Gospel truth: Menin Gate has a mass following

OUTSTANDING pacer Menin Gate may not need divine help to win the $150,000 Queensland Derby but he might get it anyway.

So popular is the horse in his home town Birchip in provincial Victoria that the local Catholic priest, Father Eugene McKinnon, announced his victory in last week’s Gold Coast Derby at Saturday night mass.

“It was halfway through communion apparently and he just said ‘and by the way, Menin Gate has just won at Albion Park’,” trainer Larry Eastman said.

“I am not sure how he found out. Maybe the altar boy was carrying a transistor radio.”

Menin Gate is a giant, strong performer who casts an intimidating shadow, especially when he rolls to the front as he is set to do tonight.

If he can find the front without much trouble he should not need the prayers of hometown punters to get him home.

“The plan is to lead and let him run along a bit,” Eastman said. “I worked him at Albion Park on Wednesday and he was awesome.”

The Derby will be one of four Group 1 races on an excellent card. Jacobs Well trainer Christina Monte is a strong chance of snaring a well deserved major victory with smart colt Catcha Lefty who has won seven of his eight starts in the Two-year-old Colts Triad. TONY Gollan (pictured) can edge closer to toppling the late Bruce McLachlan’s long-standing Brisbane metropolitan training record when he has runners in four races at Doomben today.

Gollan, who is on an overseas holiday with wife Jane, sits on 76 city wins for the season and is only two behind McLachlan’s record of 78 set in the 1987-88 season.