Isotope’s fairytale return from a near-death bout of colic was completed at the Gold Coast on Saturday when the mare destroyed her rivals in the $1 million It’s Live! In Queensland Magic Millions Snippets (1200m).
Exactly a year after she nearly fell and dropped jockey Ryan Maloney in the Magic Millions 3YO Guineas and several months after returning to work from colic surgery, the four-year-old showed she was back as good as ever with a comfortable win over Tycoonist and Away Game.
Maloney, who has forged a successful partnership with the daughter of Deep Field, was aggressive from barrier eight and was able to find a lovely position with cover just behind the speed before presenting the mare at the top of the straight and allowing her to power through her gears.
“Fresh-up from colic surgery, 32 weeks or more weeks between runs and she’s done an amazing job,” Gollan said.
“We had to ride her aggressively to get across from our barrier but she’s just such a good horse.
“She’s so special to our stable and all the connections.
“She does have a habit of being a bit tardy out of the gates and if she did that today it was going to make it a really tough ride for Ryan but once she stepped out of the gates, she broke best of anything, the plan was to be really aggressive on her.
“We’ve ridden some highs with her and then the lows like Magic Millions day last year.
“Things started to get back on track in Sydney and then she nearly died on us so to have her back here today is a little bit of justice for last year.
“You’ll see her in Sydney in the autumn, I can’t wait to take her away again.
“She can do anything in this next year.”
Maloney, who has forged a successful partnership with the daughter of Deep Field, was aggressive from barrier eight and was able to find a lovely position with cover just behind the speed before presenting the mare at the top of the straight and allowing her to power through her gears.
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An emotional Tony Gollan said the win was one of the most satisfying moments of his training career.“Fresh-up from colic surgery, 32 weeks or more weeks between runs and she’s done an amazing job,” Gollan said.
“We had to ride her aggressively to get across from our barrier but she’s just such a good horse.
“She’s so special to our stable and all the connections.
“She does have a habit of being a bit tardy out of the gates and if she did that today it was going to make it a really tough ride for Ryan but once she stepped out of the gates, she broke best of anything, the plan was to be really aggressive on her.
“We’ve ridden some highs with her and then the lows like Magic Millions day last year.
“Things started to get back on track in Sydney and then she nearly died on us so to have her back here today is a little bit of justice for last year.
“You’ll see her in Sydney in the autumn, I can’t wait to take her away again.
“She can do anything in this next year.”
Isotope was purchased by Gollan, in partnership with John Foote and Black Soil Bloodstock, for $170,000 out of the Daandine Stud draft at the 2019 Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
As a three-year-old, she won a trio of Stakes races and finished a narrow second in the Group 2 Arrowfield Sprint (1200m) in Sydney during The Championships.
John Foote Bloodstock, Black Soil Bloodstock and Yes Bloodstock paid $300,000 for Isotope’s half-sister by Spirit of Boom (Lot 90) from the Daandine Stud draft at this week’s Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Isotope’s win continued a bumper week for Newgate Farm stallion Deep Field, who produced his first ever seven-figure yearling when Lot 835, the half-brother to exciting three-year-old Clemenceau, was bought by Hawkes Racing for $1 million.
