Tony GollanĀ has no hesitation in saying that NettunoĀ has kept him guessing and despite many threats of āthe cutā, the four-year-old announced himself as a Queensland Summer Carnival hot prospect with victory in the Swiss Ace Plate.
Nettuno ($19) was the lesser stable fancy as far as the market was concerned in the $125,000 event over 1000-metres, but the authority of the win has the stateās premier trainer keen and ready to see more over the next couple of months.
Racing first-up, Nettuno ā a colt by I Am Invincible ā won by two-lengths over the Steven OāDea and Matthew Hoysted-trained Shooting For Gold ($19) and stablemate Ef Troop ($41) in third.
āHeās always been a good horse right from day one when he had his first win here,ā Gollan said.
The path since hasnāt been so easy as Gollan admits that the colt has had him perplexed.
āWe resisted gelding him but we put him away for a really good break.
āWeāve done a lot of equestrian work with him, kept one rider on him the whole time and it hasnāt been pretty the whole prep.
āWeāve trialed him, jumped him out with different gear on him and even today he raced in different gear to what weāve tried before.
āWe tried to trick him but heās tricked us.
Nettuno debuted for a win over the same course and distance in March 2022 and has since notched two more wins and a placing in eight starts since.
So high was the opinion of Nettuno that he contested the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) for three-year-olds during the Melbourne Cup Carnival last year.
āWeāve won the last four Swiss Ace Plates, or something, and that is the strongest field I have seen and he made them look second-rate.
āI canāt wait for the rest of the summer.ā
Stablemate and second-favourite ZoustyleĀ ($2.90) raced three-wide throughout the race and finished fourth.
Favourite Prince Of BoomĀ ($2.70) weakened to the line with vets finding the Group 2 Moreton Cup (1200m) returned with cardiac arrhythmia and will need to trial before returning to racing.