In a performance that harked back to yesteryear battles between handicapper and horse, champion steeplechaser Bashboy has cemented his place as one of the modern-greats of Australian jumps racing with a dominant win in the 2013 Grand National Steeplechase at Sandown.
Capping off what has been a stellar 2013 season for racing over hurdles and fences, Bashboy’s victory heralded the second metric-weight carrying record to be broken this month, following Black and Bent’s brave win in the Grand National Hurdle a fortnight ago.
The handicapper certainly set Bashboy a challenge, with the Ciaron Maher trained nine-year old asked to carry the grandstand over the 4500m journey of the National.
After an impressive victory in the Crisp Steeplechase a fortnight prior carrying 69kg, Bashboy was thrown down the gauntlet to carry 72.5kg over the undulating National trek.
Despite such a monumental impost, he was sent out a resounding $1.65 favourite and didn’t let the punters down – duly saluting by 3.75 lengths. It was a flawless jumping display in which the son of Perugino smashed the metric weight carrying record; his 72.5kgs being the greatest weight carried to victory since Pedro’s Pride won with 11 stone 12 pound, the equivalent of 75.3kg, back in 1957.
Steven Pateman, Australia’s leading jumps jockey, had nothing but praise for his mount upon returning to scale.
“He’s a superstar, for sure – he’s come out of nowhere.” he said. “It’s a privilege to have been a part of him. You wouldn’t have known he had 72.5, he didn’t feel it at all. He was comfortable in victory again.”
In defending his Grand National crown, Bashboy improved his record to seven wins from as many starts over the larger jumps, while completing a hat-trick of National wins for Maher, who also took out the race with Man of Class in 2011.
It was a pleasing effort for Maher who had pinpointed the Grand National as the target of Bashboy’s preparation since the gelding returned to the track in late April following a nine month spell.
“Obviously he was the best horse in the race and I trained him to peak today,” Maher said.
“The expectation was pretty high and it’s just good to get the job done. It was probably the best he jumped today. He made a mistake in the Crisp, but out in front he can bowl along and dictate. You could see he dropped the head going past the winning post the first time and just really settled and was quite dominant.”
After taking on both the handicapper and the best Australia could offer, Bashboy seems destined to continue his career overseas, with both trainer and jockey confident he has what it takes to measure up in England.
“Today was the target race for him, so we’ll just see how he is,” Maher said. “Obviously he’s in great form, we’ll sit down with the connections and plan his next target.”
“Steve and myself both said think he’s got the quality and maybe some of the credentials you need to race over there, so we’ll just wait and see.”
Have you ever tried your skills in a Racing daily fantasy competition? Put your best picks to the test for one day and see if you can scoop the pot with Draftstars. Looking for great odds on racing and sport? PlayUp is your best bet. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Without a Fight completed the rare Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double on Tuesday as star jockey Mark Zahra went back-to-back in the big one after…
The race that stops the nation is upon us again. Every horse in the Melbourne Cup has reasons they can win, and reasons they…
Those who want to have a really big collect on Australia’s greatest race, without risking too much, have to look at the exotic bets.
While most of the attention is on Ciaron Maher and David Eustace's Gold Trip, there's no reason why stablemate Future History cannot upstage him.
Champion jockey Damien Oliver is quietly confident his Melbourne Cup mount Alenquer will be passed fit to give him a farewell ride in the…
Melbourne Cup day is here again, and it’s never anything less than exciting. The Cup itself will of course be full of drama and…
