Gary Portelli on the Gold Trail at Ascot
Australian horses are renowned for their versatility but it is not often that a top-class sprinter would get close to the Melbourne Cup.
The “race that stops a nation” is run over two miles but Gold Trail has got close to the trophy many times, in fact every time he runs in a race. His owners, Glenn and Lisa Morton, have an image of the Cup on the back of their racing silks but now it would appear that the lawyers are getting involved and talking about image rights.
As Gold Trail’s trainer, Gary Portelli, explained: “Apparently the Cup won’t be on for much longer. The owners have had those colours for about nine years but there’ve been complaints that it’s a copyright issue now so, unfortunately, this’ll be the last start with them on. They’ve given us a month’s grace, so we can change the shape – I hope that’s the worst thing that’s going to happen to us.”
Portelli has brought Gold Trail to Britain as part of this year’s Australian expeditionary force for Royal Ascot. Both trainer and horse seem pretty laid back – Gold Trail lost just three kilos on the journey – but it is not the same on the track.
Last time out, at Kranji in Singapore, Gold Trail blazed his usual trail in the Group One KrisFlyer International Sprint over six furlongs. He was up against some of Asia’s finest speedballs, including the mighty Rocket Man, and was building up a real head of steam off the home turn – and so was Portelli. “I lost my voice with a hundred to go. I don’t usually get excited but, when you’re in a race like that and you’re the underdog, and you’ve got Rocket Man – supposedly one of the best sprinters in the world – and you drop him on the turn you think this could be the fairytale that we all dream about.
“It came back to reality when we passed the hundred, when they came back, but he gave us a good sight, he’s an honest horse and that’s what I love about him. He just seems to take on better horses every preparation and, even though people don’t expect him to do much, he usually gives them something to chase.”
Gold Trail faded in those last hundred metres to finish fourth but Portelli hopes that the shorter trip for the five-furlong King’s Stand Stakes will make the long-haul trip worthwhile. “Even thought he’s never raced over a thousand metres, I think the thousand will suit him down to the ground,” he said.
“His record over 1100 is outstanding and he’s raced against some of our best Group One horses in Australia and galloped past them. But, with a hundred to go, against those horses, he usually been three or four lengths in front of them, so coming back to the thousand, I think, will play into our hands.
“His best runs have been when he sprints off a very fast pace. It’s usually horses that are travelling around him are in trouble coming to the 300-metre mark and then he kicks four or five lengths in front. The last 50 you don’t want to breathe because you know they’re going to come at him. You know he’s going to get tired but he does give them something to chase.”
And a win in the King’s Stand would give them another trophy to put on those silks.
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