Warwick Farm trainer David Pfieffer has a firsthand view of the slick operation that is Godolphin and as such he has no hesitation buying their thoroughbred cast-offs.
Having worked out of the same training centre as the global giant, Pfieffer has seen – from a distance at least – how well their horses are educated and prepared.
He is banking on that working in his favour with new stable addition Ghostly who was formerly with Godolphin’s Australian head trainer James Cummings.
“You know with Godolphin horses that they’re always very well looked after. They always get the best of care,” Pfieffer said.
“Obviously, with a big establishment like Godolphin, they can’t keep everything.
“There’s got to be a business decision that they move on those older sort of horses, but it’s proven with a lot of horses they’ve sold on that there are still races in them to win.”
A three-time city winner, Ghostly will make his debut for Pfieffer in Saturday’s Summer Racing Handicap (1000m) at Warwick Farm.
The five-year-old has a strong first-up record and an affinity for rain-affected ground with the track in the heavy range on Friday.
“He’s got a real good fresh record so that’s the way I’m trying to handle him for Saturday, keep him fresh,” Pfieffer said.
“And as you can imagine he’s an older horse and he’s got old legs and old joints.
“He’s got a good record and good races behind him, hopefully we can continue on and give the new owners a bit of fun with him.”
Stablemate Emshalky will represent the stable in the TAB Handicap (1300m) after finishing down the track when she resumed at Newcastle earlier this month.
The effort was better than it appeared on paper as she got well out of her ground then had an interrupted passage in the straight.
“I thought her first-up run was good even though she finished a long way back, she copped a bit of interference at the top of the straight,” Pfieffer said.
“A lot of these horses are more proven and have won more races but this will be a nice stepping stone for her to get up over more ground.”
