SEVEN DAYS: JANUARY 1 TO JANUARY 7 IN SE QUEENSLAND

By Graham Potter | Sunday, January 7, 2024

JANUARY 1:

It’s official. Rothfire is King Of The Mountain (KOTM).

In the weeks leading up to the race the general consensus of opinion was that the result of the KOTM was a foregone conclusion ... as if that is ever the case in racing ... with Rothfire’s far superior form simply gapping the rest on paper, to the point that there was a real belief there that Rothfire’s presence was scaring off some of the prospective opposition as the remaining slots were filled at a snail’s pace.

Rothfire duly took home the trophy and a first prize cheque of $350 000 with a precision performance befitting of a horse of his standing with a gameplan carried out to perfection.

In the run Rothfire proceeded to tick off one box after the other .... Jump from the widest gate ... push forward and obtain a run on the speed ... stalk the leader to the home turn ... challenge early in order to assert authority ... and then kick away and stay on to win.

A simple enough gameplan, executed under a text-book ride from Ben Thompson. Read more ...

ROTHFIRE IS KING OF THE MOUNTAIN

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JANUARY 2:

The second running of the King Of The Mountain (KOTM) at Toowoomba on New Year’s Day once again presented the Tony and Maddysen Sears trained Steady Ready with an opportunity to showcase his well above average talent and to nudge his prize-money earnings closer towards the $500 000 mark, now being just $11 600 shy of that milestone.

The son of Better Than Ready didn’t win the race but, under an astute ride from Michael Rodd after an unsteady start, he came through to challenge late, eventually just finishing within 0.30 lengths of reeling in the short-priced favourite Rothfire to claim second spot.

“I thought he was very brave in defeat,” said co-trainer Maddy Sears. “We didn’t want to give Rothfire as much of a head-start as we did, but he slipped quite badly coming out of the gates and that put him in a position where he didn’t want to be.

“If he was better placed early, I believe it would have been a very close finish. I can’t say he would have beaten Rothfire, because Rothfire doesn’t lay down in a finish, but, as I said, we certainly gave him far more of a head-start than we wanted to.

“He hit the line so well. That was probably the best run of his career, I reckon.” Read more ...

THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN COUNTDOWN. STEADY READY 3-2 ... WILL IT BE NUMBER 1 NEXT YEAR?

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The King Of The Mountain (KOTM) race-day provided a big day out at Toowoomba as it launched racing in Queensland into the new year, and locals trainers very much had their say on the day.

After final acceptances, Toowoomba based trainers saddled fifty-nine out of the eighty-eight runners at the meeting. That means they loaded up just over two-thirds of the day’s runner, so it was not a great surprise that they made merry by winning the first five races on the card.

One by one, Mark Currie (Ten Trinity Square), Michael Nolan (New Joy), Kevin Kemp (Ozarch), John Thomas (Tuhinga) and Matt Kropp (Rowdash) put their names on the scoreboard.

Not only that, but in all of those five races, Toowoomba trainers saddled the trifecta with Team Sears, Corey and Kylie Geran, John Dann and Paul Wallace chiming in with placed runners. Team Geran, in fact, finished second on no less than three occasion. Read more ...

TOOWOOMBA BASED TRAINERS LOAD UP AND CLAIM A ‘FIFER’ AT THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN MEETING

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JANUARY 3

Trainer Tony Gollan has announced the retirement of the eight-year-old gelding Zoustyle who bows out of racing with a proud record of ten wins and seven minor placings from twenty-eight starts with $1 008 175 banked in prize-money.

His last start third placing behind Tamerlane and stable companion Freedom Rally in The Buffering on December 30 took Zoustyle’s earning past the $1 million mark, writing another landmark achievement into his history.

The son of Zoustar was rampant early in his career winning all six starts in his first preparation including the Listed Gold Edition.

While all ten of Zoustyle’s wins were achieved on home turf ... including two wins in the Group 3 George Moore, the last of those coming as recently as December 2 ... that only tells half of the Zoustyle story. Read more ...

ZOUSTYLE RETIRES

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JANUARY 4

Nobody involved in racing needs any reminders of the dangers involved in the sport or the courage inherent in every jockey’s mindset as they go about their everyday business ... but we get them anyway.

As such, while it does not limit the distress of the moment, a serious incident leading to concerns of a major injury does come with some form of reluctant acceptance with everybody understanding the risks involved.

The distress is there though, clothed in silence and still with a degree of shock for most of the racing fraternity not directly involved in the incident ... but involved on a caring level ... while, for those on the receiving end of the trauma, it is a different matter altogether, sometimes as extreme as a matter of life or death.

For Emily Pomfrett, the incident she was involved in at Gatton on Thursday led to as serious an on -track situation as you could imagine. Read more ...

PRAYERS FOR POMFRETT

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JANUARY 5

Many people will claim to be happy to see the back of 2023, but chances are they have had a fortunate year compared to trainer Jack Duncan.

Severe personal health issues ... not to mention being badly injured when kicked by a horse ... has clouded much of Duncan’s existence for a long period of time.

It has been two years since he suffered a heart attack at Doomben racecourse and other another serious unrelated health challenge has followed ... but, in spite of all he has gone through, the Duncan stable is forging ahead into 2024, a what a start they have had!

In terms of providing a boost to both Duncan’s positive psyche and the stable bottom line, the results achieved by the stable at the Sunshine Coast on January 5 was worth its weight in gold.. Read more ...

A TIMELY TREBLE FOR THE JACK DUNCAN STABLE

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JANUARY 6

The Kurt Goldman trained Art’s Object, who drifted from $41 to $51 in the betting, make a mockery of his starting price and a mess of the bulk of his opposition when he romped home under a sparkling ride by Angela Jones to land first prize in the $250 000 TAB The Wave, the main feature at the Gold Coast on January 6.

Jones has been in the saddle in Art’s Object’s last five starts and, as such, she has great insight, both into Art’s Object’s lead-up to the race and the way the big race itself panned out.

“I wouldn’t say she has progressed, but I knew at her two most recent starts that she wasn’t giving all that she had,” offered Jones. “She showed early on that she was a nice horse but, just in her last couple, she was just going around.

“She ran second in her last start leading into The Wave, but that was in a weak grade, and I felt she was just getting to the top of the straight and pricking her ears. She wasn’t giving me anything. She kept seeming to repeat the same run ... so I said to Kurt, we’ve got to change something up. Raed more ...

JONES CONTINUES THE SURF THE WAVE OF SUCCESS

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The Kurt Goldman trained Art’s Object took out the $250 000 TAB Wave over 1800m ... the day’s main feature ... under Angela Jones as a $51 chance, easily the longest priced winner of the day. A gear change ... to visors ... was a touch of genius bringing the ultimate reward after the chestnut had not been at her best in recent starts.

WINNER FEEDBACK:

Trainer Kurt Goldman: “It was a six-month plan. This is what we wanted ... The Wave, set weights, a race for four-year-olds ... it was just a logical race to target with the mare like this. Things didn’t always go to plan through the prep. We had a couple of bad barriers, and she just wasn’t racing the way we wanted her to. We put the visors on. We saved them for today’s race, and I think it made the difference. Ange (Jones) has been wonderful on this mare. The mare is a little bit quirky at the barriers and she does a few things wrong, but Ange just seems to get her to jump and travel.” Read more ...

GOLD COAST – THE QUICK WRAP – JANUARY 6

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JANUARY 6

Life as an apprentice jockey is seldom a smooth path. As has been shown in examples from the past, having talent is not enough for a young rider to succeed. Their journey can be filled with unforeseen roadblocks and detours, while some, arguably, just get in their own way.

Although it is a different world now with its overbearing political correctness, the tough, straight-talking, no-nonsense trainer of old is still very much a godsend to any apprentice aspiring to get ahead in the racing game. It might not be what they are used to ... but it is what they need.

Listening and learning from such a master will serve them well.

Lindsay Hatch is just such a man ... and is it no surprise he has had helped apprentices step up to the top of their game ... Bailey Nothdurft, Angela Jones, just to mention two, both going on to win Premierships in town.

And now it is Savannah McCann, a 3kg claimer, who finds herself under Hatch’s tutelage ... with their relationship already starting to pay dividends. Read more ...

AN EVENTFUL WEEK FOR SAVANNAH MCCANN

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JANUARY 7

Trainer Olivia Cairns had been a major force in racing in Northern Queensland for many years with a host of feature race wins behind her name before making the move to South-East Queensland in February last year.

Not surprisingly, Cairns has found her feet in her new surroundings, saddling four winners in the nine day period since Christmas Eve, but consistent winning results like these took time to eventuate and, quite understandably, it was not an easy path getting to this stage.

“It was a huge move,” acknowledged Cairns. “We had to move everything ... from broodmares ... to yearlings ... to other horses ... to my little boy ... to our whole house ... everything, but the decision had been pending for years. Read more ...

OLIVIA CAIRNS STABLE IS BACK IN THE GROOVE

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This might seem like a little bit of an exaggeration ... but Master Jamie’s third place in the King Of The Mountain (KOTM) at Toowoomba on January 1 could be celebrated as a win as the result took the Graeme Green trained gelding’s prize-money earnings through the $1 million barrier ... putting him in an exclusive club as the only lifelong Rockhampton based horse to have achieved that distinction.

That’s quite a return on his $10 000 purchase price for Green and co-owners Ron and Bev White.

"It was a huge run ... to run Rothfire to half-a-length,” said jockey Bubba Tilley. “He was there all of the time. He was always right in it. He is just such a gutsy horse. Who knows what might have happened if the race was eighty metres further.

“The horse is happy and sound. I was so happy and Graeme was over the moon. Master Jamie picked up $100 000 for third. He goes to $1 million in prize-money ... the first horse who has stayed in Rockhampton to do so ... creating a bit of history that it is just a privilege to be part of." Read more ...

A JOCKEY’S JOURNEY WITH A ROCKHAMPTON TREASURE. THE MASTER JAMIE / BUBBA TILLEY STORY