Ignore stakes winner at your peril warns Gilmore

By Glenn Davis

Veteran trainer John Gilmore has warned punters not to ignore statistics ahead of stakes winner Sea Raider’s comeback in the Open Handicap at the Gold Coast on Wednesday.

Sea Raider won the Listed Tattersall’s Member’s Cup, which was transferred from Doomben to Toowoomba on March 5, but hasn’t started since finishing sixth in the Gold Coast Stakes over 1800 metres two weeks later.

Gilmore’s career has taken him to Macau, Beijing, Wuhan, inner Mongolia and Shanxi over more than three decades but he’s now content training a team of seven horses at the Gold Coast.

Sea Raider was bought by Gilmore for only $10,000 at the Magic Millions June sales and has gone on to return almost $400,000 in prize money.

“He’s been a great buy and I’m expecting him to run very well,” the 74-year-old Gilmore said. 

“His best distance is between 1400 and 1600 metres but don’t overlook him just because this is 900 metres.

“He gets out of the barriers like a greyhound and he won his only start over 900 metres at the Gold Coast.”

Sea Raider’s win over the journey was in October, 2020 when he beat the Tony and Maddysen Sears-trained Spirit One.

“He can run any distance from 900 metres to a mile so don’t rule him out,” Gilmore warned.

“He’s got bigger fish to fry this summer but this race is a nice stepping stone for him.”

Gilmore never paid up with Sea Raider for the Magic Millions after buying him at the June sales.

“I didn’t think he’d make a two-year-old when I bought him as he was a re-set,” he said.

“He hasn’t trialled either for this race as I wanted to keep him as fresh as possible for the 900 metres but he’s come back a lot stronger horse this time.

“I’m looking to run him on Magic Millions day but to do that we’ve got to win The Buffering to get a wild card into the meeting.”

The $300,000 The Buffering will be run over 1350 metres at Doomben on December 31.

Irishman Martin Harley has been handed the riding duties on the six-year-old, who is chasing his 12th win in 32 starts.

Gilmore won last year’s Ipswich Cup with Happy Go Plucky, who has since been retired after earning almost $500,000 in prize money with 10 wins and 19 placings from 73 starts.

Happy Go Plucky was another cheap buy at the Magic Millions when knocked down to Gilmore for $7,300.