Gold Medals has sights on Grand Annual Steeplechase | Inside Racing

Gold Medals ran second to champion jumper Zed Em in this year's Grand Annual on the back of winning the Brierly - Grand Annual double at the 2018 May Carnival.

Trainer Symon Wilde said the 10-year-old is in light work and will only run in a couple of flat and jumps races next year.

"Gold Medals had a good break," he said. "He's come back into work in top condition. I can't fault his condition. Gold Medals will go down the same path in the lead up to the Grand Annual as he's gone over the last two years. We haven't over taxed him. He'll have a couple of flat runs and then we'll look at the Brierly and the Grand Annual again. He's a stable favourite and seems to love jumps races at Warrnambool."

From his 17 jumps starts Gold Medals has won six races and been in the minor placegetters stall on eight occasions.

PROMINENT Macarthur racehorse owner Kingsley Peach added another country cup victory to his long list of winners when the Terry O'Sullivan trained Patch Adams won the $50,000 Mount Gambier Cup on Friday.

Patch Adams, ridden by young apprentice jockey Will Price defeated Emil and Henry The Dolphin in the 2400 metre race. Peach's other country cup wins include Mildura, Swan Hill, Horsham, Murtoa, St Arnaud, Warracknabeal and Ararat.

"It's wonderful that Patch Adams could win my first Mount Gambier Cup," he said. "I've got lots of friends in Mount Gambier and a few of them were at the cup meeting which was great. I've haven't owned a Warrnambool Cup or Hamilton Cup winner yet - there two races that are on my wish list. Terry has trained horses for me for more then 35 years, apart from being my horse trainer he's a great mate."

O'Sullivan is considering running Patch Adams in the $160,000 Bagot Handicap at Flemington on January 1. "I suppose Patch Adams deserves a crack at the Bagot," the Stawell based trainer said. "He's an honest type of horse. He's not brilliant - just honest. We gave him a couple of hurdle starts this season and may do the same next year."

The win of Patch Adams gave O'Sullivan his third victory in the Mount Gambier Cup. His other winners are Rules Galore and Stable Star.

WOOLSTHORPE resident Kim Williams lost her life to cancer on September 7 but her memory lives on. Williams was a part-owner in Woolsthorpe Reign, which won a maiden at her fourth race start at Mount Gambier on Friday.

Janice McKenna, who bred Woolsthorpe Reign said the win of the lightly raced mare was an emotional one for the connections of the four-year-old. "I'll never forget Kim came and saw Woolsthorpe Reign when she was a foal," McKenna said. "Kim just fell in love with her. Kim was an avid racing fan. She just loved going to the races. She took a share in Woolsthorpe Reign. Sadly, Kim only saw Woolsthorpe Reign have the two starts. She's been a slow maturing horse who has needed time. We (owners) had a celebration drink after the win in remembrance of Kim."

The Mitch Freedman trained Woolsthorpe Reign picked up $9500 for her win.

GREAT to see respected Ararat trainer Rhoda Handyside back in the winners stall when Goodbuy won a maiden at Stawell on Saturday.

Having his fifth start Goodbuy had to survive a protest before correct weight was forwarded for the lightly raced six-year-old. Handyside has only been back training since May this year after a six year break. Her last winner before Goodbuy on Saturday was Whymol at Mount Gambier in September 2012. Handyside trained Thackeray to win the Warrnambool Grand Annual Steeplechase in 1979 and 1980.

WARRNAMBOOL trainer Alan Peterson is awaiting hip and knee surgery and looks like being on the sidelines until the middle of 2020. Atomic Wings is the only horse that Peterson has in work and it ran third in a maiden at Mount Gambier on Friday. "I was happy with the effort of Atomic Wings," the former top local jockey said. "I'll probably take her to Penshurst for a maiden race on Boxing Day. I think the Penshurst track will suit her."

Peterson, who won four Penshurst Cups as a jockey said the wear and tear of being a jockey for many years were starting to take a toll on his body. "My left hip and left knee are pretty sore," he said. "It looks like the hip will be done first in March before they do my knee six weeks later. There are some days when the pain in both is terrible."

Peterson's Penshurst Cup wins were in the 1970s and 80s.

JOCKEY Harry Coffey was found guilty of a careless riding charge following his ride on South Detroit at Tatura on Sunday. The careless riding related to an incident near the 700 metre mark when Coffey permitted his mount to shift in when not sufficiently clear of Swizzle Sticks resulting in that mare being checked when tightened for room. His suspension is to commence at midnight on December 15 and ends midnight on December 23. Stewards deemed the incident to be in low range and took into account his record and the circumstances around the incident before handing down the penalty.