The Duke in America

You can hear the excitement in New Jersey harness racing trainer Tahnee Camilleri’s voice when she talks about former New Zealand pacer Duke Of Cornwall N (Sweet Lou).  

The five year old entire is a rising star in the stable and Tahnee says when he first arrived from Australia he was very green and his gait needed fine tuning. 

“It could have just been a Sweet Lou thing. When I got Dancin Lou (Sweet Lou) as a three year old he was very similar – not very polished, and immature, and Duke (Duke of Cornwall N) was like that,” she said. 

Camilleri, who hails from Australia, got her first insight into the horse’s ability when she was waiting for the paperwork to come through. 

“His DNA hadn’t come in, so I took him for an Educator (workout) which are run after the qualifiers. I said to Andy McCarthy (driver) to treat it like an early qualifier. I clocked him coming home in 26 seconds and he didn’t look as though he was going that fast. Andy said he went good, and I looked at my watch and thought he went better than good, but I didn’t want to say anything to him.”  

The following week once all the paperwork had been sorted, Tahnee took Duke Of Cornwall N to the Meadowlands where horses can be stretched out a bit more.  

“It’d been raining, and I said to Andy it was just a bugger that the track was off because I wanted him to be stretched out so he could race the following week. He looked at me and said ‘we’re not going 52 or 53 today!’ I told him to drive him to the track conditions and he ended up qualifying in 51 (1-51) and coming home in 25.4. That was completely unexpected and Andy came off the track and said He’s f.……. fast and I said ‘oh my god, I know’ (laughter). I thought he was good and maybe special. I try not to get too high on them because horses have a way of disappointing. But he hasn’t disappointed me yet.”    

Since being in the States Duke Of Cornwall N has had eight starts for six wins and one second. In his only unplaced start he finished fourth. 

“He drew wide, there was a bit of speed inside him and he was racing under lights for the first time. I told Andy if they’re all coming out, we can go back. In the end it was like the charge of the light brigade. Even though he ran fourth he ran his last half in 52.4 and he hasn’t looked back since then. He has an on/off switch like a lot of Sweet Lou’s and once you stoke that fire it’s hard to contain. I was just so conscious of not wanting him to get hot and stupid because once they get like that you can’t reverse it.” 

Duke Of Cornwall N was purchased by Richard Poillucci in January 2022 for big money from the horse’s New Zealand breeder Lester Smith. 

He’d won four of his nine starts as a two year old for his New Zealand trainer Lauren Pearson. His win over a mile at the Young Quinn Raceway in Southland after sitting parked in 1-52.6 was the most impressive of his career to that point. 

Once sold he was initially sent to Belinda and Luke McCarthy’s stable in Australia where he won once in two starts before Kerryn Manning won a race at Geelong with him. 

He was then sent to America. 

“I was at home one day watching TV and received a text message from a gentleman called Richard Poillucci introducing himself and wanting to arrange a time to speak to me about horses. The name rang a bell, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on who it was. Those sorts of messages are not out of the ordinary here because a lot of people call wanting you to train a horse and it doesn’t come to fruition, so I didn’t really think much of it. I laugh about this now with Rich, but I actually googled him and then realised how many good horses he owned. Oh, he had Shartin N (Tintin In America) and it was definitely someone I needed to call back. He told me he’d watched my interview after the Breeders Crown and thought it was pretty cool and that’s how the seed was planted.” 

Camilleri says Poillucci is a very hands on owner. 

“I speak to him a few times a week. I think he appreciates the down under way. Sometimes the North Americans are good talkers and that’s just not me. I like to say things the way they are and he appreciates that, which is why we gel good together.” 

Camilleri says it took a while for Duke Of Cornwall N to settle into stable life in America. 

“He didn’t appreciate being in a stall to start with and got a wee bit sour. I try and get him out as much as possible now. He’s quite picky when it comes to food and he really enjoys being fed three times a day. He’s starting to get hay cubes now so he’s thinking stable life isn’t too bad. I rent a field a couple of miles away and I try to get him out there as much as possible.” 

She says it’s fortunate the horse’s owner has had the patience to wait for the horse. 

“Mr Poillucci has been in horses for a long time. Coming to the States as a young horse, their immune system can be quite compromised especially in the first year, so we’ve been careful about not over racing him and picking and choosing his races. It’s been a blessing to have someone like that to allow me to do that.  

Camilleri says because the horse hasn’t won over $100,000 she’s been able to race him strategically.  

“He’s had a lot of restricted non-winners races to win so that’s why he wasn’t paid into any stakes races in the first half of the season. His schedule is going to get a lot harder in the next couple of months, once he faces horses like Allywag Hanover (Captaintreacherous) and Ruthless Hanover (Somebeachsomewhere). When racing those 46 (1.46 miler) horses you can have all the ability in the world but handling those hard knocking grand circuit pacing boys is a whole different kettle of fish. I’m not nervous to race those horses and I think he’s going to acquit himself really well.” 

Does Tahnee think Duke Of Cornwall N will handle the hustle and bustle of open grade racing? 

“At the minute he’s doing it quite comfortably and not pressured to win. He won nicely last weekend in 1-49 at Plainridge. He ran four 27 second quarters in a row. He’s got a very high cruising speed. Whether he can do the bullocking work against the aged grand circuit pacing boys remains to be seen. One of the biggest feathers in his cap is that he is so tractable. So I think he can win from anywhere which is going to be to really helpful in that aged boys ranks.” 

DUKE OF CORNWALL N REPLAY

She says this season you won’t see Duke Of Cornwall N race week in week out. 

“Maybe next year you’ll see a bit more of him but this year we’re really trying to look after him. He’s the most patient owner in the world. It’s no secret he paid a lot of money for the horse and a lot of people would just want to try and recover that as soon as possible but every decision he’s made is to help look after the horse. It’s a real pleasure to work with someone that understands that.” 

Another recent addition to the Camilleri barn is former New Zealander It’s All About The Faith (Captaintreacherous) who’s been in the country for a couple of months. 

“Mr Poillucci purchased him off Jack Trainor. He had his first qualifier (trial) at Magical Acres qualifying in 54. The plan is to qualify this week at Meadowlands and find a race for him.”  

Camilleri currently has four horses owned by Poillucci in the stable: Duke Of Cornwall N, Will The Wizard (Alta Christiano), It’s All About Faith N and the unraced Mimado (Lazarus). 

Naturally Gifted (Sweet Lou) who’s currently racing in Brisbane for Jack Trainor will also head to the USA in September or October. He ran second in the G1 NSW Derby and G1 Gold Crown Final. 

Tahnee learned her harness racing craft under the tutelage of Sydney trainers Colin and Graeme Watts before spending time with Brisbane trainer Stuart Hunter. 

She first ventured to America in 2009 but returned home to complete her law degree. After being a practicing lawyer for a few years, she returned to the States in 2018 and is now set up at Magical Acres in Chesterfield New Jersey.  

“Arguably it’s got the best 5/8th training track in New Jersey if not the country. Like other trainers on the property I rent stalls from the owners Thomas and John Cancelliere who own and train Ruthless Hanover. It equates to a quarter of the barn which is shared by four trainers. The others are Jacquie and Frankie Ingrassia, Paul Kelly and Curtis Daniels. The barn is sandwiched between Brett Pelling and Linda Toscano’s barn.” 

She says Pelling has been a major influence in her career. 

“Brett’s been very helpful to me, free with his advice and knowledge. I really look up to him as a trainer.”  

Noel Daley, Pat Lachance and Jim Campbell are other well known trainers on the property.  

When she first went to the States, Tahnee found it very hard to make inroads into the very competitive sport. 

“If you’re not from America or from a racing family you have to prove yourself. One good thing about this country though is that if you do well even with cheaper horses, the better owners will come. “ 

She’s worked hard and had a bit of luck as well along the way. 

“The first year I was here I got given what I thought was not an very overly talented Sweet Lou (Dancin Lou) which kicked me off, and better opportunities have come my way since then.” 

Driven by Andy McCarthy, Dancin Lou won the three year old division of the Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk in 2019. 

Now having Duke Of Cornwall N in the stable, she has some quality bloodstock to kick on with. 

“He’s quite a big horse and he’s finally growing into his brain. I’m sure whatever he does this year he’ll be even better next year. “ 

The first Stakes race Duke Of Cornwall N is paid into is the Sam McKee Memorial ($275,000) to be raced on August 5th.. The McKee was won last year by Catch The Fire (Captaintreacherous) in 1:46.4. 

The $600,000 Canadian Pacing Derby which has elimination heats and a final is another target. 

“He’ll get to cut his teeth against the good boys there. “ 

She says Duke Of Cornwall N is paid into stakes races up til November 21st.  

“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him so far with flying colours and he’s giving every indication that he’s going to go with the best ones.” 

We’ll be watching with interest from this side of the world and wishing Duke of Cornwall N and Tahnee Camilleri all the best. 

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink