to date because of his hot temper.
Talbragar, son of Overreach (pictured), will chase Kosciuszko glory.Credit:Dallas Kilponen
An unlucky few who jumped on his back and were thrown off spoke about how Talbragar used to deliberately wait to get going into stride before dislodging them.
Tom Sherry was one jockey who was thrown off Talbragar. Another top horseman who bravely climbed aboard said: “If someone didn’t end up on the ground, they clearly didn’t ride him enough times.”
The now five-year-old Talbragar had such a reputation for tossing riders off his back, he was sent to the country with Tamworth trainer Cody Morgan for a bit of peace and serenity for all involved.
Talbragar is the name of the river that surrounds owner George Altomonte’s Corrumbene Stud in Dunedoo, in NSW’s central west.
Altomonte was almost apologetic when talking about Talbragar’s early antics, but glad he had given himself a chance to try and win the $1m bush feature this weekend.
For those who love their breeding, Talbragar’s full younger brother, Lofty Strike, will resume in group company at Caulfield on Wednesday.
Talbragar has won all three starts, led on all occasions like his mother used to often do, and saluted twice on heavy going.
Hugh Bowman, another proud Dunedoo export, will ride Talbragar on Saturday.
“He can run, he can handle the wet, so I think we’ve got a pretty good chance on Saturday,” said Altomonte, who will be trackside to cheer his famous orange, brown and white colours.
“I don’t know what happened when he was younger. If a jockey did something he didn’t like, he’d just throw them off. He’d only throw certain jockeys off.
“That was the dilemma – he could run, we just couldn’t get his head right. He’s alright now. He has that determination to win. I put it down to maturity.
“[Trainer] Cody Morgan has done a good job with him. He’s been planning to go to this race for a couple of months, so it’s not something we just decided to do yesterday.”
Morgan will also race Anethole and Le Melody, a winner of three from five. Three previous winners, Handle The Truth, Art Cadeau and It’s Me, who is racing the clock to overcome a stone bruise, will also line up.
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