Tony Gollan backs Brad Stewart’s tactics on Ef Troop after narrow first-up defeat

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TONY Gollan came to the defence of Brad Stewart as stewards grilled him over his ride on beaten hot pot Ef Troop at Doomben on Saturday.

Stewards queried Stewart why he didn’t show more urgency early in the race, with the jockey countering that Ef Troop didn’t show as much speed as expected.

“He was very lackadaisical in the first 100m. I gave him a rev-up but he didn’t show a lot of speed,” Stewart said.

Chief steward Daniel Aurisch told Stewart “you came out neutral on the horse” to which the jockey responded: “I was flat. Maybe if I put the foot down I could have got across, but the horse raced very lazy in the first half of the race.

“Even when the field settled down, he didn’t really travel. He probably needed a liven up just to let him know he’s in a race.”

Gollan noted it was Stewart’s first ride on Ef Troop outside a trial.

“The horse has a big prep ahead and Brad didn’t want to see him charging through the bridle first up,” the trainer said. “He rode him the same way in the trial.”

While disappointed to be beaten, Gollan said he was happy with Ef Troop’s performance.

“If he got to outside the leader, he wins by three lengths and everyone’s talking about how well he’s gone,” Gollan said.

DROUGHT-BREAKING WIN
MARK Du Plessis surprised many when he revealed Meet Mr Taylor was his first Doomben winner since 2007.

Du Plessis has been a regular face on Queensland tracks over many years at differing carnivals, but caught trainer Kelly Schweida off guard when he revealed the Doomben drought.

Meet Mr Taylor is from Victim Of Choice, an unraced half-sister to Schweida’s former top sprinter Cape Kidnappers.

Part-owner Andrew Grant-Taylor said Victim Of Choice hurt her leg badly as a foal and never made it to sale or the races.

“She got it caught in a fence at Woodlands Stud when her mum (Kidnapper) went there to be served by Commands (the resultant foal from that mating was Cape Kidnappers),” Grant-Taylor said.

CASSIDY SAYS BAN IS FAIR
LARRY Cassidy copped an eight-day careless riding suspension on the chin for his sit on Order Again.

“I knew he would drift in, but I was going to two to their one and just assumed I had cleared them,” Cassidy said. “Unfortunately I hadn’t and the suspension was fair enough.”

HULBERTS’ PURPLE PATCH
CO-TRAINERS Peter and Will Hulbert had no doubt how they wanted Glitra ridden before he spread-eagled his rivals in the NMW (1650m) on Saturday.

“Matty came out and said he was hoping he could land one-one, but the way he jumped out at Coffs Harbour, I thought he would be able to cross them,” Peter said.

“He’s been a great addition to the stable and he’s got a really good story attached to him. There’s four generations of the one family in his ownership.”

McGillivray crossed the field easily, then dropped anchor and had a picnic in front, which allowed him to scoot home in a sizzling 33.73 sec.

Hulbert Racing has made their best-ever start to a season, with Glitra being their third winner from just four starters since August 1.

Glitra has won two of his four starts since joining the Hulberts.

LADY SKILLS BLOWS BONUS
LADY Skills’ hopes of winning the Northern Crowns Bonus went astray after she was gunned down in Saturday’s $100,000 Cairns Cup.

Hall of Fame jockey Robert Thompson landed a last-stride win on the Janel Ryan-trained We Just Love It to nail the easing favourite Multifacets right on the line.

Lady Skills battled on for third.

It means Peacock will be the only horse running for the Northern Crowns Bonus at next month’s Cairns Amateurs carnival.

HARD TO WATCH
WITH the track favouring frontrunners, Natalie McCall didn’t even bother to watch the rest of the race after Arena Salon dawdled out of the gates in the eighth.

The Stradbroke-winning trainer turned on her heels and walked out of the enclosure as Arena Salon, who looked the probable leader, settled a clear last.

McCall’s mood wouldn’t have been helped when Courtza King had a nice time of it in front and kicked on to win. Arena Salon did a good job to run on late for fifth.

After five consecutive leaders won, Francisca bucked the trend in the last, gunning down Hingus Rose, despite enduring a three wide trip, thus continuing the winning run for Steve O’Dea and Jackson Murphy.