Honest mare Glitter ’N’ Gold put her hand up for a start in the $250,000 Warrnambool Cup on May 2 with her narrow win in last Friday’s Colac Cup.
With expat Irish jockey Tom Madden in the saddle, Glitter ’N’ Gold ($6) hung on to beat the fast-finishing Mystery Island in the $70,000 race over 2000 metres.
Trainer Lindsey Smith says a Warrnambool Cup start will be Glitter ’N’ Gold’s final run as she prepares to go to the breeding barn.
“It was a great ride by Tommy and the ride won the race for her,” Smith said. 
“Glitter ’N’ Gold is a quirky mare but Tommy has a good understanding of her. 
“The win was a great result for the owners, who have strong links to the Colac area. They’re heavily involved in the racing industry and deserve to get winners as they invest a lot of money into the sport. 
“We’ll use the Terang Cup in mid-April as her lead-in to the Warrnambool Cup. We did the same thing with Too Close The Sun (2020 Terang-Warrnambool Cup double winner).” 
Friday’s win was the second cup victory for Glitter ‘N’ Gold. The lightly raced five-year-old won the Penshurst Cup in November.
Overall she has seven wins from 26 starts, for $230,025 in earnings. A win or placing in the listed Warrnambool Cup would add valuable black type to her record. She ran fifth in the race last year.
In other stable news, Smith was over the moon with the win of Yellow Sam ($2.70 favourite) in the $150,000 Group 3 Mystic Journey Stakes (1200m) in Hobart last Friday.
“We took her over to Tasmania three weeks ago to get her used to the track and environment,” he said. 
“She’s been a very consistent mare. We’ll now set her for the Vamos Stakes. It’s another Group 3 race and a win in that will really boost her breeding page.”
The Vamos Stakes (1400m) is at Launceston on February 28.
From her 11 starts Yellow Sam has five wins, six minor placings and $275,390 in earnings.
Bowman bullish on buy
Warrnambool trainer Daniel Bowman has a knack for finding a bargain at a yearling sale and he’s hopeful the description will apply to the Pierata colt he bought for $50,000 at the Inglis Classic sales in Sydney last Sunday. 
The Group 1-winning trainer’s list of yearling purchases includes Fortunate Kiss, Is It Me, Begood Toya Mother and Ocean Beyond. He says Sunday’s buy should be an “early goer”.
“He’s a lovely type of yearling,” Bowman said. “He’s neat and looks a running type. 
“We only have a few small shares left. We’ve had a bit of luck buying yearlings out of the ring and lets hope it happens again with this bloke.”
The colt is out of a 1000-metre winner by Deep Field. His granddam is a half-sister to Group 3 winner Kaepernick.
Bowman purchased his Group 1 winner Begood Toya Mother for $28,000 as a yearling in 2016. The galloper went on to win $740,140 for his connections.
Chow chuffed at Shammy
Warrnambool’s Peter Chow may head straight to Melbourne for a midweek race with Shammy Express after the three-year-old filly’s maiden win at Colac last Friday.
Chow said Shammy Express had no luck at her racecourse debut at Camperdown.
“She drew barrier 11 and that didn’t help,” he said. 
“We thought she’d run well on the strength of a couple of good trials but we left the money in the bag after they bet good odds about her. 
“I thought she’d win at Colac as she drew barrier three. She just jumped and ran. 
“I think with a bit of time she might develop into a handy filly.”
The former Port Fairy footballer applauded the ride of Warrnambool jockey Melissa Julius on Shammy Express, who started a $4.20 favourite at Colac.
Wilde on fire
Symon Wilde’s stable is enjoying a great run, with 13 runners from last Friday to Sunday for six winners, five minor placegetters and a fourth in a listed race. 
His most notable winner was Aurora’s Symphony ($8.50) in Sunday’s $300,000 Hobart Cup. 
Wilde will now set Aurora’s Symphony at the $300,000 Launceston Cup, a race he won in 2022 and 2023.
Overflow Miss, who ran fourth in Sunday’s listed Strutt Stakes at Hobart will have her next start in the Tasmanian Oaks on Sunday week.
Cranc up again
Little fish are sweet. Just ask Tower Hill trainer Patrick McKenna. 
The underrated trainer parted with just $3000 to purchase Cranc in an Inglis Digital sale in June 2022. 
Cranc won a benchmark 66 at Naracoorte last Sunday, his second win from his past four runs.
That took his stake earnings past $35,000 from 15 runs for the quietly spoken trainer. 
Camp on track for Annual
Veteran jumper Police Camp is getting ready for a fourth tilt at the Warrnambool Grand Annual Steeplechase. 
Police Camp’s previous attempts have yielded a sixth placing in 2020 and second placings in 2022 and 2023. Trainer Simon Ryan said he’s happy with the 10-year-old’s progress heading into the 2024 May carnival.
“He’s been in work for three months with one race in mind — the 2024 Grand Annual,” Ryan said. “He’s done a lot of slow work to have him ready. 
“I’ve got my fingers crossed we get a heavy track again. He just loves heavy tracks and the further the better. 
“We’ll give him a steeple trial around Warrnambool in a couple of weeks just to keep ticking him over. He doesn’t need many flat runs to have him ready. 
“Police Camp has been a wonderful horse, giving his owners plenty of enjoyment.”
The gelding has won $417,250 for his connections from 51 starts.