It may have worked for Black Caviar, but Mark Bell admits he was a little sceptical. Goldstein has made sure he is a sceptic no more.
“What happened was that Goldstein is a dog who plays up … he’s really bad in the kennels (on raceday) and when he’s travelling,” Bell explained. “I was a bit hard headed. Someone had told me about those rugs (animal compression suits), like the one Black Caviar wore when she travelled overseas. But I didn’t believe in it. I couldn’t see how they could possibly work.
“But I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try and I’ve used it for his last three runs. When I’ve gone to get him out of the kennels, he’s been perfect. In the past his kennel has been saturated with saliva, and he’s travelled bad.
“Now he’s travelling well, he’s behaving in the kennels and he’s coming out of the boxes well. I’ve definitely seen a big change in him … I just wish I had done it earlier. His last three starts, he’s been brilliant. Hopefully it keeps going that way.”
Since using the suit, Goldstein has finished third at Nowra, second, when just collared at Richmond, then last start led all the way to win in the best figures of the day, 31.66s, at Maitland. And now, Bell is aiming his dog at Bulli, and Saturday evening’s heats of the GRNSW + Ladbrokes Million Dollar Chase.
Goldstein has shown a liking for the South Coast circuit, winning three and being placed three times in six starts at Bulli. And he has drawn the two box, an ideal draw, albeit in a hot heat.
“He does go well at Bulli, but it’s a really good heat,” Bell said. “It’s clearly the hardest of the two heats, but we have drawn near the fence and the 515m start does favour dogs drawn near the fence, so I was hoping we could draw one or two. But, it’s a very, very hard heat. There’s about five or six really good chances.
“A lot will depend on who begins. I think it will all come down to that, and you’ve got to get around that bend. The start is basically on the bend, so it’s a case of seeing who gets out of the bend in front.
“But as I said he goes well there. He had his first three or four starts there over 472m, he’s trialled well over 515m and he’s won his only two starts over 590m there. He loves the track, and he goes well out of the inside boxes. I think out of the 1 or 2 he’s won around 50 per cent out of those two boxes.”
Bell has been in the sport as a trainer for 30 years, but his involvement dates way back before then.
“I always just loved the game. I’ve loved dogs. I’m one of those blokes who always had a dog in his room at night, from when I was a five-year-old kid,” he recalled.
Early on in his training career, Bell paid $2,000 for a six-week-old pup, he would call Web Of Silence. He would breed with her in 1997, and got a littler by Proper Tears. Among that litter was Woy Woy Boy who would be the runner-up in the 1999 National Sprint Championship and was a finalist in the 2000 Golden Easter Egg and the 1999 Australian Cup.
He then sent Web Of Silence to Head Honcho and the ensuing litter produced Go Wild Teddy and Mean Bean.
Go Wild Teddy won the 2000 Melbourne Cup, the Sandown Shootout, and Vic Peters Classic, as well as the Bob Payne Final at Wentworth Park. Mean Bean won the 2001 Group 1 National Derby.
“Go Wild Teddy was very good, but his half-brother, Woy Woy Boy was probably just as good,” Bell explained. “But he just never handled the pressure of the big crowds and on those big nights. He would go into his shell on the big final nights.
“I had another good dog called Robust Character (in the early 2000s) and he was probably one of the best in the country at the time. There wasn’t much between him and Elite State at the time.
“I’ve had other good ones but they were the standouts.”
Bell has a big kennel at present with 15 dogs, the most he says he has ever had. One of his kennel, Keno Jack, narrowly missed a Regional Final berth finishing third at Maitland on Thursday. Another of his team, Miss Wing Wong, will also take part in the Million Dollar Chase series.
“She’ll either go in the Nowra or Richmond heats,” he said. “Her last couple of 720m at Wenty, she’s gone 29.6s for her first 500m so she can run the time but whether or not she can really mix it with them over 520m, we’ll see. But I’ll give her a crack at one of those two heats.”
One thing Bell does have is resilience... he must have as a passionate Parramatta supporter, a member and season ticket holder.
“After last year I thought we had a big year coming this season, but from the first game it just didn’t happen. But you’ve got to stick solid. I need something good to happen After that season.”
Hopefully Goldstein has more luck than the Eels when he heads to Bulli on Saturday night.
