Lachie Manzelmann will be in the hot seat at Redcliffe on Friday night as a trotting driver, before switching hats and becoming a gallops trainer 12 hours later as he looks to land the biggest win of his career.
The 23-year-old thought he would be in the harness racing game for life but much like his father, and well-known Mackay trainer John, Manzelmann recently made the switch to gallops.
With just five horses in work, Manzelmann will saddle up two in the $120,000 Provincial Stayers Final at Ipswich on Saturday along with another later that day at Toowoomba.
“I was driving and training in the trots from 16 years old,” Manzelmann said.
“When I was really young, all I wanted to do was gallops because that’s what dad was doing.
“Then mum and dad split up and I came to Brisbane with mum, her partner was in trots so I started doing that and I never looked back, I thought I’d do it forever.
“I still drive a few here and there, I am in the Group race on Friday night, I am mostly doing the gallopers now.
“I will be at Redcliffe trots on the Friday night, Ipswich races on Saturday and then Toowoomba Saturday night, flat out really.”
John Manzelmann is a prolific North Queensland trainer.
Manzelmann said the switch to gallops was simple.
“At the end of the day, it mostly came down to money. All you have to do is look at it, the race I am in at Ipswich is $120,000, the Group 3 I am driving in on Friday night is worth $30,000, it is way out of proportion,” he said.
“When I first started at the gallops I thought I’d just see how it is, but I have pretty much fully swapped over now.
“Dad was the same, he only switched over when the trots shut down in North Queensland, he had nothing to do so he bought a few gallopers.”
Manzelmann will be looking to win the Provincial Stayers Final prize for his father, who owns Savvy Legend ($9.50), while stablemate Lets Torque A Deel is a $31 roughie in betting.
“Dad owns Savvy Legend, he sent him down to me because he thought this would be a good series for him,” he said.
“The main owner in Lets Torque A Deel, Ian Corazzol, is a trotting man and he was my first horse, he just gave him to me to have a crack with.”
Manzelmann will soon pack up his Beaudesert operation and make the move north to attack the northern cups carnival with his father.
“If those northern cups were on tomorrow, Savvy Legend would just about start favourite in them,” he said.