Trainer Tony Gollan was suitably chuffed with Floozie’s concentrated effort which proved good enough to take out the Listed Silk Stocking at the Gold Coast.
The four-year-old mare only relocated north to Gollan’s stable earlier this year as a two-time winner from ten starts and she has gone from strength to strength since then with the change of scenery, to the point where the Silk Stocking was her third successive win in Queensland and one which ensured she maintained her unbeaten record under Gollan’s guidance.
Floozie was clearly fit and ready for this Listed race challenge … she was backing up from last Saturday … but the ride by Angela Jones, which was a gem, clearly played an integral part in the outcome.
Jones, who had partnered Floozie in her previous two wins, had the daughter of Zoustar quickly into stride from the extreme outside barrier (thirteen out of thirteen), sending the mare forward with early intent.
That put Floozie, the $2.80 betting favourite, in the leading line, but still held five wide after the field had travelled 200m, and Jones remained committed to her game-plan, continuing to take Floozie forward, in a measured fashion, and she duly crossed to find a close-up second placing, now just one out and only a length behind the early leader Russian Alliance as the field started to take the sweep to the home turn.
Floozie was quickly up alongside Russian Alliance on straightening and these two runners then joined in a protracted, stride for stride battle for much of the home straight, and it was only inside the final 75m that Floozie got the better of that two-way contest to ease ahead of the game Russian Alliance, a $20 outsider who had run out of her skin.
There was just enough time left for another outsider, the $26 chance Scud, to emerge out of the pack to make it interesting, but Jones’ entire ride on Floozie had been carried out to perfection and the Gollan trained runner still had 0.20 lengths to spare at the line.
Russian Alliance did enough to hold on to third place ahead of the $51 bolter Lady Shotgun who edged the betting sites second favourite Adiella ($4.40) out of fourth placing.
