X-ray will determine Duke’s future

The American owner of Duke Of Cornwall (Sweet Lou) Richard Poillucci is hopeful the gelding can return to racing, but an x-ray at the end of the month will determine the stallion’s harness racing future.

Duke of Cornwall 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.

He was then sold to Poillucci and 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.

“When we bought him he was big, very immature and his growth plates were open. When he came here we shipped him up to Tahnee (trainer Tahnee Camilleri) and he had a good wee run for a while but then he fractured his cannon bone. They did the repair and he was trained down to get ready to qualify and he came up sore. I said to Patty (vet Patty Hogan) ‘before I retire him take a look.’ She said the screw they put in was too short and wasn’t closing the fracture. The fracture was clean, so it hadn’t calcified at all. She put another screw in and it closed right up. Fingers crossed he’s on the mend,” Poillucci said.

Duke Of Cornwall will be scanned at the end of the month and if it’s clear he’ll be prepared by Kelvin Harrison.

Duke Of Cornwall lifetime record is fourteen wins from just twenty nine starts and he last raced in September 2023.

“I love the horse. He’s a serious horse, a very nice horse.”

Poillucci has purchased some very good horses including Shartin, Nike Franco, Bettor Joy and Naturally Gifted. And recently Always B Stunning who won seven races for Peter and Vaughan Blanchard.

Nike Franco won 32 races and has a mile record of 1-48. She was the fastest mare in North America in the 2017 season. She’s now owned in Australia by Alabar, and her first foal Bay Of Biscay (Somebeachsomewhere) won ten of his twenty one starts including the Group One Chariots Of Fire in 1-49.1.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink