LES Robertson has enjoyed plenty of success with recycled gallopers and bargain buys across his 53-year training journey.
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The Mooksta, Mighty Way and Top Tier are just a few who spring to mind that have thrived under the care of the veteran Long Gully trainer.
You can add Unique Goldy to the list after the gelding picked up his second win in a row on the Ballarat synthetic on Monday.
The gelding was a steal for Robertson, costing a mere $650.
In eight race starts, Unique Goldy has never been outside the prize money and has earned his owners, who include Robertson and his wife Lynne, nearly $40,000, with the potential for plenty of good times ahead with the chestnut son of Magic Albert.
The gelding's rise has continued an affinity with sprinters for Robertson, Bendigo's longest-serving trainer now that Allen Browell has hung up the reins.
"I've always loved sprinters - I've had a few stayers and a few good horses right through the years," he said.
"I'm just training him the same as I have my other good sprinters and that seems to work.
"I don't kill them on the track, they do a lot of slow work. I try and keep him pretty fresh and he loves it.
"He's a great little horse; he's had eight starts now and he hasn't missed out on a cheque."
How Robertson managed to acquire Unique Goldy is the stuff of fairy tales.
"I got him off from Frank Stockdale. He sold him through the sales up in Echuca and Frank said: 'I reckon that little horse will suit you because he's got a bit of a bowed tendon," he said.
"I said 'that's nothing, I can fix him'. So I bought him home and he's going a treat.
"He's grown one and a half hands since I bought him and fed him up and gave him a bit of a let-up."
Robertson said the gelding had showed immediate promise with a fourth on debut at Swan Hill in mid-June.
After a string of handy efforts at Echuca and on the Ballarat synthetic, Unique Goldy broke through for an overdue win over 1200m at Donald earlier this month, and followed up with another over 1100m back at Ballarat, with Harry Coffey in the saddle.
The gelding's effort was made even more impressive by the fact he was lumped with 61kg.
"That's 62.5 kg with the (jockey's) vest ... he's not a great big horse .... he's a strong horse, but I was very worried about the weight," Robertson said.
"I said to Harry Coffey, he's been drawing outside barriers - last start was 10, this time he's drawn one, so if you are positive, get him away well and lead he will win.
"He got out to the front and they couldn't run him down. That's a good effort with 62.5, that's an open class horse's weight.
"But he's a tough horse ... if you had of seen him after Monday's race, you wouldn't have reckoned he'd had a run. I bought him home and went straight for the feed bin."
Robertson expects to back up with Unique Goldy at Swan Hill this Monday, with the trainer now dreaming of three-straight wins.
The multiple country cups-winning trainer still speaks with fondness of some of his former stable stars, including The Mooksta.
Robertson won eight races at the tail-end of the sprinter's career, including smashing the track record for 950m at Towong in his final run as a 12-year-old.
The Mooksta had previously won 10 races for his first trainer Robbie Laing and ended his career in 2007 with nearly $300,000 in earnings.
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