Gold Medals wins 2021 Grand Annual Steeplechase

WINNING FEELING: Liam Hoy and Symon Wilde celebrate Gold Medals' remarkable victory in the Grand Annual Steeplechase. Picture: Chris Doheny

Vic Douglas trained three Waterfront by Lyndoch Living Grand Annual Steeplechase winners and never shed a tear.

But the waterworks came before his son, jockey Clayton, crossed the finished line aboard champion jumper Gold Medals in front of a raucous home crowd on Thursday.

It was the Symon Wilde-trained Gold Medals' second win in the famous 33-fence endurance test.

Gold Medals, who also won in 2018, gathered momentum on the second last jump and battled a familiar foe, Zed Em, to the finish line.

Clayton has had the winning ride on Gold Medals both times.

Vic said watching his son perform in the Warrnambool May Racing Carnival's marquee moment was a thrill.

"I've become a sook - I won three of them and you couldn't get a tear out of me but now he rides, it's just incredible," he told The Standard post race.

"Tears started rolling down my face and I had to blink to see if he was still in front."

CROWD-PLEASER: Clayton Douglas salutes the fans after winning the Grand Annual Steeplechase aboard Gold Medals. Picture: Chris Doheny

Symon, a Warrnambool boy who grew up dreaming of winning a Grand Annual Steeplechase crown, said Gold Medals was firmly among racing royalty.

"I'm genuinely a Warrnambool boy. I mean, I grew up watching the legends of the race battle it out," he told The Standard.

"I was eight or nine when Galleywood won and even Clayton's old man (Vic) he won three and had a great little horse called Hoki.

"There's a street named after him somewhere around here. That legendary stuff that happened, I grew up idolising and watching and watching my dad (Bill) compete here.

"It is dead-set extra special. I've just dreamed of getting a horse like (Gold Medals)."

FRIENDLY FOES: Two old rivals - Gold Medals and Zed Em - go head-to-head in the Grand Annual. Picture: Morgan Hancock

Clayton too was proud to etch his name in the history books.

"It is huge. It is well noted dad has won three and now I have won two, so I am catching up to him," he smiled post race.

"I had an ordinary day yesterday - fell off one, one ran last - and I went home last night and was thinking 'Jesus Christ I hope the old boy could lift for me'."

Vic said he believed his son, who has three older sisters, could get the job done on Gold Medals for a second time.

"He knows this track and he knows how to ride this race," he said.

"I am telling you, he just cuts the corners and takes all the shortcuts and he puts five lengths on any horse he rides in this race.

"I think he had to today because Zed Em was at his top."

Racing was always going to play a major part in Clayton's life.

ALL EYES: The crowd watches Gold Medals and Zed Em down the stretch in the Grand Annual. Picture: Morgan Hancock

"I am very, very proud. He's just a great kid. He's never been any trouble, he's just worked really hard," Vic said.

"Even as a young bloke, everything he put his hand to, he succeeded in.

"I don't know how many couches he wrecked growing up, he used to sit on the back of them and flog them with a whip. He's always had a love of horses."

Clayton is already following his dad's footsteps and has a trainer's licence, with 16 horses in work.

"We chat three or four times a day and he tosses up our ideas but he doesn't need my help - he's going really well," Vic said.

Clayton said riding a horse like Gold Medals made his job easy.

As did working for a trainer in the ilk of Symon.

"It is a bit more nerve-racking because he hasn't done anything on the flat, he hasn't beaten a horse home," Clayton said.

"I came down and trialled him a fortnight ago and I was thinking we should run him the (shorter) Brierly but that's why (Symon) is such a good trainer, he knows the horses so well.

"He is a tremendous horse. At the age of 11, to keeping fronting up and beating these animals is a good effort."

PUNTERS: Thousands flocked to watch the Grand Annual Steeplechase. Picture: Morgan Hancock

Symon hinted Gold Medals could return in 2022 to pursue a record-breaking third Grand Annual win.

The brown gelding is already one of 16 horses in the race's 129-year history to claim two victories.

"He's got one year left, he's got to be retired (as a 12-year-old) next August," he said.

"He gets trained for this one race. I'm thinking yes. He'll get a lot of weight but that'll be his swansong but there's nothing in stone there."

Symon described Gold Medals, the son of Elvstroem and Lady Mulroy, as an "unusual" galloper.

"I had no idea (he'd turn out as he has). I never dreamed we'd be going from 1000-metre races and going to (5500-metre) sort of stuff," he said.

"To be an 11-year-old and be as sound as he is... (incredible).

"He's an unusual horse. It's unusual to see longevity in horse as we have with him."

The record-equalling triumph tipped Gold Medals' total prizemoney into the millions. His odds - which settled at $5 pre-race - provided top value for punters.

The brave run home came as no shock to Symon, who moved to 440-career victories in the win.

JUMPING TEST: Gold Medals and Zed Em go head-to-head in the Grand Annual Steeplechase. Picture: Morgan Hancock

"I was telling anyone who'd listen, I had him as good as I'd ever had him," he said.

"I said he's never, ever felt better to me. I was saying it to everyone - he will run a place. If he doesn't win, he will be running second or third."

He said the race's heart-stopping finish, which sent the packed-out crowd into raptures, was the perfect advertisement for jumps racing.

"I'd hate to know how many fences (Gold Medals) jumped and miles he's galloped over, roads - it's just, if you could add that up, it'd be incredible," he said.

"It was a special moment to see him and Zed Em square off. You could tell it was out of those two with two to jump. Stuff like that, it doesn't always happen on a racecourse.

"Even seeing Zed Em coming back at him and going pwoah - it's sending chills down my spine.

"You don't have to have a bet in that race - I didn't - if people want to be entertained by great, athletic horses and jockeys, you don't need to have a bet.

"But to get people into the gate and to see the experience they've had here, you're not going to get that from a 2000-metre race at Flemington."

PURE JOY: Liam Hoy laps up Gold Medals' Grand Annual Steeplechase victory. Picture: Chris Doheny

Stable foreman Liam Hoy has had his share of success in sporting circles, winning numerous Hampden football league premierships.

"It is a different feeling. I'd imagine this is sort of what a coach would feel like if they won because it's out of your control in a way and there's such a team which go into what the product is on the day," the first-year Koroit captain said.

Liam's connections to the Wilde stables started long before he got a job there.

"I grew up out there. My father (Graham) worked for Bill and was a huge part of Bill's name getting out there and Symon roped me in when I was a kid and he's like my big brother," he said.

"We've been through a bit of rut and now we're on the up and it's so special."

He said Gold Medals' performance was a victory for the entire stable.

"He's something else, all of our staff are celebrating and I can understand why Symon gets emotional because he's that once-in-a-lifetime type of horse," Liam said.

"After so many runs at the carnival he has such a cult following. It's great they all get behind him, I reckon they lifted him in that last 100m."

FATHER AND SON: Bill and Symon Wilde embrace after the Grand Annual Steeplechase. Picture: Chris Doheny

Bill too was in awe of Gold Medals' ability, rating him "one of the greats, like Al Garhood".

"I thought he was a place chance but when the two of those old battlers got out in front, the race was all over and they were going to nut it out right to the line," he said.

"This is one of the best Grand Annual Steeplechases, naturally, that I've ever seen."

The Wilde Stable celebrated as one trackside.

"Two grand annuals, two placings in the race, is just fantastic," Bill said.

"Just to see all of those young girls there, our team, enjoying the race and result... that was special. They were crying and hugging each other. Just a wonderful experience to be involved in and to see."

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