High price mare Wollombi storms home for victory in the Gai Waterhouse Classic at Ipswich

Wollombi, a recent acquisition to the Tony Gollan stables, handed new owners Yulong an instant return with a slashing victory in the Gai Waterhouse Classic.

Wollombi storms home to win the Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic for Vlad Duric and Tony Gollan. Picture: Grant Peters - Trackside Photography.

Singapore sensation Vlad Duric swore himself off racing at Ipswich, but jokes he now loves the track after booting home a Cup Day treble on Saturday, headlined by a breathtaking win aboard Wollombi in the Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic for Tony Gollan.

Fresh off arriving in Brisbane from Singapore earlier this year, Duric had a bad Ipswich experience with the rail out, but was adamant he would come back with the rail in the traditional true position for its feature day.

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A week is a long time in racing, with Duric admitting last week’s Stradbroke Handicap flop aboard Antino was a bitter pill to swallow, but went some way to making amends when he kicked off his day, combining with Gollan to win aboard Rockribbed in the Benchmark 78 Handicap (1200m) and backing it up aboard Victorian raider Hedged.

He put the cherry on top in the Gai Waterhouse as he stormed home on Wollombi to knock off the more fancied stablemate Bezique in the shadows of the post in her first start for the 10-time premiership winning trainer.

“We had a tough week last week, so it is good to come here today and have some luck,” Duric said.

Whoosh! 🏇💨

Wollombi gives her rivals windburn in the last on debut for @tonygollan! That's a Cup Day treble for @VDuric77 🏆 pic.twitter.com/UwmfVX2ors

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 22, 2024

“Tony has been so good to me since we moved here and has been a great supporter.

“With the rail back in the true position today, I love it here.”

It marked immediate success for big time owners Yulong, who purchased Wollombi last month at the Magic Millions mares sale for $500,000 and sent her to Gollan from Sydney trainers Peter and Paul Snowden.

“We’ve only had her a few weeks so we’re still getting to know her, but I was confident she’d be strong late here today,” Gollan said.

“I’d watched a lot of her replays from down south, so I knew a race like this would really suit her.

“I wasn’t sure where I was at with her two weeks ago, because I thought she’d have to make up a bit of ground quickly to be competitive in this race.

“But the last 10 days she had made it up nicely, so we came here confident and it was great to see her get the job done.”

Originally published as High price mare Wollombi storms home for victory in the Gai Waterhouse Classic at Ipswich