Gold Trail could resume in the Listed Chief De Beers Stakes at Doomben
Gary Portelli certainly wants to get his star horse Gold Trail up to Brisbane as soon as possible during the Brisbane Winter Carnival however the success of the horse is making it tough to find him a race.
He’s not ready to run first up against top class company but in the lower grades he’s been weighted just about out of the contest.
This weekend Portelli is planning to bite the bullet and take the gamble at Doomben in the Listed Chief De Beers Stakes however only with a little bit of luck.
“We’re waiting for weights to come out, expecting 59 – 60kg, unfortunately he’s paid for his consistency,” he said.
The top weight in the race is 61kg and that would probably be a little bit too much but he won’t make any final decision until after the barrier draw.
“I think the barrier draw can sometimes be even more important (than weight),” he said.
It’s a race he’d love to see Gold Trail in though and the sooner he gets into an event the better according to Portelli.
“At this stage he’s 100 percent sound and getting around very well, he could be one run short but he’s such a good horse,” he said.
The stable is never completely sure about his state before a race though as Gold Trail is another with a tendency to slack off during training.
“He doesn’t track work well so you can never really get a good guide on him,” he said.
“He’s a horse that would rather watch track work than actually do it, he’s just a really laid back sort of horse.”
The great performances of Gold Trail down south in recent campaigns have surprised a few people and even Portelli never expected the horse would be as good as he is.
“I didn’t have much of an opinion of him as a young horse, he went from struggling to win a maiden to a Group 1 horse,” he said.
Weights for the Chief De Beers Stakes will be released later today with the barrier draw tomorrow to confirm or rule out a start for Gold Trail.
“I feel I’ve got to run but if he gets 61 I might have to re-think,” he said.
