GO WANDJI MAKES A LONG AWAITED RETURN

By Graham Potter | Thursday, November 2, 2023

Trainer Tom Dougall has a pretty pragmatic approach to life in general and to racing in particular, so it comes as no surprise then that he brings Go Wandji to Eagle Farm tomorrow thankful that the horse has come right instead of bemoaning the fact that the well performed son of Wandjina was essentially robbed his five-year-old season at a time when he was flying and arguably moving into his prime.

Go Wandji had rounded off his four-year-old season as an eight-time winner from eleven starts having never finished out of the first three places (eight wins, two seconds and one third place) and he then finished runner-up for the third time at Doomben in his only start as a five-year-old.

That run took place on August 20, 2022, meaning Go Wandji has been away from race action for a full fourteen months … and it hasn’t been an easy road back, as trainer Tom Dougall explains.

“We operated on his wind and had no luck the first time,” said Dougall. “With that first operation we thought it would be simple, but life’s not like that, so he had to be operated on a second time and thankfully we had a bit more luck the second time and now he seems really good.

“The problem was probably coming on a little bit in his last few starts, but I can’t say it was affecting him then because he was still going pretty well.

“After he got beaten in his last start we fully investigated and there was a problem with one side of his larynx but, touch wood, it’s all sorted now and it will be good to get him back to the races on Saturday.”

If there is any concern about Go Wandji’s long break from racing and the fact that the layoff came about through fairy serious circumstances, for the record it should be noted that Go Wandji will be defending a perfect first-up record of four wins from four starts when he steps out on Saturday, suggesting that Dougall has a pretty good handle on when his charge is ready to go.

A Go Wandji comeback success on Saturday would obviously be a major highlight in itself for the Dougall, but it would also round off a perfect week for the stable who have been warming up nicely, saddling winners at Kilcoy on Tuesday and at Gatton on Thursday … with Golden Kingdom (a half-brother to Go Wandji) and Koruto respectively.

Larry Cassidy has partnered Go Wandji to his last five victories, but with Cassidy currently sidelined the 3kg claiming apprentice Jake Molloy has been handed the reins by Dougall, which means Go Wandji will move from joint top weight to having six of his nine opponents carry more weight than him … a factor which should help ease him back into his racing groove.

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