Sky Bet Sunday Series: Jim Goldie primes strong Musselburgh team

Popular East Renfrewshire trainer Jim Goldie has a strong squad assembled for the upcoming Sky Bet Sunday Series fixture at Musselburgh.

Goldie has his string in fine fettle, saddling a treble at a trio of recent Scottish fixtures within the last fornight - Musselburgh (May 21st), Hamilton (May 25th) and Ayr (May 30th) - and the trainer is keen to emphasise the importance of local fixtures to his business.

"The owners are here in Scotland," said Goldie. "They go racing and it’s a big day; everyone loves the experience. They say that everyone wants a 100-plus rated horse, but I say really. There’s an awful lot of fun to be had with a 70-80 rated horse in the North, with plenty of options for the owners to enjoy a good day out. One of my favorite horses was old Ballyhurry. We had a lot of fun days with him until we put him in a claimer, and he was claimed for £10,000 as a ten-year-old!

“That’s basically what the Sky Bet Sunday Series is all about. It gives a certain type of horse the chance to have a big day, which is great for racing, and for the owners if they can pick up some of the prize money on offer. Racegoers will soon get into the habit of going racing on a Sunday, and both ITV and Racing TV are doing an excellent job of highlighting the fixtures.

Goldie continued: “We’ll always endeavour to support the races, and it’s pleasing to see an expanded fixture list in 2022. Our horses generally want good ground, so it’s a shame there’s been cut underfoot at York, and even more so at Hamilton, but that’s just the luck of the draw. Musselburgh should be better from our perspective."

Goldie has entered 10 horses for Sunday's fixture and shares his thoughts on their chances.

I'd imagine that he will tackle the Stayers Handicap (7.15pm). He finished third to Evaluation at York, and it’s possible that we’ll meet that rival again, with Keith Dalgleish also pursuing the various Sky Bet Sunday Series Bonuses.

He’s grand, and although Musselburgh mightn’t play to his strengths you don’t know until you try. The galloping tracks at Hamilton and York suited him well, so it’ll probably depend upon where we’re drawn at Musselburgh, and how the race sets up on the day.

Geremia stays well, and when I bought him, I had one eye on the Northumberland Plate at Newcastle. It’s possible that he’ll go for the Northumberland Vase (the consolation race) this year, and the Plate next year. He was three from three on the All-Weather for Marco Botti and is an interesting horse.

“I also have him entered in the Stayers Handicap (and for the Northumberland Plate) but I’m in two minds whether to run as I’ve been trying to keep the pair apart, and I’m not exactly sure whether he’s a real two-miler. I suppose by running two, we’d have two shots at the prize, but the thing is with that type of horse there’s often another £30,000 race around the corner. I’ll have options. People ask about the job of training horses; there’s placing horses and then there’s training winners.

“Tommy G (6.15pm) won a nine-furlong race in the Sky Bet Sunday Series at Musselburgh last year, but as that race no longer exists I’ve had to put him in over seven furlongs. He ran his race at Ayr on Monday (fourth), and he’s as versatile as they come with his Stewards’ Cup Consolation Race form (2017, 2018 and 2019) second to none.”

The races at Musselburgh tend to set up well for him, the horses go a good gallop, and he’s tough and genuine. He’s a good fun horse, and the owners (Johnnie Delta Racing) love him to bits. He keeps performing, and the handicapper is usually prepared to give him a chance. At Musselburgh if you can get drawn on the rail and around the bend, then you’ve got an advantage, although you don’t want to be around the bend and behind horses on the inner looking for a run. With the sharp bends, Musselburgh is a fascinating track; horses can stay trips that they don’t normally stay.”

Primo’s Comet and Rory are in the five-furlong sprint (4.16pm). Primo’s loves Musselburgh, and I’m always looking for the flags to see which way the wind is blowing. If the horses are galloping into a headwind, then Primo’s Comet will have a great chance. He ran well in the race last year when we rode him on the pace to overcome a poor draw. Primo’s is still feasibly handicapped on peak form, and like Rory he certainly knows where the winning post is at Musselburgh. I’m hopeful both will run well.

He was a winner at Ayr on Monday so I don’t know whether we’ll run him under a penalty in the finale (6.45pm). He’s quite lazy, he only does enough, so we might pop some headgear on next time, probably cheekpieces, just to keep him concentrating. Paul (Mulrennan) thought he’d possibly be better in a bigger field where he’s able to smuggle him into the race. He coaxed him into wearing the others down at Ayr; he’s a master craftsman in the saddle.

Wickywickywheels was well impressive at Hamilton. That’s a track that the owners like, and there is a 1m3f race coming up there for her, a 0-65, and she’s eligible off her revised mark of 66. Graces Quest ran a nice race at Ayr on Monday (third), and probably would’ve won over 1m4f. She was drawn on the wide outside which meant that we were forced to drop in behind horses in a race where they didn’t go a great gallop. She didn’t have a hard race, and if she gets a decent draw on Sunday should run a big race. I’m spoilt for choice!