Queensland trainer Tony Gollan sat at his table at the Magic Millions sale a couple of years ago after signing to pay $500,000 for an I Am Invincible colt and thought, ‘now what do I do’.
It was a gamble but a calculated one that could pay off in the next couple of weeks, starting with The Run To The Rose (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday when that colt, Nettuno, steps into the big time.
“He walked into the ring and the bidding stalled around $250,000 and he was on our list,” Gollan recalled. “We’d had had him vetted, but we thought he would be out of our league. I just started bidding and then the hammer dropped at $500,000 and I thought, ‘well I need to find some owners’.”
Regally bred Nettuno wins the Ken Russell Classic at the Gold Coast in May. Credit:Michael McInally
The Mitchell brothers, who bred Nettuno at Yarraman Park, were happy to stay involved with the colt, and Black Soil Bloodstock, who are one of Gollan’s biggest backers, took some more of him, and then Gollan met Segenhoe Stud’s Kevin Mahoney in the lunch line.
“I was thinking, ‘what have I done’,” Gollan said. “Kevin and I did the deal in the lunch line. He bought into him as long as he could have the colours, and for me to have a colt in those colours is great. Within 24 hours he was done; it was amazing really.”
The I Am Invincible colt out of Galileo mare Saint Minerva next had to pass the biggest test when he came into the stable and did so immediately, to Gollan’s relief.
“As a Queensland trainer we don’t get a lot of these types of horses, especially with the big page he has, so when you get one like him you want to make the most of it,” Gollan said. “He showed us a lot from his first pre-Christmas preparation, but I knew we had to be patient with him.
“He could have been a Magic Millions two-year-old, but I was looking for a reason to put him out in the paddock and got one, and it is the best thing we did. I think he is just going to get better.”
Nettuno won his maiden on debut at the Sunshine Coast in March. A dominant win by 4 lengths at Doomben followed at his second start, and the hat-trick came in the group 3 Ken Russell Classic. But Gollan once again tempered his winter carnival ambition and backed his colt’s ability for a Golden Rose preparation.
“He has done nothing yet, it’s all in front of him,” Gollan said. “He did a great job in Queensland, but we had a good opinion of him, and that’s why we are in Sydney in the spring against the best three-year-olds in Australia.”
Gollan was able to book Hugh Bowman to ride Nettuno in the San Domenico Stakes last month, where he charged home for second behind Sweet Ride, once again backing up the young Queenslander’s judgment of his colt.
“He showed the other day that he is competitive with them, but we think he can improve off that on Saturday,” Gollan said. Bowman will stick with Nettuno in the group2 Run To The Rose, where he is the $5 second pick in betting behind Best Of Bordeaux.
“These races aren’t going to get any easier, but that makes being in them so exciting,” Gollan said. “He has the bloodlines behind him and has some high-profile owners, so the pressure is different with him than other horses.
“There is an expectation that we get the job done. “This is the fork in the road where we find out where he will go for the spring, and I still have a feeling he is going to be a better horse next year, but the Golden Rose is there.
“He might just be ready to show he is right up there. I think the 1200m will suit him a lot better, and from the good draw he should get the right run to find out where he sits.”
