Trainer Tony Gollan walked away from the Metropolitan meeting at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday a very satisfied man.
Not only did Le Palmier and Sneaky Five quinella the Swiss Ace Plate for the champion trainer, but it was his earlier winner in the form of the Spirit Of Boom gelding Golden Boom who had tongues wagging.
The three -year-old won both of his trials in October, by an impressive 3.30 lengths and 5.00 lengths, before absolutely trouncing his opposition in his first race start when coming home 6.30 lengths clear of his nearest rival in a QTIS Three-Year-Old Maiden Handicap over 1000m at the Sunshine Coast on November 6.
On Saturday, in the same class over the same track and distance, Golden Boom further enhance his reputation with another facile win which, even though the winning margin was only 1,50 lengths this time, was, in reality, every bit as easy as his previous winning effort and was achieved without any fuss as you would expect from a $1.24 favourite.
Gollan was satisfied, yes … but wary not about to rush his emerging star.
“He got quite sick and had colic surgery as a young horse … so he was robbed of a lot of in and out preparations as a young horse, so he is really doing all of this on only his second time down in my stables in Brisbane,” explained Gollan.
“The horse is still working it all out. He is still raw … but he is an undeniable talent.
“He has got a great cruising speed … and he kicks off it. He is a real racehorse. He makes running fast look really easy.
“He has all of the attributes of a lovely horse … he’s got a beautiful nature, he’s got a great appetite … he’s got a lovely length of stride on him and a good set of lungs, so he ticks all of the boxes.
“He is a gelding, so there is no pressure with him and it’s a great ownership group to train for, so it is just about managing him.
“This lot of three-year-old are the first that Archer Park have had with me. They only came on board with my stable that year of the sales … and we’ve has a helluva time already and its all looking rosy ahead at this stage.
“He just is a really exciting horse,” continued Gollan. “I actually told a few of his owners before his debut that he reminded me an awful lot of a young Zoustyle … that is probably the only horse I can compare him to that I have trained.
“We know how good a horse Zoustyle was when he started off and he is still a good horse now having been a Group 1 place-getter in the Spring, so he’s got a lot to look forward to this horse.”
And the next step?
“It’s up to 1200m … whether that’s in the Winning Rupert in two weeks … or four weeks into the Gold Edition … it’s probably one of those two races,” said Gollan.
“I’m probably more in favour of the four weeks to be honest. We don’t have to be at every rodeo with him. It is his first prep.
“The time he ran on Saturday … and the time he clocked in his first win … he’s run good time and he has done that now twice in thirteen days … and I think to come off that and go a month between runs would be my favoured option.”
Golden Boom’s time of 56.12 on Saturday was a new class record at the track. Of note here is the that the 56.12 bettered the time set by Golden Boom’s highly capable and far more seasoned stable-mate Le Palmier who stopped the clock in the Swiss Ace Stakes at 56.32, albeit with Le Palmier carrying 1.5kg more at the weights.
A further point on interest and respect for Golden Boom was jockey Ryan Maloney’s effort to get down to 54.5kg to keep the ride on Golden Boom (he was permitted to ride 0.5kg overweight).
Maloney was stood down for the rest of the meeting immediately after Golden Boom’s win.
