Tony Gollan went through a full range of emotions before he was able to celebrate a deserved Group One win with Spirit Of Boom at Moonee Valley on Friday night.
Spirit Of Boom won the William Reid Stakes (1200m) by a nose over a fast-finishing Fontelina who was held up at a vital stage before bursting through late to be denied by the barest of margins.
“Talk about the highs and lows,” Gollan said.
“I thought he had won and then I thought we’d been beaten. And now we’ve won.
Spirit Of Boom - Photo by Sarah Ebbett
“He’s given us a great ride this horse for a long time and he was really deserving of a Group One.”
The Gollan-trained Spirit Of Boom ($5.50) had been placed in four Group Ones before breaking through on Friday night, including runner-up performances behind Lankan Rupee in the Oakleigh Plate and Newmarket Handicap this campaign.
The win was Gollan’s second Group One as a trainer and first in Melbourne, and it secures six-year-old Spirit Of Boom’s future as a stallion.
“He was always going to be a stallion before tonight but it just seals the deal,” Gollan said.
Spirit Of Boom will now chase another Group One in Sydney in the $2.5 million TJ Smith Stakes.
Ridden by Michael Rodd, Spirit Of Boom ($5.50) made his move from midfield on the outside coming around the turn and looked set for a clear-cut win until Fontelina ($16) got clear and surged late closer to the inside.
The Nikki Burke-trained Unpretentious ($26) finished another half-neck away third.
Connections of the Anthony Cummings-trained Fontelina looked at the developed print but there was a margin.
Favourite Samaready ($4.20) led the field but was under pressure turning for home and weakened out of it in the straight to beat just one runner home.
