Shooting For Gold seeking confidence with first win in nearly two years at Eagle Farm
Shooting For Gold hasn’t won in nearly two years but gets his best chance to break that drought at Eagle Farm in the easiest race he has contested for some time.
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It has been two years between drinks for the enigmatic Shooting For Gold, but the dynamic sprinter drops to his lowest grade in years at Eagle Farm on Saturday with co-trainer Matt Hoysted saying he is on trial for a summer carnival campaign.
The six-year-old emerged as one of Queensland’s most promising sprinters and enjoyed stakes-level success in Victoria during his prime, but hasn’t been in the winner’s stall for two years following a run of outs.
Hoysted, who is in the final weeks of his training partnership with Steve O’Dea, is well aware of the crossroads facing his one-time stable star and says he is now capable of producing his best over 1200m in the Open Handicap on Saturday.
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“It’s his first time back in this sort of grade and getting the claim (with apprentice Emily Lang) to get him in at an attractable weight with 57kg is big,” he said.
“The whole plan was to bring him back in grade to try and give him some confidence as it has been a long time since he has won.
“We know he loves Eagle Farm, so hopefully he can get some confidence.
“Now he is a bit older, he is a bit better suited at the 1200m which has opened a few more doors at the tail end of his career.
“We want to see him come back and show he can step up and be competitive.”
As a $4.40 chance in an open race on Saturday, Hoysted said they would be happy to give the rising seven-year-old another crack at the top end of town come summer.
“We have always liked his runs spaced, we travelled him a couple of times and there were only certain races that would suit him,” he said.
“If he was able to run well and win, we’d think about putting him away for one more summer carnival, we will be guided by what he does on Saturday.
“He has done a good job for us, a stalwart of sorts, and has been great for the stable running in those nicer races, so it’d be nice to see him bounce back.
Hoysted nominated Take A Bow as a horse to follow from the stable, as the filly makes the giant leap from a Gatton maiden to Saturday metropolitan grade in the QTIS 2YO Handicap (1200m).
“I really like our filly, it is a nice race, but I reckon she is pretty smart,” he said.
“We have only had a handful of two-year-old runners, but she couldn’t have been more impressive when she kicked off at Gatton.”
Originally published as Shooting For Gold seeking confidence with first win in nearly two years at Eagle Farm
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