Lyn Tolson and Leonie Proctor are placing their hopes on cooler Melbourne temperatures to bring out the best in Curran when he lines up at Caulfield on Saturday.
The seven-year-old is set to contest the Listed Bel Esprit Stakes (1100m), but connections have admitted this could be the gelding’s swan song if he fails to fire.
Despite earning close to $900,000 from just a $600 purchase, Curran hasn’t scored a win since the Country Discovery at Geelong in April 2023. His current campaign has been below expectations.
After Curran finished last at Caulfield on May 10, retirement was considered, but rider Billy Egan offered enough encouragement to continue.
With Matt Cartwright recently back from New Zealand and having partnered Curran in trackwork, the team is set for one more test run.
“We had thoughts about retiring him last start, but Billy said ‘I don’t know’,” Tolson said.
“He still feels enormous, and he said maybe he needs to get that fitness up a little bit more.”
“He feels the best since he was a three-year-old and Matt has come back from New Zealand, so we thought, we’ll put Matt on, he knows the horse really well.”
“He’s galloped him a couple of times and he’s galloped up well, so we’re just wondering whether its wear and tear on the lungs and throat as his action is good.”
“Matthew’s not backwards in coming forward. If he’s not right, he’ll soon tell us after we thought Billy would jump off and say something, but he didn’t give us a bad report at all.”
“That’s because he feels so good underneath, so if it was anything to do with his action, he would be retired now.”
Curran has been troubled by throat issues in the past, but his most recent setback was due to hoof problems that kept him out for ten months.
“We did give him time out with his feet last year, and since then we’ve had a few little issues, so it hasn’t been a perfect preparation,” Tolson explained.
“And with the dust, the summer and the long dry spell, the pollens have always been a bit of an issue with him, so we’ve probably been a little soft on him too.”
“He’s had a few inflammation problems which has forced us to back off for a while, but going into this one everything’s been good, and we’ve been able to get the work into him.”
“There may be one more, maybe not, Saturday will be the day we make a decision.”
“But he’ll stay around the farm. He’s a great lead horse and he’ll stay around for sure.”
