Trainer Geoff Duryea to saddle up his last runner at Corowa's meeting on Monday

Duryea informed loyal stable supporters of his shock decision on Sunday before posting a statement from the stable on social media on Tuesday evening.

His last hoorah as a trainer will be on his home track at Corowa's upcoming meeting on Monday.

Duryea said the recent decision of his stable foreman Darrin Mathieson to switch careers was a contributing factor.

Mathieson has been Duryea's 'right hand man' for more than a decade.

"It was a tough decision but nothing lasts forever I guess," Duryea said.

"My right hand man (Mathieson) wants to get out of horses.

"There's not a lot of horse people in Corowa, so I would have been up against it trying to find a suitable replacement.

"Darrin has been a big part of the stable's success for more than a decade now.

"So the more I thought about it, it just made sense that this is the right time to pull the plug."

Duryea has spent his whole career in the racing industry spanning almost six decades.

He burst onto the racing scene as a teenage jockey and had racing scribes raving about his talent and at one stage was described as 'Melbourne's glamour apprentice.'

As a jockey, Duryea's name features on the honour roll of most of the SDRA's major races.

One of his career highlights as an apprentice jockey was his association with Red Hope.

Red Hope won the Wagga Cup in 1973 with Duryea also partnering the the stayer in the Melbourne Cup later that year.

After sixteen years in the saddle, Duryea retired on Christmas Eve in 1983 and commenced his training career shortly afterwards.

As a trainer, Duryea put the polish on several talented gallopers including Regal Hawk, Stacey Lee, Challenge Accepted, Sports Drama, Waitaha Prophecy, Marchello, Gorki, Greipel plus others.

Duryea had a soft spot for talented but injury prone mare Stacey Lee whose career ended prematurely.

The astute horseman convinced several stable supporters and family members that they should retain Stacey Lee as a broodmare.

His advice reaped dividends with Stacey Lee the dam of arguably the stable's two biggest stars in Front Page and News Girl.

Front Page won last year's $2-million Kosciuszko while News Girl was a multiple city winner and placed in group company.

A wily trainer, Duryea was the mastermind behind several huge plunges in the bookmaking ring at local tracks.

He had an uncanny knack especially for setting a horse to peak over the Albury and Wagga carnivals and took immense pride in being able to upstage the bigger stables.

Duryea trained more than 300 winners during his training career spanning almost four decades.

The 71-year-old said apart from the winners, the friendships forged and the characters met along the journey was what he cherished most.

"The people I met along the way is the one thing that I love most about racing," he said.

"That's the great thing about the racing game, you get to meet people from all different walks of life.

"Whether that be a syndicate of owners who work on the council or some multi millionaire businessman.

"My wife Maureen and I have made a lot of lifelong friends.

"We have been fortunate enough to have a lot of loyal stable supporters over the years.

"Years ago I used to go to the sales and buy a few fair young horses and people would always put their hands up and go in a share.

"More recently I haven't been going to the sales and just picking up horses that people have offered me.

"But the time has come now that I have to say 'sorry, I can't take them.'"

While Duryea said he didn't have any regrets, he said trying to win the time honoured Wagga Town Plate as both a jockey and trainer was a source of frustration.

He finished runner-up on 'eight or nine occasions' before Front Page finally delivered the stable an elusive victory in the feature sprint last year.

"I think I finished runner-up in the Wagga Town Plate eight or nine times," he said.

"Front Page finally won the race for me last year before also finishing runner-up this year.

"He (Front Page) has been the star of the show and the horse that has kept me going.

"Winning the Kosciuszko was just the icing on the cake and the highlight of my training career."

Duryea's decision to retire will leave Corowa Race Club without any local trainers.

Albury trainers including Donna Scott, Rob Wellington and Mitch Beer often make the trek to Corowa to gallop horses during the winter months when the Albury track is unable to be used.

In a worrying trend for Corowa, the town also hasn't got a senior football and netball club this season after Corowa-Rutherglen went into recess.

"If you told someone a decade ago that Corowa wouldn't have a football club or a horse trainer, they would probably have asked 'what drugs are you on?', Duryea said.

"Footy and racing, it's the heart and soul of most country towns.

"So it's sad to see what is happening in Corowa at the moment."

Duryea, who has training facilities on his property including stables, pool and spelling paddocks said he had no plans what he would do in his retirement.

"I don't play golf or bowls, so I'm going to have a bit of spare time on my hands," he said.

"I'll find something to fill in my day though.

"It's a bit of a pity to have all the facilities to train horses on the property and watch it go to waste.

"Maybe I could lease the property out if we can find someone suitable.

"But we will work all that out and see what unfolds."

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