VANDYKE RELISHES GOLDEN CASH RAID
DAVID Vandyke can snatch the richest loot any Queensland trainer ever has on Saturday and he says a prizemoney windfall with Gypsy Goddess in the $10m Golden Eagle would leave him playing with “house money”.
Vandyke’s Group 1 Queensland Oaks winner Gypsy Goddess has a shot at extraordinary riches in the Golden Eagle with $5.25m being offered for first, $2m for second, $1m for third and even $100,000 for finishing ninth.
The astute Sunshine Coast trainer is also looking to raid NSW cash in the $3m Nature Strip Stakes where he has Weona a Smartone racing for big money. ney.
Vandyke’s two Syddney raiders race in the e same colours and he e says a lucrative pay- day would mean he e could buy even better er quality horses at the sales next year as he e and connections would be playing with “house money”.
Playing with house money is a term which means reinvesting or gambling with money already won.
“If we can capture some of this earn, it gives us more opportunity to reinvest more money in what we are doing moving forward,” Vandyke said.
“It makes our journey in racing a lot nicer if we are playing with house money.
“It’s like when you have had a bet, if you are winning and you are playing with your winnings then you just love it.
“You are playing with the house money. It’s a great position to be in.
“If we can get an earn at Rosehill on Saturday, we can then head to any of the sales next year and play with the house money we have won.”
Vandyke has won four career Group 1s – including The Oaks with Gypsy Goddess in the winter carnival – but his hit and run mission with Gypsy Goddess in Sydney is both unique and startling.
Gypsy Goddess hasn’t raced since her dominant win over 2200m in The Oaks in June and will now drop back 700m in a targeted Golden Eagle mission after which she will be spelled.
Oaks-winning rider Willie Pike is on board and Vandyke’s mare is a $17 chance to take down the big Golden Eagle guns.
“We have given her every opportunity to perform well as we have a good barrier, a good jockey and a drying surface in a field that should have fairly solid early tempo,” Vandyke (inset) said.
“I have ha really got an open mind, mind I’m not feeling the same sam amount of pressure as a I would if she was evenmoney m favourite.
“I’m feeling a lot less pressure p than I was going into in the Queensland Oa Oaks. The Oaks we were expecting expec to win.
“But this thi on Saturday just gives us the chance to soak up the excitement and enjoy the ride.
“She has a good fitness base and is in a good place physically and mentally.
“She had a long and arduous campaign as a three-year-old.
“We are not really sure how she is going to come back after that.
“It’s great to be involved in a race of this magnitude, I feel very blessed to have a runner.
“Even if she runs ninth she picks up $100,000 and that’s a decent amount of money in anyone’s language.”
Sprinter Weona Smartone has already more than paid her way for his Sydney campaign when picking up $195,000 for finishing third as a $19 chance in the $2m Sydney Stakes on The Everest day.
The talented sprinter who has won nine from 13 will also be ridden by Pike on Saturday and is rated a $19 chance.