Ruakaka stayer Bosch took his best form over the Brynderwyn Hills on Saturday and scored his first Ellerslie victory in the Dunstan Horsefeeds 2200.
The Pentire gelding headed into the $75,000 race with five wins to his name, all of them at his home track. His six previous visits to Ellerslie had produced a fourth, a fifth, two sixths and two ninths.
It was a different story on Saturday as Bosch produced a relentless front-running performance.
Ridden by Samantha Collett for trainer Michelle Bradley, Bosch drew the second to outside gate but jumped well and was able to cross to the rail and take up the lead with a lap to go.
The seven-year-old enjoyed a comfortable run through the first half of the race, but that all changed in the back straight as Drop Of Something pressed forward after being caught wide.
Collett decided not to hand up the lead to that rival and went with him as they lifted the tempo and moved two or three lengths clear of the rest of the field.
Bosch regained a clear lead coming down the side of the track, and then he kicked off the corner.
Drop Of Something chased hard down the straight, but Bosch refused to let him pass and held him out to win by a head. King Khan produced a late run into third, three-quarters of a length behind the first pair.
Bosch delivered a perfect raceday return to Ellerslie for Collett, whose last Ellerslie ride was before its closure in 2022 for major renovations. Collett has spent most of the last three seasons in Queensland.
“I’ve been here a couple of times recently for trials and gallops, but it’s been a hot minute since my last spin around here on raceday,” she said. “It’s nice to know I didn’t get lost!
“Michelle has done a great job with this horse, which made my job easy today. He had a break between runs before his last start, which was over 1400m mainly to tick him over, but his run there was actually really good.
“I think the key today was being able to get to the rail and let him dictate his own tempo. The track is beautiful out there and he was very comfortable.
“I was in two minds when Drop Of Something came up alongside me. I didn’t want him to work me too hard, but my horse – and Michelle will tell you this too – is significantly better when he has the rail to follow. So I wasn’t really keen to hand up and let him go out in front of me.
“I knew my horse was good enough to keep going, so I just had him working enough to prove an inconvenience for him and to help my horse along.
“I think he can step up in class from here. I know he hasn’t done much away from home before this, but he put them to the sword today.”
Bosch has now had 32 starts for six wins, nine placings and $219,355 in stakes. His four starts over 2200m have produced three wins.
“For me, this is like winning a Group One race,” a delighted Bradley said. “My main goal with him in this preparation was to win a race here, and we’ve done that, so it’s fantastic.”
Bosch’s preparation has been an unconventional but effective one, with a win in an open 2100m handicap on July 12 followed by a fourth over 1400m on August 16.
“He won well over ground two starts ago,” Bradley said. “The reason for dropping back in distance last time was that he got in with a nice light weight (54kg) compared to the 62kg he would have had to carry if we ran in a Rating 75. It was a good way of getting another run into him.”
Bradley is now keen to raise the bar – potentially with a tilt at the Gr.3 Counties Cup (2100m), in which Bosch was unplaced last year.
“We had a crack at the Counties Cup last year, but I think he’s a much stronger horse this time around,” Bradley said. “That could be an option again. In the meantime we’ll probably come back here in a few weeks and then take it from there.”
