Manikato

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Adam Crettenden. Manikato

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For Carly

The first horse to come into view was familiar to the crowd of just under 20,000. It was the chestnut figure of the race favourite: Manikato. He was no stranger here. Manikato—or ‘The Man’ as the press had dubbed him—had won this race the previous four years. Long white bandages concealed the chestnut colour of his forelegs. They secured his cannon bones, which ran from his knees to his fetlock joints—a legacy of his bulky size and his drive to win from his previous 43 starts. He was the patched-up old warrior, literally wrapped in cottonwool between starts and only performing on days of historical significance—such as this one.

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For Seccull, the timing was lousy as he felt he had enough horses already. One solution to help de-risk the situation was to bring in a partner to go halves. This was entertained, calls were made but the responses were unfavourable.

While the matter of ownership was being resolved, the colt was broken-in by Ross McDonald, with time divided between the Mordialloc stables and another property a little further south-east of Melbourne. Throughout this form of pre-training the colt excelled, accepting the handling and gear, having somebody sit on his back, some barrier education, as well as some short bursts of running. His behaviour did waver occasionally into that of a cheeky juvenile, as he attempted to bully other horses. He may have been young, but he already understood that he was bigger and more powerful than the others.

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