By RUSSELL BENNETT
FOR the training team of champion bay gelding Mourinho, Sunday’s $200,000 TAB Cranbourne Cup win isn’t the only connection it has to the City of Casey.
Mayor Geoff Ablett taught brothers Peter and Manny Gelagotis at Warragul Primary School and the former Hawthorn star was also their footy coach in Moe.
He knows better than anyone just what Sunday’s result would have meant to them.
It was their second country cup win in two days after Simmering won the $15,000 Manangatang Cup in front of a huge crowd on Saturday.
“It was a fantastic day,” Mr Ablett said.
“Both boys are just fantastic blokes.”
In that regard, Mr Ablett said nothing had really changed since he taught them in the 1970s.
“They were really good kids then and they’re still very good, hard workers now,” he said.
“I hope they go on to bigger and better things, like winning a Caulfield Cup, for example.”
Mr Ablett went on to say that both Cranbourne Cup day, as an event, and the new grandstand were “big plusses for Cranbourne”.
“The likes of Greg Eurell and Robbie Griffiths love it and I hope there might soon come a day when trainers from Caulfield consider making the switch,” he said.
“Everyone raved about the new grandstand – they all gave it a huge thumbs up.”
Mourinho finished third in last year’s Cranbourne Cup behind German import Pakal and led from start to finish in a super impressive performance in this year’s race.
