Gollan to field strong hand of four in bid for third successive Falvelon
Brisbane powerhouse Tony Gollan mounts a four-pronged assault on Saturday’s Magic Millions Falvelon (Listed, 1200m) as he seeks his third straight win in the $200,000 feature.
And two of his runners will be striving to bring his second Falvelon in three years by way of some canny second-hand shopping.
Two years ago, Gollan won his second career Falvelon with Zarastro (I Am Invincible), the former Chris Waller-trained gelding whom he bought for $32,500. Now seven, he’s won seven of 21 starts and almost $1.4 million for Gollan since that purchase to become the poster boy for Inglis Online.
This time, Brisbane’s 12-time premier trainer has two ex-Godolphin geldings among his squadron in six-year-old Pereille (Fastnet Rock) and five-year-old Fleetwood (Encryption).
They’re also joined by last year’s third, the seven-year-old King Kapa (Capitalist), who also counts as second-hand having been transferred to Gollan from Joe Pride, though a long time ago now in late 2022.
And topping the quartet in field and market order is topweight Hidden Wealth (Better Than Ready), who’s been at Gollan’s stable from the start after being bought by him at Magic Millions Gold Coast in 2021 for $110,000.
Bookmakers have that six-year-old as favourite at around $4.40, with Pereille and Fleetwood in a second-line cluster at $7.50, and King Kapa potentially over the odds at $21.
Hidden Wealth has gate nine of 17 for Ryan Maloney and 60 kilograms under the quality handicap conditions, but will be favoured if enough of the forecast rain arrives to effect a soft track.
Pereille has to cope with a wider gate – 14 – for his third start for Gollan, and has 55 kilograms for Ben Thompson.
Fleetwood, set for a quickish back-up after winning at his third start up north at the Gold Coast on Friday night, has an ideal barrier in four for Angela Jones, and is in on the minimum of 53 kilograms.
And King Kapa will jump from barrier two for Andrew Mallyon, with 57 kilograms. Thanks to a Listed and a handicap win this year, that’s four kilos more than he carried in the race last year when a 0.2-length third to Cannonball (Capitalist).
That winner was another pre-loved horse Gollan had to become used to, transferred from Peter Snowden while remaining in James Harron’s ownership. He did, however, find his way to Inglis Online later on, sold to Victoria’s Patrick Kearney for $35,000.
The second-hand market can be a landscape of plenty. At their last starts, for example, Pereille and Hidden Wealth ran second and fourth in Doomben’s George Moore Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) behind Caballus (I Am Invincible), who probably ranks second only to Zarastro among tried-buy success stories.
That ex-Waller, now Bjorn Baker, runner’s sizeable $315,000 Inglis Online purchase by Darby Racing in 2023 has been rewarded by five wins, four in stakes grade, and $840,000.
Pereille was put online by owner-breeders Godolphin in July after four wins from 27 starts. With four Listed seconds, he hadn’t quite cut the royal blue mustard like his full-brother Corniche (Fastnet Rock) and a half-sister who’d also won two Group races in Heresy (Street Boss).
Australian Bloodstock bought Pereille for $170,000, and he’s since won his first start for Gollan in one 1200-metre Class 6 at Eagle Farm and run third in another at Doomben before his George Moore second. He’s netted $94,200 for his new connections so far.
Fleetwood was also shown the Godolphin stable door in July, after five wins from 17 and a Listed placing. Gollan and owner Craig Sneesby snared him via Inglis Online for $150,000, and he has a win and second for his new stable for $39,000.
“Godolphin horses are pretty obvious choices on the tried horse market,” Gollan told ANZ News.
“They’ve got beautiful pedigrees, and they’re well looked-after horses. They are hard to buy, because there are plenty of people wanting to buy them just for those reasons.
“They’ve been good to train, these two. All tried horses have their tricks but they’re both nice, sound horses, and what you see is what you get.
“The Godolphins are usually nice and sound, and Godolphin give you plenty of information when you’re buying them. They inform the buying market nicely. There’s no real surprises when you’re buying their second-hand horses, so they run a really good show in that regard. That’s why they’re always so well sought-after.”
Gollan is excited about Pereille’s return to Eagle Farm, having learnt quickly that with a lack of early pace and a short sprint, his new addition is less suited to Doomben, despite that admirable George Moore second.
“He’s in really good nick,” Gollan said. “I thought his run in the George Moore was really good, but I’ve been really looking forward to getting him back to Eagle Farm. That track really suits him.
“Doomben’s that little bit tricky for a horse like him. He’s only got a really short sprint. You’ve got to suck up on him and get him out at the right time. On the bigger track at Eagle Farm, you’ve got more time to ride up behind horses before you expose, and you’ve still got a really good run in.
“He’s a nice horse, it’s just a shame the wide draw will make life a bit trickier for him. He’s not a speed horse, so he’ll have to go back and find his feet and try to ride through them. Needs a bit of luck.”
Gollan is happy with what he’s seen so far from Fleetwood, who was second on resuming, bombed the start when eighth in the Sunshine Coast’s Swiss Ace Plate (1000m) – won by Hidden Wealth – and narrowly took out an 1100-metre open handicap at the Gold Coast last Friday night, under 60 kilograms.
“Craig Sneesby and connections bought him. You always want to buy them as cheaply as you can, but they were happy enough with the price,” he said.
“He ran second in his first run for me, then blundered out of the gates in the Swiss Ace, then he was good the other night at the Gold Coast.
“He seems to have come through well. We’ll give him all week to make sure we want to back him up, but at this point I’m really happy with him. Low draw, light weight, he found a bit of form last Friday night and he’s got the ability to be up to this.”
Gollan warned punters not to write off King Kapa. The seven-year-old was sluggish first-up when second-last in the Swiss Ace, but improved for a 1.3-length sixth in Eagle Farm’s Bribie Handicap (Listed, 1000m), making ground from tenth at the turn as if Saturday’s extra 200 metres would suit.
“He’s just taken those couple of runs to get really fit for the summer,” Gollan said. “He’s pretty up to the mark now.
“His first-up run was terrible, he improved very well the other day, but was still a run short. He’s got a good low draw and Andrew Mallyon sticks. I’m really happy with him. He’s going super.”
Overall though, Gollan seemed most ebullient about the chances of Hidden Wealth – if not for those twin evils of “wide gate big weight”.
“He won well first-up over 1000 metres in the Swiss Ace,” Gollan said. “He wasn’t as good second-up [fourth in the George Moore] but the race was pretty messy, we didn’t ride him to show his customary speed, and he was on a quick enough turn-around off a firm track run at two weeks.
“He’s coming into this three weeks off his last run, which is more beneficial to him, and if there is any cut in the ground it helps him as well and will suit him most among my four.
“The biggest problem with him is he’s shown he’s good in these sorts of races with 54, 55 kilos on his back. He’s got to carry 60 kilos now. He’s earned that with the rating he’s got, so life’s that little bit harder,
“It’s a little bit tricky for him with the wide draw and the weight but I’m really happy with the condition the horse is in and I can see him bouncing back.”
One way or another, whether it comes from the one he picked out as a yearling, the two bought ex-Godolphin runners, or the other one transferred from a Sydney stable, Gollan feels he’s a strong chance to claim his fourth Falvelon, having won his first with Whiskey Allround (All Bar One) in 2016.
“We’ve got a few in the race,” he said. “Hopefully we can knock it off.”