What do Think About It, Overpass, Arapaho, Nimalee, Bois D’Argent and You Wahng have in common? They all competed at the Gosford Race Club’s The Coast meeting in early May before training on to win at Group 1 level later in their race careers.
The Coast raceday has also produced the winners of The Big Dance, Five Diamonds, The Hunter (twice), Magic Millions Cup and other stakes races. This sort of honour roll would read impressively for any feature race meeting but even more so given The Coast was only introduced in 2021. In just five years, the raceday has unearthed a lengthy list of future big-race winners.
“We have had some very good horses compete at The Coast meeting,’’ said Gosford Race Club chief executive Daniel Lacey.
“The meeting is well placed between the Hawkesbury and Scone stand-alone meetings and our Gosford race program caters for all horses.
“There’s The Coast for the milers, the Takeover Target Stakes for the sprinters and the Gosford Gold Cup is for the stayers.’’
Perhaps the most notable emerging star to come out of the Gosford meeting was the Joe Pride-trained Think About It, winner of the Takeover Target Stakes in 2023. When Think About It won at Gosford, he was just starting a nine-race winning streak that would net him Group 1 wins in the Kingsford-Smith Cup and Stradbroke Handicap before training on to win The Everest later that year.
Think About It eventually retired as the winner of more than $12 million while Overpass, winner of the Gosford two-year-old race at The Coast meeting in 2022, has also amassed a similar amount of prizemoney during his career. And Overpass, already a two-time Group 1 winner and dual The Quokka hero, will get the opportunity to add to his prizemoney tally when he resumes in the Group 1 $3 million TJ Smith Stakes at Royal Randwick this autumn.
Arahapo (Tancred Stakes, Sydney Cup), Nimalee (Queen of the Turf Stakes), Bois D’Argent (Doomben Cup) and You Wahng (Queensland Oaks) have also raced at The Coast meeting before later winning training at Group 1 level.
The $500,000 The Coast, a race restricted to three and four-year-olds run over 1600m, was introduced in 2021 and was won by the John Sargent-trained Brandenburg. Sargent is the only trainer so far to win The Coast twice as he was also successful with Palmetto in 2023.
The Coast’s other winners are the Kris Lees-trained Rustic Steel (2022), Magnaspin for Leon and Troy Corstens (2024) and the Paul Messara and Leah Gavranich-trained Know Thyself last year. The form out of last year’s The Coast meeting has been particularly strong with You Wahng winning the Oaks at Eagle Farm, Vivy Air returning to win the Five Diamonds in spring and King Of Rouseau taking out the Magic Millions Cup in January
Lacey said the quality of racehorses emerging from The Coast meeting is indicative of the high level of prizemoney available and the race program which is a stepping stone to the Brisbane winter carnival. The new, improved Gosford racetrack with its cambered turns also ensures quality, competitive racing.
“There used to be a bit of a reverse camber on the (home) turn,’’ Lacey said.
“Historically, those horses racing away from the inside had to be held up until straightening.
“But since we have had the track renovations, we have had three track records broken because the cambered turns enables jockeys to ‘attack’ the home turn and maintain a horse’s momentum into the straight.’’
Lacey said the local community has embraced The Coast meeting with record race sponsorships and the increasing demand for raceday hospitality packages. The Gosford Race Club has a special promotion where a lucky racegoer could win $100,000 if they attend The Coast meeting at Gosford on May 9.
“Someone in the crowd at The Coast raceday will have a chance of winning $100,000,’’ Lacey said.
“It’s all part of an event that continues to grow in popularity every year. We have already sold out all but one function area for the meeting.
“Racegoers can still walk in on the day for The Coast at Gosford but ticket pre-sales via our website (theentertainmentgrounds.com.au) are cheaper.’’