Local product Gollan hopes to break his Weetwood drought

By Glenn Davis

You can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy.

It’s an old saying that refers to many bush folk living in the city, including champion Eagle Farm trainer Tony Gollan.

A winner of nine Brisbane trainer’s premierships, Gollan was born and raised in Toowoomba and like many locals would love to win his home town sprint, the Listed Weetwood Handicap on Saturday.

Gollan has tried to win the Weetwood several times but his best efforts were second place finishes with Cariad in 2012 and Hi I’m Back in 2018 while Royal Hale ran third to Apache Chase last year.

He’s been training at Eagle Farm since moving from Toowoomba ten years ago and will be back for the 2022 version of the Weetwood with a three-pronged attack.

Goldmarket Handicap winner Garibaldi will spearhead Gollan’s charge along with Ef Troop and Mass Destruction.

The Weetwood Handicap was traditionally run around March or April but has been moved along with the Toowoomba Cup to coincide with Toowoomba's Carnival of Flowers festival.

The show piece spring carnival day will also feature the Pat O'Shea Plate and the Garden City Guineas.

Gollan believes a Weetwood Handicap win on his home track would be a dream of a lifetime.

“I’d love to win the Weetwood as it's my hometown but you need a lot to go right,” Gollan said.

“It’s always a tough race to win as it’s a unique track and a horses for courses track.

“It’s a great race.

"Apache Chase won last year’s Weetwood and went on to win a Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup at Eagle Farm.”

Gollan hopes last month’s Listed Goldmarket Handicap at the Gold Coast will prove to be a good form race for the Weetwood.

Gollan won the Goldmarket with Garibaldi while Ef Troop was third, less than one length away in the 1200 metre feature.

“Garibaldi did a great job winning the Goldmarket and Ef Troop was also a good run,” Gollan said.

“Both horses are pretty close and I think the Goldmarket will prove to be a good form race for the Weetwood.”

Mass Destruction, a five-time winner in 27 starts, has taken a lot of improvement following his first-up second to the David Vandyke-trained Weona Smartone at Doomben on September 10.