Gold Coast trainer fostering impressive youngsters

By Jordan Gerrans

With international training experience on his resume, Simon Foster is enjoying the challenge of preparing a young team of juveniles in the Sunshine State.

The well-travelled Foster has been back in Australia based on the Gold Coast for the last couple of years after previously basing his team in Korea, Victoria and Western Australia.

While the highly promising Da Snoop Dog has headed to the paddock for a break, Foster has high hopes for a number of juveniles in his barn.

He heads to the Sunshine Coast Turf Club on Sunday with a couple of runners over staying trips.

“It is good to be back here with a lot of friends and it is good to be back home,” the trainer said.

“I do not try and get too big with my stable these days, I just want to have six or eight horses.

“I like to be pretty hands-on with them and if you get too many horses it gets out of control a little bit. I am just doing it for the enjoyment now and keep the numbers relatively small.”

Queensland is a state where Foster has enjoyed feature success before.

With gelding Trusted Partner, he won the 2011 Listed Lightning Stakes at Eagle Farm with Dwayne Dunn doing the steering.

He arguably won the greatest prize of his training tenure in Western Australia a couple of years later when Prentice saluted in the 2014 Group 3 WA Sires' Produce Stakes.

From WA, Foster took up a contract to train in Seoul in South Korea where he travelled a horse to Dubai’s Meydan Super Saturday meeting.

He started Dolkong in the Group 1 Al Maktoum Challenge after winning a 2000 metre handicap race at Meydan in the week prior.

If trial form is any guide, Foster might just be nearing a return to black-type racing in the coming months.

The Gold Coast mentor has exciting colt Da Snoop Dog in his team.

The two-year-old has won both his trials and defeated Saturday’s Listed Phelan Ready winner Hi Barbie at his most recent appearance at the trials last month.

The son of Capitalist had been nominated to debut in recent weeks ahead of a Sydney trip but Foster has decided to keep his powder dry with the boom colt.

Da Snoop Dog was a relatively cheap $8,000 purchase through Inglis’ May Yearling Sale draft.

The colt had been aimed for the rich Inglis Nursery at Randwick next Saturday before heading for a break.

Foster says he will now aim the youngster to Brisbane’s winter carnival in 2025.

Da Snoop Dog is not the only promising up-and-coming galloper the trainer has in his team.

“I have a few that have gone through their first preparations,” he said.

“I have got a nice Brave Smash and Champagne Jet colt that had a preparation and had a jump-out.

“He was quite good in that jump-out. He is a couple of weeks of coming back after getting gelded.

“I have got a nice Dubious filly as well and she showed us a bit in her first little prep.

“I have got a nice little crop of two-year-olds, I just need to be patient and wait for them to all come back in. Hopefully we can have a bit of fun with them all.”

The Foster team heads to Caloundra on Sunday with two starters.

Giddy Gan's Joy is nominated for the Benchmark 60 Handicap over 2200 metres while Elle Magic is entered for the Class 1 Plate over 1800 metres.

Foster had hoped for Giddy Gan's Joy to run in the recent Gold Coast qualifier for the Jericho Cup but the mare suffered a stone bruise in the lead-up to the event.

The five-year-old chestnut has run in the top two in four of her last five starts and Foster thinks can nab the fourth win of her career on Sunday on the spacious Caloundra deck.

“She has been racing really consistent,” he said.

“It is really tough for her up here because she is looking for a trip, 2000 metres plus.

“She only just got beaten at Grafton last month and raced really, really well down there.

“There is a nice 2200 metre race for her there at the Sunshine Coast and she is knocking on the door.

“She has only been beaten by a short margin a couple of times this prep and she has also won a race.

“Those fillies and mares when they are up and running, they hold their form really well and she is going good.”