Queensland owner Geoff Kreutzer has high hopes for promising gelding Larusso

Geoff Kreutzer has had only moderate success as an owner but he’s in it for the love of the horse. However, he has found a galloper to get excited about.

Queensland horse owner and former trainer Geoff Kreutzer with Flying Sovereign.

Geoff Kreutzer compares taking his horses to the races as like watching your kids run around in Little Athletics, although he may have found one galloper that can make the Olympic Games.

The Queensland former trainer owns six thoroughbred horses but the cream of the crop is undoubtedly four-year-old gelding Larusso, who has won two of his four races, including a Class 1 over 1640m at Doomben late last month.

The 56-year-old Kreutzer and his wife Tammy own a 100-acre property called Sovereign Lodge situated between Woodford and Kilcoy in southeast Queensland where they care for their horses, who all come under the guidance of Deagon trainer Jack Bruce.

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The property is named after Flying Sovereign, who was trained by Kreutzer before being retired in July, 2002, and the gelding still trots around the paddock at the grand old age of 29.

Geoff and Tammy represent the typical Aussie battlers in the tumultuous, but often highly rewarding, world of horse ownership.

They’re in it purely for the love of their horses, who over the years have raced in provincial tracks such as Kilcoy, Beaudesert, Gatton, Grafton and Toowoomba for moderate success.

However, the Kreutzers’ excitement levels are building at the prospects of Larusso, although Geoff is fully aware that fortunes can flip in the blink of an eye in this game.

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“Nobody goes into racing for the money in my opinion, it should be for the love of the horses,” he said.

“Most horses you have, it’s like taking your kids to Little Athletics.

“You don’t have your favourites, you support them all, and then hopefully you get one like Larusso that might go to the Olympics.

“He’s still very green but he’s showing us that he’s got plenty of ability.

“He might only have another run before he goes out and then he’ll mature mentally and physically again.”

Brisbane trainer Jack Bruce (left) with Geoff and Tammy Kreutzer at Doomben last month. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography

Kreutzer knows only too well that the racing game can be cruel, pointing out what happened to his five-year-old mare I Saw The Light in a Class 1 (1400m) at the Sunshine Coast last September after going into the race with two victories and a couple of runner-up places.

“At the 500m-mark they were just searching for runs and then another horse galloped on the back of her,” recalled Kreutzer, who runs a concrete plant that supplies the Brisbane Valley region.

“It just looked like nothing but she’s been off for 10 months now. We might be able to get her back. Her tendon blew out and she’s recuperating.

“But that’s how easy it is to have a handy horse and then it gets taken away from you.

“That’s what makes the wins so great - and it doesn’t matter where they are - when you endure the struggles and come out the other side.”

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Kreutzer trained only three horses - Flying Sovereign, Pearly Yeats and Gomatty - during the early 2000s but, combined with his regular job, the workload became too much and he walked away.

“My wife and I were working seven days a week, 90 hours a week, and the only time we had away was going to the races with Flying Sovereign,” he said.

“We used to get up at 4am, train him and then start work at 6am.

“We got out of the game for a fair while and then we bought a share in a horse called Head Up High. He was down in Sydney and then he came up to Queensland.

“Funnily enough, Jack (Bruce) had his first winner with Head Up High (in 2022).”

Now the focus is squarely on Larusso after years of searching for a horse that has the potential to make an impact at the elite level.

“At different times you go ‘why am I doing this?’ but now I come home from work and feed the horses in the afternoon and that’s where the value is,” Kreutzer said.

“You can sort of switch off and they’re always happy to see you because you’ve got a feed bin in your hand.

“I’ve been around long enough to know that bad things can happen but you enjoy the good times and at the moment Larusso looks good.

“You’ve got to really enjoy it when you’ve got a horse like that.”

Originally published as Queensland owner Geoff Kreutzer has high hopes for promising gelding Larusso