Horses come and go but this one is family

Brunton says his pocket rocket has the speed for Golden glory

IF OUR LITTLE HORSE WINS TOMORROW IT WILL DEFINITELY CHANGE OUR LIVES TRAINER SCOTT BRUNTON

TASMANIA’ S premier thoroughbred trainer has been battling to keep his business afloat but late this afternoon at Rosehill racecourse his pint-sized gelding The Inevitable could change his life.

The Inevitable will line up in the inaugural running of the $7.5 million Golden Eagle and if he wins, the horse will earn just over $4 million in prizemoney. Scott Brunton’s share as trainer is 10 per cent and that is enough to remove the financial stress that goes with training a stable with more than 60 tenants.

“If our little horse wins it will definitely change our lives,” Brunton said. “I keep waking up and pinching myself just to make sure this is not a dream because we have a horse that is a real chance of winning.”

Brunton and his partner Tegan Keys share the responsibilities at Brunton Racing, but for the past three weeks they have been in New South Wales making sure their superstar has stayed out of trouble on his way to the biggest assignment of his short racing career.

They have been staying at Waratah Thoroughbreds at Moss Vale, about a 90-minute drive south of Sydney.

“The property we have access to in Moss Vale is unbelievable and if The Inevitable is successful tomorrow it will have a great deal to do with this horse accommodation complex.”

Brunton has a simple philosophy on life and sees his current situation as unique but not unexpected.

“Horses will come and go but family is forever, yet some how this little tacker has crept into our lives and he has become a member of the family, which makes this experience more special.”

STAR Tasmanian galloper The Inevitable faces the toughest assignment of his career at Rosehill today but if he emerges triumphant in the inaugural running of the $7.5 million Golden Eagle it will change the lives of so many.

The pint-sized gelding’s trainer Scott Brunton says winning the Golden Eagle would “change our lives forever”.

But placing sentiment to one side, Brunton says his stable star has what it takes to defeat some of the best sprintermilers in the country.

“A couple of the runners in this race are almost household names of racing in Arcadia Queen and Brutal, but we don’t know how good our horse is but I’m eager to find out,” Brunton said.

“It could end up being a race won by whoever rides the best tactical race but if it all comes down to ability, then my horse is in it up to his neck.

“We’ve drawn an ideal barrier [3], so Nash [Rawiller] will be able to put him wherever he likes and that’s not an advantage afforded to the one-time race favourite Brutal who has drawn the outside gate [16].

“The favourite Arcadia Queen has been very well backed so connections are obviously confident with her and her stablemate Kolding also has been well backed.

“But The Inevitable won the Silver Eagle at his first try the Sydney way of going and his rider [Rawiller] called me the day after and said he wanted to ride our horse in the big race, so that’s a plus. What The Inevitable lacks in size he certainly counteracts that with ability and I’m banking on that being his greatest asset [today].”

The Inevitable will be dwarfed by most of the other runners in today’s race and should he be cluttered up and have horses on his outside, he will be hard to detect in the run, given he stands at not quite 14.2 hands high.

Arcadia Queen has drifted slightly from $2.80 to $3 while her stablemate Kolding has formed from $5 to $4.50 with The Inevitable firming early in the day to $9 but easing out slightly to $9.50 when the big