Temporale retires "a star on and off the track"

By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk

Just days after the retirement of Sundees Son, the sport has lost another trotting champion from the race track.

It's been announced that northern warhorse Temporale will also be retired, after a recent leg injury.

The multiple Group 1-winning son of Monarchy finishes with 27 wins from 94 starts and $832,777 in stakes. Eleven of the wins were at Group level.

"He was a star on and off the track," says trainers Michelle Wallis and Bernie Hackett, "and an absolute gentleman to do anything with."

The decision comes after he knocked a leg last year and then recently developed a stone bruise. He was not going to be ready for autumn racing and the prospect of the 10-year-old racing during the winter, off big back marks, was a step too far.

The Wallis-Hackett team had 12 wins with Temporale, after they took over his training from Tony Herlihy in December 2019. Herlihy selected him for the sales and trained him for his first 15 wins.

The key reason for the stable change was the belief that beach training would suit him better.

Temporale raced every season after debuting as a two-year-old. He won every season from a 3YO to a 9YO. In his most recent starts he had to overcome some big handicaps. His last win at Alexandra Park on June 30 came despite being off 40m.

Twice he was a Group 1 winner in this country, taking out the Rowe Cup and the National Trot, both in 2017. He also won the 2020 Group 1 Dullard Cup at Melton in Victoria.

His last race was a third at Auckland in September last year.

With two-time Horse of the Year Sundees Son now retired, and the likes of Bolt For Brilliance sidelined, there have been big changes to the open class trotting ranks in this country of late.

Temporale will be remembered as a wonderfully durable and popular trotter.

As he heads into retirement, the Wallis-Hackett team summed up the feelings of many.

"He'll be sorely missed and very hard to replace."