Gold Cup recalls glory days for Russo boys

By Jordan Gerrans

The locals had every reason to celebrate at Ingham on Saturday afternoon as a famous racing family in the area lifted the Gold Cup for the first time.

The Russo clan have been in racing for decades in North Queensland as well as their business interests in cane farming.

The stable - led by trainer Joe Russo and his brothers Charlie and Angelo - were prominent through the 1990s before taking a lengthy break from the sport.

In the old days, Charlie was listed as the trainer with Joe taking over in recent times.

The Russos have prepared gallopers who they sent to Brisbane and Sydney to race successfully in their tenure in the game but they had never won their hometown Cup.

That all changed on Saturday afternoon as Zouhope delivered the locals a notable triumph.

“It was special,” Joe said.

“He has been a really good horse for us. And, he will win a few more races yet, it just takes him a while to get going and once he does get going, he goes great.”

The Zoustar gelding has been a revelation since he landed in North Queensland with the Russo clan.

He arrived with a maiden win under his belt from 16 career attempts after stops with three prior trainers in July of last year.

The Gold Cup victory at Ingham pushed his career earnings to almost $100,000 after five wins under their watch at provincial meetings at Cairns and Townsville.

Charlie is a part-owner as well as helping a Joe prepare the galloper. 

The 71-year-old Charlie praised the ride of leading NQ hoop Lacey Morrison as Zouhope was too strong for Matthew McGuire’s Going Nuclear in the concluding stages of the 1600 metre contest.

“We thought we could win it, he loves the mile,” Charlie said.

“We always party on after a win. Everyone liked it, home horse winning the Cup. It was a good finish to the race; they really battled it out.”

To make the Cup victory even sweeter, Joe has battled cancer in recent years and has still been able to turn out his galloper in magnificent condition.

The Russos have won a number of feature races in the north over the decades including a Cleveland Bay Handicap in 1998 with Regal Demon while they have also lifted the Townsville Amateur Cup and a Cluden training premiership.

As their local Herbert River Jockey Club only races once or twice a year, they have not had many chances to win the Gold Cup in recent times.

“We have been going good, only being back around the horses the last two years,” Charlie said.

"We gave it up for 20 odd years.

“We mainly focus on tried horses and just work them as we do.

“We are getting to the end up here, we are about to turn all the horses out because it’s getting too hot."

Mr. Rogers stands out above the rest as the best galloper the family have prepared over the decades, Joe says.

Mr. Rogers won 13 races in the north and showed his class with wins in Brisbane and Sydney. 

“He was the best we had,” Joe said.

“He went to Sydney and he gave them a hiding at Canterbury, twice. We only paid $5,500 for him at the Magic Millions sales.”

Like Mr. Rogers, Zouhope was just a cheap purchase for the Russos and their connections.

“We have done pretty well with cheap horses,” Joe said.

The Russos are the only trainers at the Ingham track and prepare a team of four.

It was almost a winning double for the family on Saturday as Zouhope’s stablemate Fivelineditty finished second in the opening event.