COOL ARCHIE - COOL BY NAME. COOL BY NATURE, BUT ALWAYS UP FOR THE FIGHT WHEN HE NEEDS TO BE

By Graham Potter | Friday, May 16, 2025

The bang-in-form Chris and Corey Munce stable will be looking to add to their feature race resume when their last start Dalrello winner Cool Archie attempts to take another step up the ladder of success in the Group 2, Spirit Of Boom Classic at Doomben on Saturday in a set weights contest for two-year-olds over 1200m.

The stable has been fired up and scorching along in recent times, landing no less than seven winners from the twenty-two starters they have sent out over five meetings since May 3 … results which included a treble and two doubles.

Most significant of those wins, status-wise, was the win of Cool Archie in the Listed Dalrello, an outcome which both justified the belief that the stable has shown in the horse from early on in his career while also underlining in no uncertain terms the fact that Cool Archie’s career was on the move.

The Dalrello win arrived through a combination of ability and grit as Cool Archie was severely tested on a number of fronts in the home straight … from traffic problem-wise to the sustained pressure of stiff competition … and he came through each test with flying colours.

And, in spite of that being a hard run, Cool Archie hasn’t missed a beat since then.

“He came through the run better than we would have expected,” confirmed co-trainer Corey Munce.

“He enjoyed a day down at the beach the following day and he hasn’t done a heck of a lot since then. He doesn’t really need to because he is well fit.

“This prep he was first-up over 1200m on a heavy 8 at Doomben,” continued Munce. “We really would have preferred to start him off over 1000m, or 1100m, but unfortunately our hands were tied. We had to run in that race from a wide barrier, and we hoped that class would prevail … and it certainly did.

“Then he made it back-to-back wins in the Dalrello “and there is no doubt it was a tough, impressive win.

‘Martin (Harley) said he thought that when he got to the front Cool Archie sort of pricked his ears and wasn’t sure what to do. He actually lost a couple of lengths running out over the closing stages, but he was still too good.”

Cool Archie did put that previous win in heavy going on the scoreboard, but that did come in Maiden company, which begs the question … as far as the soft or heavy racing surface that is anticipated to be play on Saturday goes, will the track rating be of any concern for the Munce camp given the elevated Group 2 company of the Spirit Of Boom Classic?

“Look, I’m not too concerned,” offered Munce. “He is out of a New Zealand sire. He galloped on the course proper at Doomben on Tuesday and seemed to get through it beautifully. I could see the smile as soon as I could see Martin (Harley) coming back. He had a big smile on his face.

‘We can only be guided by Martin’s thoughts and, so far, he hasn’t been too far off the mark.”

Harley certainly knows Cool Archie well enough, having ridden him in five out of his six career starts.

And Cool Archie has another weapon on his side … his character and temperament.

“To be quite honest, he is an absolute pleasure to have in the stable. That might sound like a cliché, but he truly is,” said Munce.

“He loves his routine. He loves working. He just loves everything about being a racehorse and it certainly helps when then turns up on race-day and gives you one hundred and ten percent.

“I think he is a horse that when you get out of the gates you can drop your hands on him, and you could have him anywhere you like in the running.

“We don’t know where the ceiling is, but Saturday will be another test and, as the opposition gets stronger as we get deeper into the carnival, we’ll see where he lies.
“Even before the Magic Millions we thought we’d like to follow a Sires … J.J. Atkins path.

“We see what happens on Saturday first, but we were really happy with him on Tuesday.”

So, there you have it. Cool Archie … talented and cool by name, cool by nature!

Just don’t be fooled by his laid-back off track demeanour though. When the barrier gates open he is a different proposition altogether, a true, tough competitor who, as we all saw in the Dalrello win, will not be intimidated in the running and who will fight his rivals every inch of the way to the line.

That is a nice combination for any trainer to have on their hands.

A horse with above average ability who looks after himself both on and off the track.

Cool Archie, a son of Coolazabeel has raced six times for two wins (in a Maiden and at Listed level in the Dalrello) and one runner-up finish (in the Group 3 B.J. McLachlan). To date, he has banked $229 900 in prize-money.

More articles