David Geall’s eleventh hour decision to brave the ‘big wet’ and flooding afflicting regional Victoria could be rewarded with a feature race double at Goulburn on Friday.
Country cups king Ferdinand Boy (Box 8) will be striving to add to his extensive trophy collection in the Group 3 Goulburn Cup Final (440m), while Hill Top Jonnie (Box 5) will contest the Fireball Final (350m).
The “touch and go” call to endure the treacherous driving conditions on the extended 20-hour round-trip for last Friday’s heats could be richly rewarded.
The Cup (Race 9 at 5.42pm) carries a $40,000 winner’s purse, while first prizemoney in the Fireball (Race 7 at 5.02pm) is $25,000.
“Ferdinand Boy is just not beginning anymore.”
“I was very close to not going,” Geall explained.
“My good friend Marty Hallinan, from NSW, had been to The Meadows trialling and when he rang me for the third time, telling me how bad the roads were, I thought it was going to be too dangerous.
“It was a slower trip than normal. I was on alert the whole way. It took nine and a half hours, which is an extra hour.
“I went the usual way, on the Hume Freeway, but had to avoid massive potholes and ditches. I saw lots of damaged cars on the side of the road. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
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Reigning Australian Trainer of the Year Geall is hoping to celebrate his second Goulburn Cup victory in four years, having won the race in 2019 with Emerald Rainbow, a litter brother to Melbourne Cup hero My Redeemer, which upset $1.30 favourite Good Odds Harada.
After Geall elected to head to Goulburn, his four-time country cups winner Ferdinand Boy started $1.65 favourite in the second of four Cup heats.
But after missing the start badly from Box 6, Ferdinand Boy was soundly beaten by recent Million Dollar Chase finalist Agland Luai ($2.70), going under by 5.25L in 24.68sec, snatching second to sneak into the final.
It was the second time in two visits to Goulburn that Ferdinand Boy, which boasts a phenomenal 51 from 97 career record, has been beaten at odds-on.
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“He’s just not beginning anymore,” said Geall.
“Over the last few months, as he gets up towards 100 starts, he’s been really fluffing the start. He seems to be getting a bit anxious in the boxes.
“A few weeks ago, he trialled 22.10sec at Geelong over 400m, so he hasn’t lost any speed. In that trial he ran an 8.11sec first split. I’ve never had another dog get within a length of that.
“But he missed it badly last week, which put him right behind the eight ball. I was glad he got up and ran second to qualify.”
While Geall was hoping to draw near the rails, he’s not disappointed with Box 8, from where Ferdinand Boy has won nine of 15 career starts and is rated a $7.50 chance by Sportsbet.
“We wanted to draw one or two – that would’ve been ideal – but eight would’ve been our third choice, so it’s not a bad draw,” Geall said.
“I still think he can win. He’s got that knack of doing it when it counts.
“But the only way he can win is if he jumps with the field. If he misses it a half or three-quarters, he won’t be able to get around them.”
The superbly bred Hill Top Jonnie, a son of Barcia Bale and Up Hill Jill, also ran second as favourite in his Fireball heat and is the $4.80 second elect from Box 5 in the decider.
