Feeks on cloud nine

[Wandering Eyes]

Husband-and-wife training team David and Coral Feek are still on cloud nine after Gold Wolf’s (NZ) (Tivaci) victory in the Listed Galilee Series Final (2400m) at Caulfield last Saturday.

“I haven’t got bored of watching it yet,” Coral Feek told racing.com’s Tuesdays with Terry.

“He’s very exciting … for a stable of our size – we’ve got our owners day coming up on Sunday and on Friday night, when I went to bed after a disappointment at Cranbourne, I wondered what I was going to talk about this coming Sunday – but I think Gold Wolf will just walk up and down the driveway all day!” David Feek joked.

The Mornington-based training partnership reflected on Gold Wolf’s career to date and the factors which contributed towards Saturday’s win.

“He’s a really nice horse,” David said.

“I think he just continued to improve – not so much in fitness, he’s obviously been up for a long time, but each time he goes out, whether it be a jump out or a race, he takes natural improvement – and he still sort of pricked his ears on the line, so hopefully there’s more to come.

“He’s tall … he’s got plenty of length, he’s a lightly framed horse.

“I think as he gets older, he’ll continue to develop into that frame and as I’ve been saying, whatever he does as a three-year-old, hopefully there’s more to come afterwards.

“He’s always been a little bit sort of green – I’ve called him a bit of a wet noodle in the past – when the jockey wants him, he sort of goes left and right and everywhere bar straight on.

“You could easily argue that he should’ve won that Tasmanian Derby, but we came back from that, put blinkers on him at Sandown and it went horribly wrong – they went very slow early and he just did things erratically and upside down.

“He had a nice trial after that – we took the blinkers off and I think the pleasing thing the other day – it was obviously a very good ride by Neil Farley, but he took some runs and I think the horse showed some good mental maturity, taking the runs he did.

“But, as we’ve been saying, hopefully it’s a sign of more to come.”

“He’s got good cruising speed – he can sit very comfortably at a nice tempo,” Coral added.

The gelding was narrowly beaten in the Tasmanian Derby in February, with Coral noting that the experience of travelling for the 2200-metre contest was of benefit to the horse.

“It was really good for this horse, actually, just part of the growing-up process,” Coral said.

“It’s obviously quite a long journey to get there, they’re on the ferry for all that time, it’s all a bit different in a new environment, he’s exercised around a different track.

“I think all of that, if a horse takes it, which he did – he ate up well whilst he was there – it’s only been a positive thing for him going forward.”

The promising three-year-old is a son of Group 1 All Aged Stakes winner Tivaci out of Kiwi mare Gold Spice.

“He was very well selected by a good agent we use in New Zealand, Paul Beamish and he was landed on our doorstep for $70,000,” David explained.

“Obviously, we’re English, but it just goes to show, you don’t need to head to Europe for these horses – and I should think they’re a fifth of the price.”

The Feeks have enjoyed 72 winners in Australia, with the couple hoping that this horse can take their operation to new heights.

“I think we have our moments, certainly, where you feel a little bit despondent, but I think that dream of having a good horse, that’s what keeps you getting up in the morning, keeps you going and you know it can happen to anyone,” Coral explained.

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