Angus Armanasco rode in WA between the wars and trained the winner of a Railway Stakes, before settling in Melbourne in the fifties where he became one of Australia's most decorated trainers.
Described as the man who largely reinvented the art of training two-year-olds in Victoria, Angus' reputation remained unchallenged from the early 1960s until the late 1980s. He was a seven-time winner of the Victorian trainers' premiership.
Angus Armanasco started his career in horse racing as a highly successful jockey in Perth where he had won a premiership as an apprentice. For the final 10 years of his riding career he was a leading jockey before weight forced him out of the saddle.
Eventually he became an outstanding horse trainer in Victoria.
Working as the Melbourne trainer for prominent owner Stanley Wootton, Angus achieved considerable success with the Star Kingdom line.
Star Kingdom was an overnight success and the stallion's offspring largely reshaped the breeding industry in Australia and propelled the little-known Armanasco into the spotlight. He prepared the winner of six Blue Diamond Stakes and finally won a Golden Slipper with Full On Aces in 1981.
Some of his best former gallopers who went on to be successful stallions included Biscay, Bletchingly, The Judge, Full On Aces and five-time group one winner Zeditave.
Angus Armanasco retired from training in 1998 and was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame in 2002.
He is honoured at Caulfield during the autumn carnival by the running of the Group 2 Angus Armanasco Stakes. He passed away in 2005.