MY CALL - SAID COM SETS TONGUES WAGGING

By David Fowler | Tuesday, August 7, 2012

David Fowler is the principal thoroughbred caller for Radio TAB. David, who is a keen form student and punter, has enjoyed a lifetime involvement in the racing media. His personal blog, ‘My Call’, appears exclusively on HRO.

Spring has sprung....and it's only winter!

As soon as the date page turns from July to August, racing Australia-wide has that spring feel whether it's on race-day or at the trials.

And clearly the highlight on the eastern seaboard was the stunning return to racing by Said Com at Canterbury.

The win was expected as an odds-on favourite but the manner of the victory had everyone talking.

Said Com was eight lengths off the speed midrace and I estimate still five lengths from the leader Welkom Gold at the 200m.

This is a Canterbury race at 1250m. He shouldn't have been able to win the position he was in.

Yet Nash Rawiller maintained his calm and within a blink it looked all too easy, winning with a margin and not far outside Northern Meteor's track record.

Sure, the pace was electric and ideal for a back-marker, but the performance smacked of arrogance.

Clearly he has taken the next step from a three-year-old to an early season four-year-old and the Epsom Handicap appeals as an excellent target this spring.

It was a good couple of days for his owner Neville Morgan whose smart four-year-old Balkuin made it back-to-back wins at the Gold Coast on Thursday.

**********************************************************************************************

The start of the new racing season in Brisbane belonged to Tony Gollan.

Five winners (four in the city) over a four day period is meritorious in itself but Tony's stable switch from Toowoomba to Eagle Farm made that even more newsworthy.

I'm tipping Gollan to be the next big thing in Queensland racing.

In his early thirties, he is the right age, and the move to the metropolitan district is a significant step in the right direction.

Many great trainers have made their mark on the Darling Downs but I'm certain Gollan's shift is commercially canny.

Not that he has come out of nowhere with Temple Of Boom and Spirit Of Boom already giving him an interstate profile.

And Matt Dunn is another rookie who rates a mention. I'm certain he will make an even greater impact on the metropolitan trainers' premiership this season.

Gollan and Dunn won't test heavyweights like Heathcote and Patinack ... yet … but they are well on their way.

**********************************************************************************************

Midweek TAB racing at Beaudesert isn't a goer this season.

News from the Racing Queensland bunker indicates the dates penciled in were only in draft form and set by the previous Board.

However the club will have a TAB date on Anzac Day as part of the recently-announced country showcase series.

Let's hope the present Board can also look at why Brisbane has no metropolitan Saturday meeting listed for Janaury 26 next year where racing is slated for the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

Hopefully, that is a draft as well.

**********************************************************************************************

RUMOUR FILE 1: Is there a third party interference in the issue of media accreditation in Queensland this racing season?

It's a story that won't dry up whatever the outcome.

RUMOUR FILE 2: Which Queensland club is about to feel the heavy hand of a union over its treatment of staff ?

Until next week.

More articles