Gollan on the hunt for first Rockhampton Newmarket

By Jordan Gerrans

Already a Rockhampton Cup winner, premier Brisbane trainer Tony Gollan goes in search of his first Newmarket in central Queensland on Friday afternoon.

The leading Eagle Farm trainer made the trip north to Rockhampton on Thursday morning for the launch of the TAB Northern Queensland Winter Racing Carnival.

The perennial Brisbane trainers premiership winner heads into Friday’s $100,000 Newmarket with two leading hopes in the sprint race, Macewen and Really Discreet.

It has been a spectacular year for the Gollan yard already, stablemates Vega One and Krone respectively adding Group 1s to the trophy cabinet, and he is hopeful a Rockhampton Newmarket will also be in his hands come Friday evening.

It is a Callaghan Park track that Gollan has a soft spot for and a carnival his late father, Darryl, would often travel north to race his team of gallopers at earlier in his career.

“The Newmarket is what has eluded me and the track is a beautiful track, you get a good long run in,” Gollan said.

“However, I do think the majority of horses need to race in the first half of the field, I think we have got the right horses this year and we will see how we go.

“They both get into the Newmarket really well, I think the market has got them right at around $4-5, they are right up in the race and they have both drawn low which I like here.

“We can jump on to the end, it is a big sweeping bend here, low draws are really important here I think.

“I am really pleased with my barriers and I have two really good jockeys (Ryan Maloney on Macewen and Sam Collett on Really Discreet) on board two nice horses.”

Gollan and Silvera won the Rockhampton Cup in 2019, which kick-started a nice run for the now retired gelding back in Brisbane, winning two Listed level races following the central Queensland triumph.

With the TAB Northern Queensland Winter Racing Carnival to roll up the coast to Mackay, Townsville, and Cairns in the coming weeks, Gollan is unlikely to keep heading north.

“I wish everyone else well for the rest of the carnival, I think it is a great carnival, Racing Queensland have really got their teeth into the northern carnival and there is really good money to be won up north this year,” Gollan said.

Racing Queensland CEO Brendon Parnell was on hand to help launch the carnival on Thursday morning and says racing fans in the north should be enthusiastic about the quality of racing that is about to be delivered this year.

“It is a really exciting time in the tropical north of Queensland, the spotlight is on Rocky now and it then goes to Mackay, then Townsville and Cairns as well as the FNQ Amateurs in Cairns,” Parnell said.

“Cup day is the biggest days in most towns around Queensland and that is no different in the northern series, all the Cups are worth $150,000 with great support cards.”

Click here for further details on the TAB Northern Queensland Winter Racing Carnival.