3 minute read

There are many reasons why Gendarmerie is a little bit special to co-trainer Cherie Curtis but the effort she made to secure the filly at the sales earlier this year must stand out among them.

It's easy to forget that it hasn't been a simple process to get into Queensland since the start of the pandemic and to get to the Magic Millions sale earlier this year in person Cherie Curtis, who co-trains with her husband Lee, had to stay out of Sydney for two weeks in country NSW before crossing to the Gold Coast.

Fortunately, she was able to spend the fortnight with her mother near Taree then continued on into Queensland with her son Harvey.

Curtis made the trip looking to buy a Magic Millions filly for the Cook family and the Epaulette youngster that became Gendarmerie, which she secured for $120,000, has family ties to the Curtis stable.

"She was the first horse I was able to buy for the Cooks by myself. It's just nice to see she can run,'' Curtis said.

"She was a nice type, I was looking for a horse that was going to be an early one to be a ladies horse for the Millions.

"She's a lovely filly with a really good temperament, she just wants to please you and does everything right."

Gendarmerie, $9.50 with TAB on Monday, goes on trial for her own trip to the Gold Coast in Wednesday's $200,000 Wyong Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic (1100m).

Her three-quarter in blood sister Meryl and year older half-brother Rambeau both competed in the January feature early in their careers.

Meryl was trained by Lee Curtis and was a two time Group 3 winner, as well as being stakes placed on several occasions, and while Curtis sees a bright future for Gendarmerie there are high hopes after her impressive debut second at Rosehill last month.

She started $26 and struck a heavy 10 but chased hard behind Lady Laguna with a decent gap to the rest of the field.

"Everything she has done has been really good, switched on, I still think she will be better as a three-year-old but she's with us now and she's done everything right,'' she said.

"Hopefully if she wins, or runs second even, she will probably get a start in it.

"I definitely think a dry track will be a plus. There weren't a lot of options for two-year-olds and our hand was forced to run on a heavy track.

"It was a positive she got through that going but I think she will be better on top of the ground."

Curtis said Gendarmerie's work since her debut has been excellent and she's maintained her weight, which is a positive sign, and can only expect her to run at least as well with the unknown of what talent lies in the first starters.

"You can't be that confident because of that,'' she said.

"You can be confident your filly is going to run a good race because she's working well and is a nice filly but you don't know what you're competing against.

"I think she is going to run a big race. Barrier two is fantastic, I was crossing my fingers for an inside draw, it's such an advantage for young horses to be close to the rail."