‘Absolute marvel’: Much-loved Simon Miller galloper Valour Road to shock in Gold Rush

Leading Perth trainer Simon Miller says evergreen Valour Road thinks he is still a two-year-old and can shock his opposition in the $1.5 million Gold Rush at Ascot on Saturday.

Simon Miller's much-loved stable stalwart Valour Road will be trying to turn back time in the $1.5m Gold Rush in Perth on Saturday. Picture: Western Racepix.

He’s the evergreen marvel that burst onto the racing scene as a star two-year-old when Malcolm Turnbull was still Australia’s Prime Minister.

That was early 2018 but Simon Miller’s stable stalwart Valour Road is “still boxing away” in late 2024.

And his trainer says it wouldn’t shock if he turned back time and scored the $1.5 million Gold Rush (1400m) in Perth on Saturday.

Indeed, champion trainer Miller blames himself for costing the nine-year-old a certain victory when the gelding finished second when last seen in the Listed Carbine Club of WA Stakes (1400m) last month.

“I cost him the win the other day because I took the blinkers off him,” Miller said.

“I took them off and he had one ear pointing to the sky when he ran up the Ascot straight.

“Mark Zahra came back in and told me he is crying out for shades (blinkers) so they go back on again on Saturday.

“It would not shock me at all if he won.”

Aztec Ruler finds space and absolutely storms home to win the Carbine Club Of WA Stakes! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/5Pi5HJxTCb

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 23, 2024

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Bookies don’t have Valour Road as one of the fancies for the Gold Rush, the race which provided an unforgettable highlight last summer when retiring legend Damien Oliver won on Munhamek.

It was Oliver’s final ride in Australia and he produced a daring steer through the field before his mount unleashed a powerful burst in the final 50m.

It would take a very special win from a horse on Saturday to come close to matching those scenes, but Miller holds Valour Road close to his heart and would be tickled pink if he could salute.

Valour Road won two WA races at his first two starts in 2018 and now has $1.82 million in prizemoney from a 42-start career which has included five tries at Group 1 level.

Simon Miller. Picture: Getty Images.

Interstate invaders have pinched the three WA Group 1s over the last three weeks, but the Group 3 Gold Rush is the time to shine for the locals as no interstate horses are contesting the rich race.

Most elite Perth jockeys has been booked for other horses in the Gold Rush for some time, so Miller has called on the services of 13-time Group 1-winning Victorian hoop Luke Currie.

Currie twice rode Valour Road way back in 2019, in a pair of races in Adelaide which included a Group 2 win and finishing sixth in the Group 1 Goodwood.

“A lot of Perth jockeys locked in their rides for this race some time ago, so the owners asked me to try to get a good jockey from the east,” Miller said.

“This horse is an absolute marvel.

Simon Miller’s much-loved stable stalwart Valour Road. Picture: Western Racepix.

“He went out there at track work on Tuesday morning and he was so strong, it was like what he was doing when he was two years old.

“He is such a kind horse, but when you saddle him up and he knows it’s time to work, he gets white line fever.

“The 1400 (metres) of this race is his pet distance.

“The (Group 1) Railway over 1600m is too far for him and the (Group 1) Winterbottom (1200m) is probably too short.

“Every run could be this horse’s last, because there’s not too many races he can go for these days.

“If we run him again after Saturday, his next run would probably be in August next year.”

Valour Road is a $26 chance in the Gold Rush after drawing barrier 12.

Western Empire is the $3.30 favourite and will be ridden by Victorian jockey Billy Egan after William Pike broke his wrist in an e-scooter accident.

Originally published as ‘Absolute marvel’: Much-loved Simon Miller galloper Valour Road to shock in Gold Rush