Tony Gollan faces Antino 2.0 as he chases Stradbroke Handicap slot for Freedom Rally
Tony Gollan is keen to cut a deal with connections of Dream Hour, who secured a slot into the Stradbroke in the summer by winning The Gateway to get his progressive sprinter Freedom Rally into Queensland’s greatest race.
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A year on from missing a start in the Stradbroke Handicap with Antino, Tony Gollan finds himself in a race against time with Freedom Rally to make Queensland’s greatest race.
Gollan is weighing up a number of options with the 98-rater as he looks to make the $3m Group 1 on June 15, saying he has approached Australian Bloodstock for the slot they hold after winning The Gateway in the summer with Dream Hour.
Freedom Rally is a $21 Stradbroke chance, but needs a way into the field, with the 10-time champion trainer saying he will consider backing him up in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) on Saturday if it will give him a better chance of getting into the race.
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After missing out on a golden ticket into the Stradbroke by being on the wrong side of a photo finish against Here To Shock in the BRC Sprint on Saturday, Gollan can feel history repeating.
“There are a few options up my sleeve, he is in great form, so we have that,” Gollan said.
“It was a very costly photo finish, it isn’t a situation we haven’t been in before, however, so we will see. I backed him up in the summer and he raced really well, I did that in case I needed to do it in this carnival.
“It was a similar thing, backing up into a higher grade race, a grade he wasn’t suited to and he ran second in The Buffering.
“There’s not much point running him in the Kingsford Smith to run second, I can’t even get a Stradbroke penalty if he does.
“If I thought I could get a good enough penalty from the (Listed) Spear Chief (1500m) the week before the Stradbroke, could I get him in that way? I don’t know.”
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With Kris Lees’ Dream Hour rated a $101 chance and entered to run at Doomben on Wednesday, buyers for his Stradbroke slot are beginning to circle, with horses inside the top 40 on ballot order allowed to do a deal with his connections to take the slot.
The two parties have spoken, but connections of Dream Hour confirmed they are in no rush to make a decision with the Stradbroke still more than a fortnight away.
“I am pretty keen on that option, we need to make a decision on that, he needs to be top 40 in the ballot for that, the weights are pretty key for me,” Gollan said.
“There’s a chance I have to suck it up and look towards the Wayne Wilson on Stradbroke day for him like we did with Antino last year.”
Originally published as Tony Gollan faces Antino 2.0 as he chases Stradbroke Handicap slot for Freedom Rally
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