COSTA SET TO SHAKE UP DUBAI
… BUT BEFORE TRAINER GOES, HOPING TALENTED PAIR GIVES HIM CARNIVAL RIDE
MICHAEL Costa is bound for Dubai where he will train for a sheik but, before he leaves, he is plotting to put his stamp on the winter carnival with some of his final Queensland runners.
Costa heads to Eagle Farm on Saturday with a pair of unbeaten and progressive horses: Count Da Beans, a $6.50 chance in the Group 2 Spirit Of Boom Classic; and Impel Gazelle who is at $31 after gaining a start as first emergency in the Group 3 Rough Habit Plate.
Two-year-old gelding Count Da Beans will be trained by Tony Gollan after Costa exits stage left at the end of June to link with sheik Ahmed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the owner of champion British galloper and two-time Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Addeybb.
Count Da Beans steps up to the big league on Saturday after braining them when $1.50 favourite in a 2YO handicap on a heavy Grafton track in April.
Impel Gazelle, who has strung together three wins on rain-affected tracks, will be trained by David Vandyke after Costa departs.
Costa is hoping both can make their mark at Eagle Farm and take him further into the winter carnival before he jets off overseas.
“I’m going to Dubai at the end of June,” Costa said. “When you will see my last runners in Queensland will depend on how these two go this Saturday.
“Impel Gazelle can go to the Queensland Derby and the two-yearold can hopefully progress to some good races in the carnival.
“I will probably have a couple of other runners. I think there will be four left.”
It’s not every day a trainer turns up to the races with a pair of unbeaten runners.
Costa has high hopes Count Da Beans can continue on his winning march despite the fact the gelding may have preferred it had the races been staged at their original venue at Doomben on a bottomless track.
“A heavy track would have been an advantage for him as he can get through it really well, but we are not going to get that, so it is what it is,” Costa said.
“He couldn’t have done much more on debut.
“Even though he beat a weak field, he did it in a nice style with the ears pricked.
“He’s really improved from that and I think the set of winkers will be a nice addition for him.
“He is a really nice horse for the future, he’s nowhere near the finished product.”
Of Impel Gazelle, Costa said he was happy he backed his initial gut feeling that the gelding had his share of talent.
“He only trialled up fairly and the owners were half getting on the front foot and saying it might be worth selling him online,” Costa said.
“But I had just seen enough of him at home to know that he had some talent.
“We started him first-up at a mile and it’s a hard task to do that, even though it was only at country level, but he got the job done.
“Every time he has gone to the races he has improved and I think the penny has finally started to drop with him.
“The owners were a little bit nervous when he was an emergency but I had a gut feeling he would get a run and he has.”
The Rough Habit was scheduled to be run over 2000m at Eagle Farm but is now over 2143m with the venue change to Eagle Farm.
Costa believes Impel Gazelle will appreciate the extra distance but, like all horses, says the proof will be in the pudding as to how he handles Eagle Farm.