In-form Gorman aiming to strike gold at Marburg

By Jordan Gerrans

In-form trainer Anthony Gorman believes his stable star Cosmic Flyer deserves to win a feature race at some stage in his career and says his home deck of Marburg would be the perfect place to do it.

Gorman’s Cosmic Flyer will tackle the fifth of five heats from Marburg on Sunday in the popular Goldstrike series.

The Gorman barn will also be represented in the opening heat earlier in the program as stablemate Yella starts in the first heat.

The annual Goldstrike series has attracted strong fields for the five heats on Sunday with runners bidding to land in the rich decider later this month. 

The 35-year-old Gorman is putting together his strongest season in the training ranks to date, collecting five winners from just 18 starters so far this term.

With only a small team in work, the Marburg-based horseman says it is pleasing to receive some reward for effort as he juggles his team of horses, working night shift as well as family commitments.

“I am having a good run and getting the results with the team,” Gorman said.

“Everything is working at the moment. The stable is ticking away good and we are picking up cheques all over the show, which helps.

“I have been finding the right races for them.”

Gorman trained a small team between 2016 and 2019 – preparing five winners in total – before stepping away from the caper. 

He returned to the training ranks in 2024 when his father-in-law Ron Wells travelled overseas and he looked after his horses.

Cosmic Flyer is a nine-time career winner from 37 attempts, with three of those triumphs coming in the first four months of 2025.

The gelding raced in Group 1 company as a juvenile through the QBRED Triad series’ when previously prepared by Wells. 

The four-year-old will be driven by champion reinsman Pete McMullen from the three alley in Sunday’s last heat from Marburg.

“I am excited to have the good horse back, Cosmic Flyer, I think he is a good chance in that race,” Gorman said.

“Cosmic Flyer was unlucky last season; he always ran in behind them and ran good races.

“It is about finding the right races for him.

“He had a bit of a freshen up after his last run with all the weather we have had around.

“I have been keeping him for this series, more than anything.

“The horse deserves to win a feature at some stage of his career, just for the horse.”

The Goldstrike series is run over 2200 metres with a standing start for the pacers.

From Sunday’s heats, qualifiers progress to the Easter Sunday $35,000 Final.

“This series is good for the locals,” Gorman said.

“It gets a bit of a buzz going around this series, you often hear people asking others if they have a horse to go in it.

“Hopefully I can make the Final with one of them – if not both of them – and we will see what happens from there.

“It gives people a chance to run for decent money.”