I ducked down to Murwillumbah to see some track work at Matty Dunn’s setup in Murwillumbah last week. It’s a great place, just a pity it’s over the border and can’t be called part of of QLD!
For those who follow the site on facebook, you may have seen the photos already but I thought it was worth putting them up in an article as it is a great way to spend the morning. There’s nothing better than grabbing a coffee, throwing on a jumper and watching a few strut their stuff.
I took the time to find out about a few of the stable stars while I was there. Hidden Jewel is now a ‘black type’ winner and after a couple of good runs she hit her form to stamp herself as a real chance to shine over the carnival. Like a lot of high class fillies she has a hell of a lot of attitude around the stables and can make the day interesting by the sound of it. Matt has handled her beautifully and gave her a short but successful prep and tipped her out so he could target the fillies’ races over the carnival. That has now proved a master stroke and she will head to the Gold Coast for the 1800m Bracelet. The plan has been to head to the Oaks, but it will be re-assesed after the Gold Coast run.
Beach Babe, Congo and Caldetes are all nice two year olds at different stages of their preps. Beach Babe simply has to be forgiven for the debut run when the horse was wide on pace and was never a chance. Congo also promised a lot and is a horse that will win its fair share of races. I’m not sure what time we will see him, but don’t be surprised if he pops up at the back end of the carnival. Caldetes has only had the one start but is full of potential and was a bit green that day and could easily have won if he had his manners with him. He has been gelded and I’m sure his manners won’t be a problem when he steps out some time in June.
He also has Altai Warrior in the stable who turned in a few really good runs, including a couple of big wins when he had a few things go his way in the run. He is a horse who just needs the breaks to go his way as he gets back and also likes a firm track.
Matt is building a nice team at his Murwillumbah base and you can expect him to kick a lot more goals in the next couple of months also. He got some nice horses from the Qtis sale as well as a few others from various sales this year and I’m looking forward to seeing some of them step out later in the year. Until then I’m happy to get down as often as possible with my coffee and beanie to watch a few work.
