Hi Barbie passes heart tests to clear path for Magic Millions as Tony Gollan bolsters team with La Bella Boom

Hi Barbie has cleared the path for a Magic Millions start after pulling up with heart issues following her last run, while her stablemate La Bella Boom is set to go in on the quick back-up after racing at the Gold Coast on Saturday.

A decision on Hi Barbie’s Magic Millions campaign will be made as late as possible. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

Tony Gollan will leave until the eleventh hour a decision on whether to run expensive filly Hi Barbie in next week’s Magic Millions as the trainer looks to bolster the hopes of another filly at the Gold Coast on Saturday.

La Bella Boom is set to run in Saturday’s QTIS Gold Pearl (1100m) and back up into the $3m Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) seven days later should she make the field, with the champion trainer declaring her the most “ready-made” juvenile in his stable.

Gollan says La Bella Boom sorted out her racing manners in a recent barrier trial, which has her on target for a potential fortnight of riches, while Hi Barbie passed recent ECG tests after suffering a heart condition during her last start.

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With more than $100,000 in prizemoney to her name, Hi Barbie is assured of a Magic Millions start should Gollan elect to go to the race.

“All the tests are done, she has passed them all and she cleared them and the bloods came back, there is no damage to the heart,” Gollan said.

“She worked very well here on Tuesday, she is very fresh and well in herself.

“She is awfully bright, there is no rush and I don’t need to make my mind up until Tuesday.

“There is no physical reason not to run her, it is just whether we want to run her off that experience.

“She is very bright, even brighter than what she was going into that last run.”

Golden Boom is the best of Tony Gollan’s chances in The Syndicate. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

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La Bella Boom is a $3.80 second elect in betting for the Gold Pearl and a $34 chance for the Magic Millions.

“I wanted the freshness off her in that trial, they ran it at race pace and she sat off them and came through the middle of them,” Gollan said.

“The most important thing is that she executed well, when she won the other day she pulled quite hard outside the lead and did a lot wrong, you can’t do that in a big race.”

👋 Hi Barbie wins the Listed Phelan Ready Plate at her first start!@tonygollan | @BrisRacingClubpic.twitter.com/eKM7oPv7O4

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 30, 2024

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It comes as Gollan says Golden Boom is the pick of his three horses in the $1m The Syndicate on Saturday.

The dynamic sprinter came unstuck on a bottomless track at the Sunshine Coast first up, but his trainer says it has been a faultless campaign targeted at this race.

“He has good form, his runs have been great,” Gollan said.

“Blake (Shinn) rode him in Melbourne and the horse that beat him (Mornington Glory) went on to win a Group 1 (Moir Stakes) in its next start.

“It was the really wet track that got him beat at the Sunshine Coast, he is in good shape and it has been a brilliant preparation.

Originally published as Hi Barbie passes heart tests to clear path for Magic Millions as Tony Gollan bolsters team with La Bella Boom