Wave-winning Goldman takes shine to Gold Coast life
Trainer Kurt Goldman, fresh from landing an upset win in the $250,000 The Wave (1800m) with Arts Object (Zoustar) on his new home track of the Gold Coast, isn’t about to change his approach.
And that applies to his approach to the training of his horses as well as the selection of them at the yearling sales as he goes about establishing himself as a public stable following a long stint preparing horses for the late Alan Cardy from Goulburn.
Goldman relocated to the Gold Coast in the middle of last year on a visiting trainer’s licence, but he was recently granted a Queensland licence and he is operating out of the stables previously owned by Gundaroo Stud adjacent to the Magic Millions complex.
The original trainer of Group 1-winning sprinter Hellbent (I Am Invincible), Goldman has seven stakes wins to his name including black-type victories by Eckstein (I Am Invincible) and Faust (Librettist).
Having trained his first winner in 2011, and another 135 since, primarily for Cardy who died in late 2021, Goldman said his results are a reflection of his style of training.
“I spent a bit of time with Guy Walter when I first moved to Goulburn and Guy was such a patient trainer,” he said.
“He wasn’t worried about strike-rates or things like that. He used races to educate his horses on how to be racehorses and when it mattered he won the right races with them.
“I train my horses very similarly to how Guy would train and my stakes winners to winners [ratio] would probably be the best out of any country trainer in NSW.
“I may not have the highest winning strike-rate, but at the end of the day winning stakes races is what matters and that’s what makes horses more valuable at stud.”
On top of The Wave’s $145,000 first prize pocketed by Arts Object’s connections, they also scored a $200,000 bonus for being a Magic Millions graduate.
Goldman, however, won’t suddenly be trying to compete with the bigger-spending owners and trainers at this week’s sale.
“I have already got some interest even after Saturday’s result. Some people have already made contact saying they’d be keen to go into something if I buy a horse, but again I am not going to be silly,” Goldman said.
“That whole time I worked for Alan, we never really spent over $150,000 and I think if I stick to the same structure that I’ve had over the last ten years, it’ll just continue to pay dividends in the long run.”
Goldman will chase further Gold Coast riches with two-year-old Indubitably (Dubious) who is an acceptor for the fillies version of the $500,000 The Debut (1000m) this weekend, but even if she wins, he won’t be out to increase the size of his stable beyond a boutique size.
“I don’t have any great ambitions to win premierships or have 100 horses in work. I do all my own farrier work, I own my own truck, so I like to be very hands on and to do that I don’t want too many numbers,” he said.
“I genuinely enjoy being at the stables and working all the time, so I thought coming to the Gold Coast was a smart move.”