A return to winning form by Bankers Choice at Moonee Valley put the cherry on top of a special few weeks for his breeders and part-owners, Ross and Corrine Kearney.
Under their Okaharau Station banner, the Kearneys also bred and race Bankers Choice’s full-brother Checkmate. That promising three-year-old has had four starts for two wins and two placings, including a dominant victory in the Listed Armacup 3YO Stakes (1500m) on November 30 and a strong-finishing third in the Group 2 Auckland Guineas (1600m) on Boxing Day.
But despite the exciting emergence of Checkmate and a placing in last year’s Group 2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) by half-sister Jodelin Gal, Bankers Choice remains the headline act of the family. The Mongolian Khan gelding has been a black-type winner in both New Zealand and Australia, capturing the Group 3 Anniversary Handicap (1600m) at Trentham for the Kearneys before a majority ownership share was sold to clients of trans-Tasman trainer Mike Moroney.
Bankers Choice then relocated to Australia, where he has won the Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m) and placed in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m), Group 2 Crystal Mile (1600m), Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m), Group 2 Zipping Classic (2400m) and Group 3 JRA Plate (2000m).
Bankers Choice had gone winless in 20 starts dating back to his Ballarat Cup win in November of 2022, but 19 of those appearances had been at Group or Listed level.
The seven-year-old took a big step down in class on Saturday, albeit with an increase in weight to 58.5kg, and he turned his form around with an outstanding front-running performance.
Drawn in gate eight among a 13-horse field, Bankers Choice and jockey Daniel Stackhouse found himself caught four wide going into the first turn. Stackhouse took the initiative and allowed his mount to stride forward, taking the lead with more than 1400m remaining.
Bankers Choice never surrendered that advantage, kicking away at the corner and coming into the straight with a two-length lead up his sleeve. The challengers tried to reel him in, but Bankers Choice kept finding and held on by just under half a length.
From 40 starts, Bankers Choice has now recorded seven wins and seven placings. He has earned more than A$1.1 million in stakes for the Kearneys, who now share ownership alongside a syndicate headed by Ballymore Stables and Rupert Legh.
The accomplished gelding’s resurgent performance on Saturday was a welcome sight for Moroney and his training partner Glen Thompson, who were represented at Moonee Valley by racing manager Anthony Feroce.
“He looks terrific and has been working the house down, but he’s been racing poorly,” he said. “He dropped right down in class today. He’s been racing in Group One company, so this is the weakest field he’s met for almost two years.
“He’s had a few little excuses and bits of bad luck in this campaign. Today our instructions to Daniel were to ride him where he was happy, and Daniel told us not to be surprised if he tried something different. He pushed forward after getting caught wide, and it was probably the winning move.
“Today was probably D-Day after a very frustrating run with the horse. We wanted to see something from him today, or else we might have had to make some hard calls. We saw the real Bankers Choice today, which was good.”
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