Jim Goldie on the reason he could 'have been out of the game a while ago'

Jim Goldie has sympathised with fellow trainers who have been forced to quit the sport and has admitted he would probably be out of the game himself had he not enjoyed the rub of the green during his career.

Trainers Joe Tuite and Harry Dunlop have recently announced they will stop training at the end of the season, citing financial difficulties and the current economic climate as reasons for quitting.

Goldie, who hopes to give Euchen Glen a third crack at York's Sky Bet Ebor Handicap on Saturday (3.35), is just three winners away from equalling his best seasonal tally of 46 in nearly three decades of training, but he knows things could have been very different.

"It's difficult, you need to be lucky to get a few good winners – that helps you along," said Goldie.

"Take Orientor, who I use as a stallion. I had two or three nominations to him because I trained him, and if you look at how many winners he's given us, even just this year, it's remarkable for a horse who served 50 mares a year if he was lucky.

"That's possibly why I'm still solvent, because I get lucky. If he was firing useless horses I'd have been out of the game a while ago."

Euchen Glen: one of Jim Goldie's marquee horsesCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Goldie has an eye on the Melbourne Cup for Euchen Glen if things work out at York.

He said: "He's had a few goes at the Ebor but he's well in this time.

"He's been a huge part of my career, he's well handicapped and it would mean a lot to win it. We'd maybe look at the Melbourne Cup. You get an invitation for winning that race and if you can win an Ebor you've certainly got a chance.

"We've got to get him there first of all, but his style of running would suit the track. He'd be a player undoubtedly, but it would be quite a task, especially for a man who barely goes out of Scotland these days."

Euchen Glen has enjoyed some of his biggest days at York, including a Group 3 success over St Leger winner Logician, a race Goldie looks back on with fondness.

"I still think John Gosden has sleepless nights about how our horse wiped about £5 million off the price of Logician," joked Goldie.

"Logician was a St Leger winner who was unbeaten when he arrived at York. He got taken out by a knockout blow – it was a masterclass by Paul Mulrennan. Admittedly it was a horrible day, the wind was blowing, but that win was one of my favourite moments in racing."

Goldie on the Racing League and Sunday Series

Small field sizes continue to be a hot topic and pitching his horses into the right races where good opportunities lie has also been key for Goldie's operation.

He said: "Field sizes aren't that desperate up here in 0-80-type races. I think the Racing League and Sunday Series is probably taking away from them. If you've got a 75-to-90-rated horse, you're not going to run for £15,000, you're going to wait for a £35,000 Sunday Series race.

"I think the Racing League is a great thing, there's a lot of prize money, they're nearly maximum fields every race and it's competitive – but it should be for a £50,000 race."

Sky Bet Ebor Handicap (3.35 York, Saturday)

Paddy Power: 7 Earl Of Tyrone, 8 Gaassee, 10 Okita Soushi, Ever Present, 14 John Leeper, Hamish, Coltrane, Candleford, Ajero 16 Euchen Glen, Valley Forge, Get Shirty, Licence, Trawlerman, Contact, Lot Of Joy, 20 bar

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