It’s back to basics for Tony Gollan and Spirit Of Boom ahead of the Listed Keith Noud Quality at Eagle Farm this weekend.
Spirit Of Boom last ran down the straight at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day where he was beaten by Facile Tigre after leading early.
It was the first time Gollan had used blinkers on the horse and he felt they hindered his performance noticeably.
“I just made a mistake,” Gollan said.
“I read too much into the fact when he had a jumpout down there he stargazed a bit.
“I guess I just know how effective his brother (Temple Of Boom) is down the straight with the blinkers on, but the safer option is to just take them off for now.”
He also says the lack of the consistency the horse has had in terms of jockeys isn’t helping his cause either.
“A lot of it stems from not having the same rider all the time,” he said.
In fact form 18 starts he’s had nine different jockeys, Ric McMahon to make that ten when he picks up the reins on Saturday.
While you’d expect the horse to be dominant coming off a race on the Melbourne Cup card it may not be the case with a nice group of local horses set to jump.
Among them are Excellantes, Ready To Rip, Havatryst and Belltone which are all racing well.
Add to those top weight Poor Judge on 58.5kg just ahead of Essington on 58kg and it’s a hot field.
Nonetheless it’s the type of race Spirit Of Boom needs to win if he’s to rise to the level set by his brother Temple Of Boom, also trained by Gollan.
“I’ve always felt this horse has the X-factor about him, but he has to prove it, the other fellow (Temple Of Boom) has the runs on the board,” he said.
“It would be lovely if we could draw an alley and ride him three or four lengths off the speed. If he can settle just off the pace, he can run sectionals as good as any horse in Brisbane.
“That all comes down to barriers. Obviously if he were to draw wide, we will be more negative on him out of the barriers.”
Gollan may have two runners in the 2011 Keith Noud Quality with Listen Son to be either confirmed or scratched on Friday.
