Dean Mirfin’s TAB Highway win with Marenaro on Saturday took a lot of weight off the shoulders of the Bathurst trainer. Dean says he’s had more than sixty TAB Highway runners without a winner since the introduction of the concept in 2015. “I’ve gone close a number of times but haven’t been able to crack it for a win. Only recently I thought we were home with Scopics but Miss Jennifer grabbed us on the line.”
The horse destined to break Mirfin’s “duck” arrived in his Bathurst stables in March following an eight start stint with Chris Waller. In that time Marenaro had managed to win a Gosford maiden last October but had failed to place in the other seven. Managing part owner Tony Muollo opted to send him to a country stable in the hope he could establish some sort of a record away from the city. The half brother to dual Gr 1 winner Home Affairs had been a $540,000 purchase at the 2020 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
The first horse Dean got to train for Marenaro’s connections was Press Box who’d also come from the Waller stable as an eight start maiden. “She was a full sister to two time Gr 1 winner Press Statement, so it was important to get some wins on the board,” said the trainer. “Thankfully she was able to win four races in the central west including the $40,000 Panorama at Bathurst. She also finished just behind the placegetters in the very first Kosciuszko in 2019. We’ve had a great association with the owners ever since and Marenaro put the icing on the cake with his Rosehill win on Saturday. To add to the thrill Chris Waller was the first to congratulate me after the race.”
Dean listens intently to Nash Rawiller's post race report - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Marenaro took a while to hit his straps for Mirfin. The trainer was disappointed with the gelding’s first up fifth at Bathurst on Anzac Day and opted to give him a break before making a fresh start. The horse resumed as a four year old on August 21st with a pleasing second in a BM 58 at Dubbo, but disappointed slightly when fourth to Spanish Fox at Hawkesbury two weeks later. “I had a suspicion by this time that he might be a bit of a thinker,” said Dean. “I opted for Nash Rawiller on Saturday for no other reason than his obvious ability to switch a horse on. I expected him to get a fair way back, but I was a little concerned when I saw how much traffic he had to get through on straightening up. Even after he got to the extreme outside I thought he might run a place at best. I gave him a big cheer when he lunged at the leaders close to home. It was good to get the TAB Highway monkey off my back at last.”
Marenaro had to come from a long way back to win Saturday's TAB Highway. He got up to beat Hulu and Due Calzini - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Dean Mirfin tells a good story about the origins of his fascination with racehorses, and it all began in the school classroom on Melbourne Cup day 1974. “One of my teachers decided to conduct a sweep on the Cup and I found myself with a horse called Turfcutter,” recalled Dean. “He even let us listen to the broadcast of the race on a transistor radio. I got a hell of a thrill when the race caller said Turfcutter was mowing grass in the straight, but my excitement was short lived. He finished out of a place while Think Big got up to beat his stablemate Leilani to give Bart Cummings yet another Cup quinella. I had no idea what I was listening to, but looking back now I have no doubt that was the day my love of racing was born.”
Dean’s next step required a bit of derring - do. By mid teens and encouraged by his mates, he was calling “phantom” races from the newspaper form guides. As his fluency and confidence grew, he dared station himself outside the turnstiles at city race meetings for a spot of busking - not singing songs as buskers usually do, but providing “phantom” calls of upcoming races on the day. Bemused racegoers often stopped to have a listen before throwing a few coins in the hat. The takings invariably covered admission, a modest lunch and a few small bets. On those days when a winner wasn’t forthcoming, young Mirfin and associates would reverse the procedure by doing some retrospective calls as punters were leaving the course.
Very few racecourse buskers get to train a winner at Randwick. Here's Dean many years later after a win with Worldly Pleasure on the Kensington track 2019 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
With every day at the races Dean found himself becoming more attached to the horses. He’d spend most of the afternoon hanging over the fence at the “tie up” stalls, watching horses being saddled up by some very recognizable high profile trainers. By school finishing age he was firmly committed to a life with horses, but finding a starting point was the immediate conundrum. It was an excited sixteen year old who called into the Rosehill stables of prominent trainer Ray Guy, and nervously requested a job as a stablehand. To his absolute delight he gained the appointment, destined to spend two rewarding years with Ray and his brother Max.
“This was the most important two years of my life,” recalled Dean. “This is where I learned to do things the right way. Ray didn’t have access to big spending power at the yearling sales, but had the support of many loyal owners who continued to send him horses year after year. His strike rate with moderately bred horses was outstanding. His brother Max was his most valuable asset, loyal and hard working with a knowledge to equal that of many vets. Most of the staff would go home when the work was done but I’d often stay back and do the rounds of the stable with Max Guy. He taught me so much. Sadly they’re both gone now, but are often in my thoughts.”
Few are aware of the comprehensive grounding Dean Mirfin crammed into the following few years. He’d graduated to riding trackwork by the time he gained a start with Bart Cummings in the early 1980’s. He hung on every word uttered by the legendary trainer over the next two years, and obviously got to work with some very notable horses. He had a lot to do with Trissaro who won both the Tancred Stakes and Sydney Cup during Dean’s time at Leilani Lodge. He also admired Sheraco, winner of seven races including the 1982 AJC Oaks.
From the archives! One of Dean's favourites from his days at Leilani Lodge - Larry Olsen returns to scale on Trissaro after a win in the Tancred Stakes of 1983 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
When a job came up with the famed Tulloch Lodge, Dean wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to work under another training icon. He enjoyed his twelve months at the veritable “winner factory” and as he’d done at Leilani Lodge, listened intently whenever T.J. Smith had something to say. “Fancy having the opportunity to work under Ray Guy, Bart Cummings and Tommy Smith,” says Dean. “You only had to keep your eyes and ears open to learn something. Unlike Bart, Tommy Smith never got to know my name. You can imagine how thrilled I was whenever Mr. Cummings called me by my first name.”
The Mirfin solo training career actually began at Kembla Grange in the early 1990’s. He had access to a handful of boxes at the stables of the late Gwenda Markwell, and thoroughly enjoyed a brief stint as a trainer in his own right. Dark Trump was the horse to get him on the way by winning consecutive two year old races at Kembla, ridden in both by Tracey Bartley. Dean fondly remembers his first city win with the curiously named Old Bomb in August of 1993. The gelding won a 1900m restricted race at Canterbury with talented lightweight Adrian “Mouse” Robinson in the saddle.
By age 30 Dean began to have doubts about the wisdom of continuing his career as a commercial horse trainer. He’d been in the industry for more than fourteen years and was genuinely feeling the need for a change. He wound down his small Kembla operation and walked away from racing with little or no surety that he’d ever return. Dean spent most of the next two decades working in club management and home renovation. It took all of that time for the racing bug to bite again, slowly at first but quickly becoming a matter of urgency.
It was 2012 and Dean was living at Wentworth Falls near Katoomba in the famous Blue Mountains. He all but drew straws in deciding whether to seek stables at Hawkesbury or Bathurst. When accommodation became available at Tyers Park racecourse, he opted for the rural life on the Bathurst Plains, and he’s been there ever since. With rarely more than ten or a dozen horses in work Dean has maintained a steady strike rate for twelve years, racing mostly at central western venues, although in recent years the TAB Highway “carrots” have regularly drawn him to Rosehill or Randwick. One handy mare to win two non Highway races for the Mirfin stable was Worldly Pleasure. Dean won seven races all up with the daughter of Commands, including mares events at Canterbury and on the Kensington track.
Worldly Pleasure and Cejay Graham combined to win a BM70 on the Kensington track 06/12/2019 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The sixty year old is excited about an upcoming move into upgraded stabling on the Bathurst racecourse, courtesy of a Racing NSW assistance package. “I’ll have room for twenty horses, the most I’ve ever trained at any one time,” says Dean. “We’ll have the luxury of a ten horse walker and a treadmill while excellent swimming facilities have been in place for some time. If I had to predict the future I’d say Bathurst will become a pretty popular training base in the years ahead. It provides easy access to any number of country tracks, while a trip to Sydney is fairly comfortable for horses and staff.”
Dean is unsure about the immediate path for Marenaro, who pulled up splendidly after a pretty tough run at Rosehill. There are still TAB Highway options available to the four year old, before any loftier goals will be considered. He’s looking forward to commencing a preparation with a lightly raced four year old called Turned Down, previously with the O’Shea/Charlton operation. Another one to carry the Muollo colours, Turned Down has raced only six times to date for a maiden win at Canterbury and two provincial placings. Dean expects to be in Sydney shortly for a TAB Highway tilt with Don Stefano whose last three runs on outside tracks have yielded a win and two placings. The Staphanos gelding hasn’t raced since June, but according to his trainer will be “primed” for a bold first up showing.
Don Stefano (Danny Beasley) wins a Goulburn Maiden 12/03/2024 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
It’s been a fascinating ride for a race mad kid who learned from the best before dipping his toe in the water as a horse trainer. The racing bug disappeared for a while, but resurfaced after a twenty year “freshen up”. He told me on the phone over the weekend that he still enjoys getting out of bed and bidding good morning to the twelve horse team in the Tyers Park stables. You get the feeling Dean Mirfin is here for the long haul this time around.
(Banner image - Nash Rawiller drives Marenaro (outside) to a narrow win over Hulu in the TAB Highway at Rosehill - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)