GOLDEELUCK FINDS THAT WINNING TOUCH

By Graham Potter | Friday, September 29, 2023

The Tony and Maddysen Sears trained Goldeeluck has paid his way from day one.

The son of Winning Rupert finished second on debut then wasted no further time in putting his first win on the board, saluting at his second start over 1200m at Toowoomba on December 31, 2022 … the day that the Sears stable won The King Of The Mountain with Yellow Brick.

As much as he paid his way though, his results … while always honest in effort … were also a touch frustrating as, in seven starts over the period from January 23, 2023 to September 6, 2023, Goldeeluck failed to add to his winning total … this, in spite of seldom running a bad race.

In fact, that run of results included a run of three successive second placings and, in two of those finishes, he was only touched off by the narrowest of margins. There was also two creditable third placings in there, but the fact remained that next win was proving to be elusive.

That was until the four-year-old was set the task of tackling a Class 1 Handicap over 1400m at the Sunshine Coast on September 29, coming back to the more preferred trip again following an ordinary run when asked to try 1849m in town at Eagle farm in his previous start.

Here, Goldeeluck shared favouritism with Rideau, a last start winner in Cairns, at $3.40, and these two runners did indeed fight out a very pressurised finish which ultimately saw only 1.70 lengths cover the first five runners across the line.

Emily Lang had Goldeeluck placed in midfield in the early part, and he raced a little under six lengths behind his market rival Rideau, who had worked his to the front by mid-race. Once there, Rideau controlled the race at a measured gallop … and he brought the field into the home straight with a useful advantage and travelling well.

At that stage, Goldeeluck was still back in the pack, in eighth place with a touch over four lengths to find … and when Rideau kicked away strongly coming through the 300m mark, it looked like Goldeeluck, who was starting to improve, might, yet again, run a nice place.

At the 200m mark the deficit was down to three lengths.

At the 100m it had closed up to a two length margin. Rideau still seemed to have the race within his keeping, but Lang and Goldeeluck refused to lie down, instead surging to within one length of Rideau with 50m left to run … and then sustaining that effort over the crucial, concluding stages, a commitment which saw them snare Rideau in the very last stride.

The only time Goldeeluck was in front was on the line.

That elusive win was elusive no more!

Emily Lang