Two Become One: Leon And Troy Corstens, The Explosive Duo

Striking out on their own

Leon decided to strike out on his own in 1994, and it didn't take long for him to achieve Group One success with Cherontessa, winning the South Australian Oaks.

He has trained winners at the top level, including the triple Group 1 star Helenus, and also trained the international sensation Starspangledbanner to win a Caulfield Guineas and an Oakleigh Plate before going on to win the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot and the July Cup at Newmarket in the UK.

Although Troy admits he took his childhood for granted, the father-and-son team has saddled memorable Group One winners in Awesome Rock and Montoya's Secret.

"Oh, look, I probably took it a little bit for granted when I was a young child.

"You know we had all these champions going through the stables, and it's not until you get into the industry and start doing it yourself that you realise the greatness of the horses that we had coming through the stables."

"So I probably, as I said, took it for granted, but I look back on those days and realise how good they truly were."

With a wealth of knowledge and seeing his father train so successfully, Troy had so much instilled in him that it set him on a path to become a trainer himself.

"I just think the animal's  really lovely."

"They're unique, they're good, and I really enjoy the fact that nobody knows if they can run, and you can go to the yearling sale and it doesn't matter whether you spend a million dollars or 100,000, you've got just as much chance."

"As long as you get a decent category and stuff like that, you've got a good chance of still getting a decent horse."

"So many people say we've got to look at how it walks, and it never always comes down to that." So, everyone says that they know how a horse is going to perform. However, even if you have the best pedigree, the horse may be unsuited for the track.

"So, it all comes down to a choice. They're all individuals. They're all different.

"You can have the best horse in the world." and if they don't want to run, they just don't. So, it's nice to find that out. "

Back to the Home Pavilion

After travelling the world for the hands-on experience, he would return home to Australian shores to manage his father’s operation, forming "Team Corstens" in 2008.

In December 2010, Tryo would launch his own business, stepping out to train in his own right with Malua Racing and opening up a base at Flemington.

Since then, he and his father have linked up again, winning big races and multiple Group 1s along the way.

As a result of its success, the team has expanded to Geelong with new facilities to build the next chapter of Team Corstens.

"I think in this industry you have to remember to be patient and that it's a really tough game."

"A lot of the time you are dealing with bad news, whether it is around injuries or things not going your way with barriers and stuff like that."

"So you've just really got to be resilient and patient." "I think that's the best two things in racing."

Best Horses, Biggest Winners

The team's first Group One victory came in 2016, when Awesome Rock won the Group One Mackinnon Stakes, defeating French star Vadamos,  Hauraki, the United States, and Palentino.

Corstens will remember the entire Fastnet Rock x Awesome Planet album as a stable mate.

"He was a fantastic horse for the stable."

"He did a really good job, and probably arguably he should have won the Australian Cup as well." Earlier that year we lost it on protest, unfortunately, but he was a fantastic horse for the stable.

"And again, Fastnet Rock, who has been an unbelievable stallion here in Australia,"

Throughout his career, Troy has had the opportunity to train some great horses, and as a reward for his commitment and hard work, he has tasted success.

"The astrologist has been fantastic for us.

"We also had Montoya’s Secret win the Vinery." We also had a lot of Group One placings with Swats That back in the day; she was a fantastic filly.

"I'm very lucky, and I've got about 80 horses in work, and I'm just trying to find that next one now."

The Astrologist is the star of the stable currently, and with a career that has seen him line up 33 times for eight wins and 12 placings along with over $2 million in prize money, he is ready for the next chapter.

"He's an amazing horse." We didn't get him to start with; he was originally trained by Tony and Calvin McAvoy, and they did a fantastic job with him.

"Circumstances changed and we managed to get him, and right from the start, he was just a horse that you knew had a decent ability, but more importantly, he was a horse that tried every time you sent him out; you knew that he’d put in his best.

"He’s group one placed; his placing in the Newmarket was amazing. He has been such a great horse, and although he isn’t the best horse that has been through the place, he is definitely one of the horses that tries the most every time, that’s for sure.

He took out the Group Three Gold Rush in December with a ride from one of the nation’s best, William Pike. Sitting fourth for the majority of the trip, the gelded son of Zoustar moved through a field that included names like Kementari, This'll Testya, and Beau Rossa.

But it was the Written Tycoon x Rosie Rocket mare Kissonallforcheeks, ridden by Chris Parnham, who was there to battle with the Corstens-trained hope. With 100 metres to go, The Astrologist moved up to win by 0.1 lengths over Pike.

"I wasn't confident, but when he went over the line, I thought that we had it easy."

Then they said it was a photo going across the line. I thought, "Jeez, have I got this wrong?" But sure enough, he won the photo, and he is such a tough and honest horse, and we knew that he had put in his all over there, and he did; it was great.

Meydan Calling

Corstens now prepares him for a campaign in Dubai, an opportunity that the trainer is excited about.

"So, we've been thinking about Dubai probably since about this time last year.

"It's always difficult as you've got to get things in place, and then you've got to make sure that you hold the horses together."

"They've got to travel, which he has done over to Perth; I know Dubai is a lot longer of a trip than the Perth trip, but he flew quite well and handled all of that."

"So, we'll have the two runs here, and then we'll head over to Dubai."

"So, it's no easy task. He's going to run first up in the Oakleigh Plate, which is probably short of his best. He will probably get 57 kilos, but that ties in quite well with the Newmarket, which is two weeks later. He will drop to 54 and then run well in the Newmarket, and we will head over to Dubai for the Al Quoz."

The Group One Al Quoz Sprint is run over 1200 metres on turf, making it an ideal race with great conditions for The Astrologist. Corstens admits that Dubai is not the end of the road for his classy sprinter, however.

"We are very, very open and have been in discussion with Nathan Bennett.

"We're going to look to see what's around and maybe head over to Europe after we've been to Dubai."

"So Dubai is number one as far as overseas trips go, and we will see how we go there and take it from there."

A growing yard

With a stable of 80 in work, Corstens said that he is impressed with the crop coming through at present.

"I've got a really good young team coming through at the moment. "I believe this is the best group of two-year-olds we've had in a long time."

With The Astrologist as the horse of the moment for Corstens, the question had to be asked if we would ever see him unleashed on the world’s richest race on turf, The Everest.

"We've always sort of concentrated on the Melbourne races as far as that goes, but we would definitely be thinking about The Everest."

"At the end of the year. Why not? It's a great race, and it's becoming a really iconic race in Australia. "So we definitely will be looking at The Everest at the end of the year."

When it comes to the biggest targets that Corstens has for races around the world, all roads lead home to Australia.

"I'd love to win the Melbourne Cup."

The team has actually welcomed two European raiders this year to take a massive leap towards making this dream a reality for Badge and Garachico.

"We've been quite lucky this year; we've got our first two European horses coming over."

"They are both from France and are real stay-at-home types, so I am really excited to get them going and see what they can do."

"They both arrived, and I'm really looking forward to this year and trying to get them to the Melbourne Cup."