'Team Hulbert' hope for another Mackay Cup

By Glenn Davis 

The training partnership of Peter and Will Hulbert is hoping history will be repeated when Kipling’s Journey tackles the Mackay Cup on Saturday.

'Team Hulbert' is chasing its second Mackay Cup win after Hail Manhattan claimed the 2000 metre feature in 2021.

Co-trainer Will Hulbert rates Hail Manhattan as slightly better than Kipling’s Journey but has drawn confidence the six-year-old can win following his game fourth to the Ricky Vale-trained Logan Street Lion in the Rockhampton Cup on July 5.

“Hail Manhattan ran second in the Rocky Cup and went on to win the Mackay Cup,” Will said.

“Kipling’s Journey ran a great race to finish fourth in the Rocky Cup after he jumped from a bad barrier and I think he’ll win the Mackay Cup.

“I thought they would be too sharp for him at Rockhampton, but had he drawn a decent barrier he would have won.

“He sat outside the leader who took him off the track.”

Will’s confidence has grown after learning of the Rockhampton Cup sectional times.

“I looked up his sectional times which showed he ran the fastest speed in the Rocky Cup with 70.5kph,” he said.

“He also ran the fastest last 200 metres.”

The co-trainer believes the barrier won’t be as important in the Mackay Cup, compared to Rockhampton, and is hoping the son of Zoustar can hitch a ride north for the Townsville Cup at Cluden Park on August 9 if successful.

“He’s staying at Ricky Vale’s stables and if Ricky goes up for the Townsville Cup, he’ll go with him,” he said.

“If Ricky doesn’t have a runner, then he won’t go.

“But, hopefully he’ll make it to the Townsville Cup and then possibly the Cairns Cup.”

It’s the same path Hail Manhattan took after winning the Mackay Cup but he could only manage fifth in the Townsville Cup behind Fortification.

“Hail Manhattan didn’t handle the travel too well whereas Kipling’s Journey is more relaxed and likes to travel,” Will said.

“He’s a giant of a horse. At trackwork he sits on the side partition in the tie-up stalls of a morning.

“It’s just like he’s sitting on a stool in a bar waiting for a whiskey.”

As a young horse Kipling’s Journey was once described as a spider because of his gangly legs.

He was a paltry $20,000 buy and is raced in a big syndicate which includes the estate of Dave Garratt who was a keen racing enthusiast and part-owner of several other horses in the Hulbert stable.

Garratt, a former SAS soldier and criminal lawyer, died suddenly at his home just before Christmas three years ago.

Garratt's young son was given a share in the ownership of Kipling’s Journey following his father’s death and prizemoney goes to a trust fund for his future education.