Hidden Wealth put a huge smile on trainer Tony Gollan’s face when Angela Jones steered the five-year-old son of Better Than Ready to an obviously extremely satisfying victory for connections in the Weetwood at Toowoomba on Saturday.
A drought has turned into a deluge as this was Gollan’s second successive win in the Weetwood after he had previously chased victory in Toowoomba’s signature for so many years without landing the result, but that is all firmly behind him now with Gollan becoming the first trainer to land back-to-back wins in the Weetwood since Michael Nolan achieved that feat in 2012 and 2013.
“I identified him (Hidden Wealth) off the winter runs. I’ve known for about a year how good he is. It’s taken a little while to get him where he is now. He has been a problematic little horse, but he has got good ability, and he shows us a bunch,” said Gollan.
“He gave me the feel in the winter in the ratings he was throwing up that he was up to this level … easily … and I was very happy to pull up with him off the winter and specifically set him for the Weetwood.”
And then a few pearls of wisdom.
“To win this sort of race I always feel you have got to have the horse that can beat the handicapper,” explained Gollan.
“All credit to the second horse with the big weight he had to carry (Yellow Brick carried 60.5kg), but if you are going to beat those sort of horses, you want to beat them on the way up. That’s what All That Pizzazz did last year (when Yellow Brick also finished second) and that’s what Hidden Wealth did this year.”
Gollan’s precise planning in beating the handicapper has paid off handsomely. Hidden Wealth carried 7.5kg less than Yellow Brick with the margin of victory being half-a-length. The previous year All That Pizzazz carried 4kg less than Yellow Brick and only got home by a nostril.
“The next year or two for Hidden Wealth … he is going to get to a higher rating, but for the Weetwood, I got him here with a rating which was ideal.
Just as Gollan backed off on Hidden Wealth schedule after his winter campaign, a similar scenario is likely to apply following his Weetwood victory … given Gollan time to reset and bring a new target into focus.
“I’ll most likely back off him again and then head towards the Magic Millions carnival with him. He is a Magic Millions horse.”
But, for the moment at least, a second Weetwood win was something for Gollan to savour.
“I was more relaxed this year than I was last year,” said Gollan. “I felt like I got the gorilla off my winning it last year,” said Gollan.
“To go back-to-back is amazing. This is one of my favourite race-days. I’m a Toowoomba boy at heart and I’ll never change.
“It’s not a very big race in the whole scheme of things on the racing calendar, but it is a very important race to me.”
And, last but not least, Gollan also gave a nod of approval to Angela Jones, who played a sure part in Hidden Wealth’s big race victory.
“She is riding fantastic,” enthused Gollan. “She is one of the riders who have come out of the carnival a better rider.
“I don’t think anyone is riding more consistently than she is at the moment. She is giving everything a good chance.”
*Hidden Wealth goes to a probable break with a very impressive fifty percent winning strike-rate (seven wins from fourteen starts) and $453 325 banked in prize money.