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Leading stable confident in Carnival finale chances
With two big guns sidelined for the year – and possibly longer – Tony Gollan is hoping some less-heralded stable runners can close out the winter carnival on a winning note at Caloundra on Saturday.
Gollan has the fillies Glitter Strip and The Actuary in the Winx Guineas, while Snitch is out to complete the Eye Liner-Glasshouse double.
Gollan has enjoyed his best ever calendar year to date, winning two Group 1s and a host of other features, but has lost both Isotope and Vega One for the rest of the year.
Isotope had to have surgery for colic, which will keep her out of the spring carnival, but Gollan is confident she will return to racing in peak order next year.
Vega One however is more problematical after a leg cut sustained in the Stradbroke became badly infected.
The trainer concedes there's a possibility Vega One may not race again and if he does, it's not likely to be for another 12 months.
Wet track ability will be crucial to success at the Sunshine Coast and Gollan believes all three of his stakes runners will cope with Heavy ground.
He felt Glitter Strip was at her best when she "got her toe in the ground" at Doomben and suggests her last start run at Eagle Farm is better than it looks on paper.
"I'm pleased to see her draw low. It means she will settle a lot closer in the run, third pair, right behind them and be very hard to beat," he said on his weekly Final Gallop preview.
"Even though she's unknown in the heavy, my gut feeling is that she will handle it."
The Actuary is a proven wet tracker and while Gollan doesn't rate her chances as highly as Glitter Strip, he said she will run better than her odds suggest, saying there shouldn't be as much between her and the new favourite Tamilaide.
"I think she will come into this race. I expect her to run a hell of a lot better than 30-1," he said.
Snitch ran fifth to River Racer in the Glasshouse on Heavy ground two years ago and his trainer said the six-year-old is going a lot better now.
"I'm not concerned by the heavy track. I think he will get through it fine," Gollan said.
"He doesn't go up in weight for the (Eye Liner) win, the horse has improved again and I think he's a live chance here.
"I don't think anything out of the Eye Liner can beat him. He's a very happy horse, very fit and well."
