Newcastle mates back Jock’s judgment one last time

When the news came that Newcastle clocker Alan “Jock″⁣ Gollogly had lost his long battle with cancer during the week, Australian Bloodstock boss Jamie Lovett opened his phone and looked at his messages.


Lovett, trainer Kris Lees and Gollogly spent many hours in the box at the top of the Newcastle grandstand in the mornings watching horses work, and when Lovett wasn’t there he trusted the eyes of the other two.


“He would always send me messages, and the last one before he went into hospital for the last time said ‘Rogue Bear Dream Hour going well at gallops’. It seems right that Rogue Bear will run in Jock’s race on Saturday,” Lovett said.


Dream Hour lived up to what Gollogly saw when he charged to victory in The Wave to earn Australian Bloodstock a Stradbroke spot in the former jockey’s old home of Brisbane. It is Rogue Bear’s turn tomorrow in the Vale Mr Alan ‘Jock’ Gollogly (1800m).


Lovett, Lees and a group of mates met at a Newcastle pub on Tuesday to tell Gollogly stories.


“Jock would love all this attention but would be a bit blown away by it as well,” Lovett said. “It is great to have a runner in the Jock Gollogly race at Randwick on Saturday and it would be more than special to win it for all of us. It is funny that this horse was in that message. Rogue Bear is a horse that has reached his right level and he is going to win at this level again, and Saturday would be the perfect time.”


The import has been in good form. He was runner-up in the Taree Cup, which makes him eligible for the Little Dance and maybe the Big Dance next year, and was a grinding third behind Kapakiri last Saturday.


Rogue Bear won three times in England before coming Down Under, and in his second preparation he appears to have acclimatised.


“We have gone for the quick back-up with him and put the blinkers on,” Lees said. “But I think the most vital thing for him is the three-kilo claim for Ben [Osmond] because he is not that big.


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“We are looking to find a length or two, and he’s capable of doing that. I thought he was good last week but the big weight anchored him a bit late.


“We are just starting to get him up in trip, and I think he has a lot more to give at this time of year.”


Lees would love to honour his mate with victory on Saturday.


“I sat next to him for more than 20 years. It will be quieter without him around, and I will have to make sure I clock my horses,” Lees said. “Jock was one of a kind because he could mix with everyone and make them all feel special.


“It would be great to win his race.”


With thanks to Sydney Morning Herald

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/racing/newcastle-mates-back-jock-s-judgment-one-last-time-20231221-p5esxj.html

Kellie Lovett
Dec 23, 2023

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