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Kurt Goldman hellbent on Group 1 assignment after offering his best horse elsewhere

15th Oct 2015

Eden Magnet - by Adam Pengilly - Thursday 15 October, 2015

Kurt Goldman quickly realised a young Hellbent was going to be the best horse he had ever trained and his first response was to ask owner Alan Cardy if he wanted to transfer it to a high-profile Sydney trainer.

"I knew the horse had ability and if he was a filly or gelding I would never have had the thought," Goldman said.

"He's the first that I've come across that can do the things he does and being a colt he's got that value. I knew this horse was good from day one.

"People like the Snowdens deal with million-dollar colts every day of the week and it's a common thing for them to have them in their barns."

Thankfully for Goldman, the former Wallaby Cardy didn't give it too much thought.

He was only too happy for the young Goldman - who only earlier this year trained his first stakes winners when Faust claimed the Canberra Cup-Doomben Premier's Cup double - to put the polish on one of NSW's most exciting sprinters at his picturesque private Goulburn training complex.

"He also may not be the same horse if he was locked up in a box in Sydney all the time," Goldman said. "I really do believe this property is the making of a lot of horses.

"[Cardy] obviously trusts me and that confidence I gained from taking over a horse [Faust] that was only running average around Goulburn and working with him to reach listed, group 3 level in one preparation ... it gave me quite a bit of confidence to back myself."

It might have been a stretch a couple of months ago, but Hellbent just might be another one clamouring for inclusion in the stallion-making Coolmore Stud Stakes on Victoria Derby day in a couple of weeks.

Unbeaten in his only two starts, Hellbent will go on trial for a start in the $500,000 group 1 down the famous Flemington straight six when he starts a short-priced favourite in the listed Brian Crowley Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.

"I definitely would want the horse to win to warrant going down," Goldman said. "And in saying that I would want to see him win with some ease and a little bit of authority.

"I wanted to be hitting the Coolmore third-up and that was always my plan. He won the other day [at Rosehill] when he definitely wasn't primed. I've always been quite confident in myself and when I have targeted horses at a particular race we usually go and run very well."

Last year's Coolmore Stud Stakes winner, the now-retired multiple group 1 winner Brazen Beau, is also by Hellbent's sire I Am Invincible and plucked out of the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.

Tye Angland will take over on Hellbent in the Brian Crowley Stakes from Blake Shinn, who Goldman credited with being an excellent sounding board for his handling of the colt, with Ladbrokes listed him a firming $2.25 favourite.

"He's a push button horse and he doesn't want to fight the jockeys. His biggest asset is ... yes, he's got the class and ability. But he does the one percenters right.

"He's very well mannered for a colt, he's adaptable to different jockeys and he just responds to whatever they ask."