By Isaac Murphy
Tony Gollan was surprised when his four-year-old gelding Brains won first up over the 1200 at Doomben and the horse did it again yesterday in the Bench Mark 80 Handicap over 1400m at Doomben coming from a seemingly hopeless position to make it two for two in the prep.
“Nothing at all went to plan, I said to the owner’s pre-race we’ll definitely be in front of Coral Bay and Looks Like Elvis getting a nice smooth run,” Gollan said
“Low and behold we got squeezed at the gates and were giving them all a start.”
Brains first up win saw him flash down the outside and he produced a replica under what Gollan called a masterful ride from Brad Stewart.
“We were lucky because if there is anyone who can weave their way through a field it is Brad Stewart,” he said.
“He made a pretty quick decision in the straight to get him out and jeez he let go.”
The gelding’s sharp improvement this prep has Gollan enthusiastic about what’s to come.
“This horse is on a real upward spiral in his career, it’s great coming to the races with a runner like that knowing he’ll keep improving,” he said.
“The owners and I are going to have a very exciting next 12 months with him, he’ll win plenty more in town.”
“I’m keen to get him up to the mile in this prep and test his ability because I think he’s got more in him.”
Stewart said his hand was forced early with a sticky get away but didn’t panic knowing the horse had a finish in him.
“We were a bit slow away, but he settled nicely and when it was time to go all I had to do was get him out and he did the rest,” he said
“He (Looks Like Elvis – 2nd) was a good few lengths in front of me, it probably wasn’t until inside the 200 I thought we were in striking range.”