2025 Spirit Of Boom Classic: Torque To Be Sure win would be emotional for Ian Corazzol
Grief-stricken owner Ian Corazzol will on Saturday return to the racetrack for the first time since his beloved wife Sherryl lost her lengthy battle against pancreatic cancer.
Corazzol will be at Doomben to watch two-year-old Torque To Be Sure contest the $300,000 Group 2 Spirit Of Boom Classic (1200m).
The musical equipment distributor wants to honour the memory of his childhood sweetheart, who died aged 74 last Thursday.
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'When Sherryl passed away it was quite a surprise really because she seemed to be travelling all right but came up with a little problem at the time,' Corazzol said.
'We had been married for 54 years and we'd been together since we were 17 – it's a long time in the scheme of things. I already miss her terribly.
'In the end she couldn't go to the races. She dropped more than a third of her body weight due to the illness and she really couldn't get around to many places.'
Torque To Be Sure is an early $9.50 chance in the Spirit of Boom Classic behind favourite Beskar ($5), Gallo Nero ($5.50) and Navy Pilot ($7).
If the talented colt can break his maiden status, there will be emotional scenes for both Corazzol, his co-owners and Murwillumbah trainer Matt Dunn.
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'It would've meant a lot to Sherryl but it'll mean an awful lot to me as well,' Corazzol said.
'We were in it with a few people from the stable and we're all looking forward to the race.
'He's had three runs for three seconds but he's starting to get out to his right distance.'
Corazzol couldn't bear to drive down the Gold Coast highway last Saturday to watch his gelding Boom Torque run around in the Listed ATC Trophy (1200m) on a Heavy 8 track, with champion jockey Blake Shinn riding, just 48 hours after Sherryl had passed away.
But he doesn't want to miss the races at Doomben on Saturday, knowing that his soulmate will be there in spirit.
'I didn't go down to the Gold Coast last weekend when I had Boom Torque and he ran fourth – he doesn't like a wet track at all – but I will go to this one,' he said.
'Hopefully this horse Torque To Be Sure will get himself together, stretch it out and win it.'
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Corazzol said Sherryl owned shares in 'two or three horses' and loved going to the racetrack to watch them right up until the final eight months of her life, when the insidious cancer took a hold.
Sherryl's favourite horse was the Stuart Kendrick-trained colt Luva Flutta, which finished second-last in this year's Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast – but that result hardly mattered.
Just seeing her horse qualify for a $3m race in January was enough to give Sherryl a massive boost in her tenacious fight against cancer.
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'It didn't do any good there but it was great to have a runner in the big race,' Corazzol said about Luva Flutta, who won back-to-back races on the Sunshine Coast last spring before scoring a dream ticket to the Magic Millions Classic.
'We were down in Sydney and she watched it run when it won its last start and as they crossed the line she punched the air and said 'you little beauty, good on ya'.'
Originally published as Owner Ian Corazzol vows to be at Doomben this Saturday as Torque To Be Sure contests 2025 Spirit Of Boom Classic in honour of his late wife Sherryl
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