‘She was such a rat': Reformed mare Pop Award chasing fifth straight win in Regal Roller Stakes

The Australian

3 days ago

There are family businesses then there's the Lyn Tolson and Leonie Proctor operation at Mornington.
Every family member has a role.
Tolson is the matriarch with her daughter Proctor training alongside her while jockey grandsons Luke and Matthew Cartwright do the riding, the latter when not plying his trade in New Zealand.
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Even son-in-law, former top jumps jockey Adrian Garraway is involved, educating and pre-training the stable's youngest residents.
Tolson and Proctor have combined for more than 100 winners since beginning their training partnership but preparing their 19-strong team is only part of the pair's busy schedule.
Taking on new clients is almost impossible with their workload but loyal supporters have always supplied the pair with talented gallopers alongside their own purchases.
'We're trying to work on a bit better class horses so we bought a few young horses,' Tolson said.
'We're trying to upgrade what we've got but we don't take a lot of new outside owners because we do a lot of pre-training for Nick Ryan, Grahame Begg and Lloyd Kennewell.
'That side of things is very important for our business.'
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Grand sprinter Curran is the star of Tolson and Proctor's team, earning the camp more than $800,000 in his 40-start career.
Tolson joked Proctor lets Curran do whatever he likes as the definite stable favourite.
Saturday's Listed Regal Roller Stakes runner Pop Award could equal Curran's win tally of five if she secures a vital black-type success at Caulfield.
But unlike Curran, Tolson said Pop Award initially had a vicious streak that caused her earliest breakers to throw up their hands in despair.
'When we got her, she'd been through different breakers and pre-trainers because she'd been such a rat,' Tolson said.
'She could strike at you and go at you better than any stallion.
'She was just an angry horse and always said, 'I'm just not doing it'. The more pressure you put on her, the worse she got.'
Pop Award will shoot for her fifth straight win in the Regal Roller Stakes at Caulfield. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images
Time spent with her final breaker immensely improved Pop Award's attitude.
Tolson said Pop Award wasn't perfect, but her trainers could work with the daughter of Shamus Award.
'She gave him (the last breaker) a hard, hard time and when he handed her back to us, he said, 'what you've got here is what you've got and I've got no more tricks up my sleeve',' Tolson said.
'He was the third breaker that had her. But he told us, 'once you get her in the box, she'll stand. She won't want to come out. Just let her do it herself'.
'That's what we did, we worked with her and she's a lovely horse. She's such a nice horse to ride but you've got to let her do it on her terms.
'She's got plenty of attitude but she's a nice horse to work with now.'
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Pop Award belied her difficult start to her career to string together four wins in a row to earn a chance at Listed level in the Regal Roller Stakes.
Tolson said she didn't know how high Pop Award could go in her career but said connections would do the five-year-old a disservice not to give her a shot at stakes racing.
'The media keeps putting a wrap on her and she's still stepping but I'm not sure how far she's going to go,' Tolson said.
'She's still got to do it but we'd be kicking ourselves if she was good and we missed out on some nice races.'
Pop Award is a $7.50 chance to notch her fifth straight win in the Regal Roller Stakes.
'As long as she's competitive in it and works to the line, we'll be happy,' Tolson said.
'We'll see how she goes and we can plan from there.'