Andrew Bobbin will wait until the last-possible moment before making a decision on whether Duke Of Bedford (NZ) (Tavistock) will take his place in Thursday’s Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool.
The son of Tavistock recorded a tenacious all-the-way triumph in Tuesday’s Brierly Steeplechase, the biggest win in his career to date.
“I’d always thought he’d be better on the flat tracks of an Australian Steeplechase and a Grand National at the end of the season,” Bobbin said.
“We’ll just see how that field holds up and at about 7:28am Thursday morning, I’ll probably still be scratching my head, I might even toss a coin.”
Bobbin’s success in the Brierly Steeplechase was particularly satisfying, as it’s a race that he’d carefully prepared Duke Of Bedford for.
“I love setting goals with races and working backwards and hitting the target and this was one today,” Bobbin said.
“I’ve got a seven-year-old son who comes with me to the races all the time. We walked through the alleyway near the bar down under the grandstand and he always says, ‘Dad, why is our name not on this board’?
“It’s on there today.”
It was a second-straight win in the Brierly for jockey Willie McCarthy, who won the 3450-metre event aboard star jumper Stern Idol last year, a performance that he drew some inspiration from this time around.
“I elected to try and do what we did on Stern Idol last year and make every post a winning post,” McCarthy said.
“He gave me a super ride, the horse, he was just so beautiful. I’ve never sat on him before and his jumping was just impeccable.
“I got in a little close to the third last but in actual fact, it probably gave me a breather at the point, he was able to come back into it after that and jumped the last two fences very well and I believe he ran away from them at the finish.”
Duke Of Bedford’s success was the second leg of a winning double for McCarthy, who won the opening event on Through Irish Eyes in what was his first day back riding over the jumps following an injury enforced absence.
The Brierly wasn’t run entirely incident free, however, as Leaderboard fell at Tozer Road, bringing down Bazini in the process.
Leaderboard was later found to be lame in his near hind leg and has been officially scratched from Thursday’s Grand Annual Steeplechase, while Bazini was reported to have returned with EIPH.
As for the fallen riders, Leaderboard’s rider Will Gordon was stood down from his remaining ride on Tuesday’s card. He was assessed by the doctor, who found him to be ok apart from a small laceration on his nose.
Gordon will be assessed by the doctor again on Wednesday morning prior to racing to determine his suitability to ride.
Martin Kelly, who partnered Bazini, was found to be all ok.