‘She’s well above average’
Hi Barbie heads strong team for Gollan as Queensland’s champion trainer eyes glory in Doomben features
Saturday’s meeting at Doomben could turn out to be a big one in the racing calendar for Tony Gollan with the reigning Queensland champion trainer aiming a battalion of horses at the meeting.
Gollan, who currently sits atop of the Queensland training premiership with 55 winners so far this season, will send both Hi Barbie (I Am Invincible) and Lockyer (I Am Invincible) to contest the Phelan Ready Stakes (Listed, 1000m).
The former will be making her debut on the racetrack having won and finished second in a pair of barrier trials in recent weeks, with the win coming by 7.3 lengths on a Soft 6 track at Doomben on November 19.
“She’s going good, I’ve had a great prep with her,” Gollan told ANZ Bloodstock News of the filly.
“Both her trials have been really good and I’ve had this race in mind for some time. Her work has been terrific and she’s right up the mark and where she needs to be.
“Over half of this field are in the same boat as her being unraced, while the other ones have only had a couple of runs.
“She’s drawn well [four] which is always important at Doomben and she was very adequate on rain-affected ground in the trials the other day.
“I’d prefer the track to be better rather than wetter but if the rain does come then I’m not as worried about it with her as maybe some others.”
Hi Barbie’s family is one that Gollan knows very well, having trained the filly’s mother Outback Barbie (Spirit Of Boom) to Listed success on four occasions, as well as a victory in the valuable Gold Coast Magic Millions Handicap (1300m), while he also trained the filly’s granddam, Pure Purrfection (General Nediym), to Listed success.
“I know the family well, I raced her mother and her grandmother and she’s probably the nicest type that I have seen out of this family,” Gollan said of Hi Barbie, who he purchased for $1.2 million in partnership with Outback Barbie’s part-owner Jennifer Acton at January’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
I raced her mother and her grandmother and she’s probably the nicest type that I have seen out of this family
“She’s a beautiful filly and has a big pedigree, which is why she raised that sort of money at the sale. All she’s done is improve to this moment in time, it’s still very early in her career but she’s well above average.”
Gollan hopes to get Hi Barbie to the Magic Millions Gold Coast Raceday on January 11.
“I’d love to get her in the Magic Millions, she’s a Magic Millions filly so if she wins this on Saturday then she’s en route to them,” the trainer added.
Another horse that could well be Magic Millions-bound should they perform well in Saturday’s Phelan Ready is Lockyer, a colt who ran second over 1000 metres at Eagle Farm on his only start to date on November 2.
The son of I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) has since won a trial at Doomben, beating Midnight Spirit (Spirit Of Boom) by 0.2 lengths in the 1000-metre heat.
“He’s had the benefit of race experience which is good,” Gollan said of the colt. “The draw [barrier three] is absolutely perfect and he probably should’ve won on his debut. He jumped well and just got caught back in a little spot.
“If he can begin like he has been doing then he can get himself into a lovely box-seat position. Everything is perfect with him bar the potential wet track.”
With rain set to be around on both Friday and Saturday, Gollan is slightly worried about the potential of a wet track, despite Lockyer having won his trial on a Soft 6 surface.
“I think he just scrambled around on it to be honest, I don’t think he loved it,” the trainer said of that trial success.
“His work on better ground has been far superior and I do think he’s a lot better horse on top of the ground. I think drier ground would suit him rather than wetter, that’d be the only real negative given we have rain forecast on both Friday and Saturday.”
Having also been purchased at this year’s Gold Coast Yearling Sale, with the trainer teaming up with Rosemont Stud and Suman Hedge Bloodstock to acquire the colt for $800,000 out of the Yarraman Park draft, Gollan is hoping Lockyer can mark himself down as a potential Magic Millions Gold Coast Raceday type.
“If things go well then he’s another for the Magic Millions, I’d think that both of my horses are ones that could definitely get to those sorts of races,” he said.
Later on the Doomben card, Gollan has another horse bidding to stamp his claims of making January’s lucrative raceday on the Gold Coast.
Boomtown Boss (Spirit Of Boom) is set to take on 13 rivals in the $160,000 Pierata Plate (1200m) as he bids to improve on his current record of two wins from four starts, one that Gollan feels should be three from four.
“It looks like a very open renewal of the race and I think my horse sort of beat himself the other day,” Gollan said of Boomtown Boss’ last-start second placing at Doomben.
“He ran around and was all over the place like a drunken sailor so I think if he’d have had his mind on the job he’d have been the winner. I think he can improve nicely now he’s got a set of winkers on and with a senior rider [Dylan Browne McMonagle] in the saddle.
“I think this race may lack the depth of the fillies race, it’s a decent race and they’re never easy to win, but I certainly think he’s one of three or four chances in it.”
On the prospect of potentially having a soft track, Gollan was quick to point out the gelding has yet to be properly tested on a really testing surface, having run fifth in a 1200-metre event on debut on his only ever soft-track start.
“He’s never really been on soft ground so it’s sort of hard to weigh up if he’ll go on it,” Gollan said.
“He will most likely run no matter what the ground is, I would probably prefer him on better ground but he’s not really had a chance on softer yet.”
Boomtown Boss was purchased at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, with Gollan and John Foote Bloodstock partnering to secure the gelding for $180,000 out of the Eureka Stud draft, with January’s lucrative Gold Coast meeting now a target for the three-year-old.
“He gives me the feel of a sort of Magic Millions Guineas horse so we’ll see how the summer unfolds for him,” the trainer said.
“Whether it’s still a bit early on in his life for that sort of race I’m not sure, but he’s a really nice horse with a good future.”
Gollan has acquired the services of Browne McMonagle aboard Boomtown Boss and feels the visiting Irish rider will be a good fit for his gelding.
“He’s over riding with Ciaron [Maher] and is up here to ride one for him, so I thought it was a good opportunity to put him on and Dylan would’ve ridden plenty of these types of horses before so I think he’ll be a great fit for this horse,” he added.
Gollan is also set to run Surprise Honey (Extreme Choice) in the Mode Stakes (Listed, 1200m) on the Doomben card after she broke her maiden at the fourth attempt last start in an 800-metre contest at Ipswich, a race in which she was ridden by apprentice Emily Lang, who retains the ride.
“She’s a real nice filly,” the trainer said. “She comes out of a maiden but a lot of these fillies do. She’s in good order and is lightly raced with a big pedigree and handles soft ground. She raced forward in that maiden win and hopefully she can race on the speed again and looks a genuine chance of getting black type.
“Emily rode her the other day when she won and also rides her most days in trackwork so I just thought she deserved an opportunity on her to be honest.
“The filly responded well to her the other day in that lesser race so hopefully she can respond in a similar way this weekend.”
Wrapping up Gollan’s feature-race runners on the Doomben card will be a trio of contenders in the George Moore Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), headed by three-time stakes scorer Zarastro (I Am Invincible).
“Zararstro struggles on the ground,” Gollan admitted. “He has an awkward draw [nine] but has been going super and is a revelation since we got him.
“The ground is just the big worry with him, he’s so much better on nicer ground but this is probably a race we need to run him in to get him to the Magic Millions.”
Zarastro will be joined in the Group 3 contest by stablemates Hidden Wealth (Better Than Ready) and Millane (Zoustar), with Gollan believing the former to have the best winning chance of the trio.
“I think that Hidden Wealth is the one that can handle the ground and he’s building a really good record,” the trainer said. “He’s drawn a bit tricky [eight] but he’s very progressive and well weighted.
He just keeps getting better and better and I think this time in he can go to another level again
“He has just improved and there’s no real ceiling with him yet. He just keeps getting better and better and I think this time in he can go to another level again.
“He’s fit, healthy, and coming off a short little spring prep so he has good residual fitness. Even with the awkward draw, he can get himself into a good spot and he’s bang there.
Regarding the chances of Millane, Gollan said: “Millane is a nice fresh horse and loves wet ground. He’s got a light weight and is one that could be running on well at the finish.”
