Bonavista Back With A Bang

02 October 2009
Logo
Bonavista Bay claims the Melton Plate

Bonavista Bay claims the Melton Plate

The good judges think Bonavista Bay has the ability to end up an Australian harness racing great and the untapped entire joined a number of them with his dominant win in Friday night’s 21st Shire Of Melton Plate at Tabcorp Park.

The Emma Stewart-trained gun put his name alongside champions including Franco Tiger, Shakamaker, Sokyola and Melpark Major on the four and five-year-old feature honour roll when he claimed the $50,000 Group 2 event.
He cruised to a 1:56.3 win in the 2240-metre event, which was just 0.1secs outside the track record Tintin In America set when he run down Bonavista Bay in a memorable Breeders Crown Final on August 23.
Winning reinsman Chris Alford said it was a brilliant display by the son of Rustler Hanover, who was first-up since that herculean Breeders Crown placing.
“He’s a great horse and he just felt awesome down the back (straight) tonight,” Alford said.
“He hasn’t been overraced or anything like that and it’s all looking good for the future.”
Bonavista Bay joined former champion mare Tailamade Lombo as the only four-year-olds to have won the Melton Plate from the second line when he overcame gate 11 to score to the 12th win of 15-start career.
Alford gave his star 400m to find his feet early, but then worked his way around the field and found the spot outside leader Tsunami Lombo by the 1400m mark.
After covering the first half of the last mile in 60.5 seconds, Alford upped the ante heading out of the straight the final time and put paid to Tsunami Lombo after a 28.1-second third split.
The top reinsman was forced to go earlier than he wanted when Tsunami Lombo shifted away from the pegs at the 400m, presenting Make Mine Cullen with a dream run, but he still pulled out another 28.1-second section.
That carried the $1.60 favourite to a 6-3/4-metre win over Make Mine Cullen ($5.60) with the unlucky Lighting Two Up ($13), who had trouble finding a clear run rounding the home turn, 3-1/2m back in third spot.
“I was happy to sit in the `death’ but the leader rolled off the track down the back and the main danger (Make Mine Cullen) was coming through so I had to get to the front before I wanted to,” Alford said.
“The he knocked off when he got to the front, but then when I asked him to go again at the top of the straight he just ran away from them again.”

 

Related News

19 September 2024
Van Ryn banks on Tooby Gold's grit for Heidi George Classic glory
David Van Ryn has his sights set on etching Tooby Gold’s name on the honour roll of the Heidi George Classic for 2024 ahead of her heat appearance on Sunday at Echuca. The series was set up by Dr Kath McIntosh from Llowalong Farms for mid-class pacing mares, last year’s inaugural series was...
19 September 2024
Swayzee brings star power to Parkes for Carnival of Cups opener
New Zealand Cup hero Swayzee brings his star power to the Carnival of Cups when the 2024/25 series gets underway at Parkes on Friday night. Building on the huge success of last year's revamped Harness Racing NSW Carnival of Cups, the series will feature five big events over the coming months with...
19 September 2024
Gloucester Park Preview Friday 20 September 2024
Harper’s golden streak Star reinsman Kyle Harper celebrated a notable milestone at Gloucester Park on Tuesday night when he drove four winners on a program for the first time --- and he has high hopes of continuing his golden streak by guiding Talks Up A Storm to victory in the $31,000 The West...
18 September 2024
Third good enough to complete TAB punter's $18,500 collect
He might have been well beaten into third, but Playnice’s minor placing was music to the ears of one TAB customer at Shepparton last week.
18 September 2024
A reason to smile for Patsy as a Group 1 helps warm spirits
The joys of what a Group 1 win can bring couldn’t be more evident then the smile that lit up 92-year-old majority owner Patsy Abrahams’ face after Rapid Return hit the line first in Saturday night’s Vicbred Super Series final for four-year-old trotting mares.
Click for more