Gomer chasing his Rocky Newmarket chocolates

By Glenn Davis

It will be one for the true believers if Sha Of Gomer wins the Rockhampton Newmarket on Friday.

Sha Of Gomer will give Beaudesert trainer Jeff Dunn his biggest ever payday if the rising six-year-old claims the $100,000 feature.

A son of Shalaa, Sha Of Gomer almost caused a boil over when second in the Listed Eye Liner Stakes at Ipswich on June 21.

“The Eye Liner was my first stakes placing,” Dunn said. 

Dunn has only been training since the 2018-19 season.     

“He looked like he was going to win the Eye Liner halfway down the straight, but he just got caught," Dunn said. 

“He was previously with Chris Waller and we bought him for around $30,000 and he’s only had four runs for me so far.”

Callaghan Park can be a tricky track for horses having their first runs there, but Dunn is confident Sha Of Gomer can overcome any disadvantage.

“Dropping back to 1300 metres should really suit him and he’s got a great turn of foot,” he said.

“The big 600 metre straight should suit him, as well.”

Dunn is taking a team of six horses to the two-day Rockhampton carnival.

“I’ve never had a runner at Rocky so I’m loading the truck and sending six up including Cosmic Beauty in the Cup and we’re hoping to win the $20,000 trainer’s bonus.” Dunn said.

Dunn was once a personal trainer and stunt performer at the Australian Outback Spectacular on the Gold Coast before taking the punt of his life to abandon both professions to continue training.

"I had considered not training a few times as it was very hard when I first started off,” Dunn said.

“I didn’t know anyone in the racing industry when I first started as I had never worked for a trainer before.

“I started off with a few cheapies and it was a bit up-and-down at first but now I’ve got a great bunch of owners behind me.”

Dunn’s wife Rikki Jamieson will partner Sha Of Gomer in the Newmarket and the pair hope to celebrate their biggest win since launching a new 26-acre training facility at Beaudesert.

“We’ve only just started off with the new property and we’ve got around 15 horses in work already,” Dunn said.

Dunn has a 10.6% winning strike-rate with 15 wins from 142 starters this season.