A PLEASING WARM-UP FOR THE WINTER CARNIVAL

By Tony Gollan | Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Group 1 winning trainer Tony Gollan is the leading trainer in Brisbane. Having won the Brisbane Trainers’ Premiership last season, Gollan has not only cemented his position at the top of the ladder for the second racing year in succession, but he is currently closing fast on the record for most number of Metropolitan wins in Brisbane in a season ... a record which has stood for twenty-seven years. Tony’s weekly blog appears exclusively on HRO.

I took a really good team of horses to Doomben on Saturday. I hadn’t been nervous for a while but I was a bit nervous going to the races ... actually I felt a bit sick in the guts in the morning.

I said to my wife Jane, look, I hope we can get a few winners but I just want to see them all race well because the carnival starts in a couple of weeks and these are horses that will play some part, at different levels, in the carnival.

I didn’t feel as crook after Secret Saga won the first.

I didn’t take anything ‘away’ down south at all in autumn. I’ve waited back here in Brisbane. I had a good carnival here last year. I want to try and have a big carnival this year ...and I showed a bit of my strength on Saturday.

I wanted to see the horses all race well. I’m obviously pleased they did ... and hopefully they all come out of it well.

Judging by the way they raced on Saturday they all appear to be heading in the right direction in terms of where I want them to be.

In two weeks’ time the carnival begins so you’ve got to have your team up and firing now.

I’m having a remarkable season winners-wise, for which I’m grateful, but I‘d be lying if I said the Carnival doesn’t mean a lot to me.

I want to win the big races during the carnival!

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I’m very privileged to have trained four winners on Saturday.

It’s actually the first time I’ve trained more than two on a Saturday. I’ve had doubles before but I’ve never even had a treble before Saturday.

I think since moving here (to Brisbane from Toowoomba) ... we’ve done a lot of things right and well.

We’ve got great owner support which is so important. A lot of our horses are racing well season after season and we’ve got a lot of young horses coming through now ... and we are really well off with the jockeys we use.

We use three senior riders pretty well (Tegan Harrison, Jim Byrne and Tim Bell) ... as you saw on Saturday.

They all have their strengths and weaknesses, as I do as a trainer. I try to put them on suitable horses according to their strengths. The owners go along with that so the system is working well.

At track-work we use the three riders on Tuesdays and Saturdays for our fast-work. Ryan Wiggins comes in as well. Because Ryan went away overseas for a period he, unfortunately, is the fourth cog in the wheel now which is disappointing for him ... but the other guys are hard to shift.

They are not only all doing the job for me but they are also a good team in themselves.

They are all competitive with each other for rides, but they all work well as a group. They never bag each other. You take them off one and put them on another one. The other one goes on here or there ... whatever ... and I don’t have any drama.

They all professionals.

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In essence my stable is a family business and I have reached this stage of my career largely because of the solid family support base that I have in the business.

My wife, my sister and my dad are all integral parts of the business and their contribution is so important in making the stable what it is.

I’m very fortunate to have their committed support.

A sustained series of good results had brought stable growth in terms of the size of the operation and it takes a big effort to keep everything on track.

We get through that by using every hour of the day.

We just try and be incredibly organised. We are fortunate enough to have great staff and a great set-up and, on that basis, we are happy to keep growing in size, if it warrants it.

We wouldn’t be able to keep turning out the winners if that wasn’t the case. As our stable has got bigger our winners haven’t stopped which is a credit to everyone involved in the stable.

I know that might be stating the obvious ... but it’s true.

You know, you can run your store on your own and do a great job, but you can’t run Coles like that. You have to get a bigger team in place and greater organisation.

As I say the family business setup and the staff are great. There is just such a good bunch of young people working for us.

They are excellent behind the scenes. Then they are here strapping their favourite horses on raceday. It means as much to them as it does to me.

They’re loving it!

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Finally, yes, the Eagle Farm story has had its periods of difficulty for trainers based here.

You have had to adapt to the changes that are given to you during the period of the project and that’s just an additional part of the training job at the moment.

I think our stable has adapted quite well. We haven’t had a lull all year with a consistent stream of winners and hopefully we can keep that going whatever the circumstances.

Not that I ever take winners for granted. I know how important it is to keep your feet on the ground in this game and not get ahead of yourself because your situation can change very quickly.

Having said that, there is no doubt we will all be happy when the work at Eagle Farm is finished, we’ve got a new track and can all get back to normal.

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