Premier trainer Tony Gollan finished the Brisbane summer carnival the way he started it by providing the quinella in the $100,000 Listed Nudgee Handicap at Doomben.
In a thrilling finish, Sheiswhatsheis ($6) looked to have a winning break at the 200m but her stablemate Tina Melina ($4.80) caught her on the line to win by a half head.
Tina Melina
It was Gollan’s 22nd winner for the summer carnival.
“It didn’t matter to me which one had won. But Tina Melina earned her first stakes win and she has improved out of sight since we put blinkers on her,” Gollan said.
“Tina Melina will go for a spell but I want to get Sheiswhatsheis’s rating up so she might have another run.”
Miss Cover Girl ($7) ran a great race coming from last to finish, third 1-1/2 lengths behind the Gollan pair.
Kembla Grange trainer Bede Murray received a boost when his horse Gold Horizon ($14) won the Girls Day Out Handicap (1600m).
Murray’s close friend Harold Norman saddled Gold Horizon and said the win was a reward for the horse’s consistency.
“Bede is back out of hospital and he would have been watching in his lounge room,” Norman said.
Craig Carmody rode many winners in Brisbane as a jockey and had his first at Doomben as a trainer with Taltarni ($11) in the James Boag’s Premium Handicap.
“I won the (1999) Doomben Cup on Intergaze and the previous year he ran second to Might and Power. So I have happy memories about Doomben,” Carmody said.
In a day for firsts, Toowoomba trainer Steve Kirkwood missed his Doomben breakthrough when Quick Ketch ($14) won the Gallopers Sports Club Handicap.
Kirkwood was at Goondiwindi with three horses and was represented by his wife Cathy.
“We took over the training of Quick Ketch when my dad Ron Macrae retired as a trainer last year. I think Quick Ketch can win more races in the city area,” Cathy said.
