Bostonian (inner) edges out Osborne Bulls in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 on Saturday. Photo / Grant Peters
Bostonian (inner) edges out Osborne Bulls in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 on Saturday. Photo / Grant Peters
Bostonian has broken New Zealand's great Group 1 drought in Australia in the most unlikely of ways.
Because of all the things New Zealand thoroughbreds do well, winning Australia's biggest sprint races isn't one of them.
But after bucking that trend in the A$800,000 Doomben 10,000 in Brisbane on Saturday, Bostonian will now try to double down in the even richer A$1.5 million Sradbroke on June 8.
The Tony Pike-trained gelding won the battle for a gap at the 200m mark that ultimately won him the race on Saturday, meaning jockey Michael Cahill can lay claim to some credit for the win on two fronts.
Pike had been lukewarm on a 10,000 start until Bostonian galloped brilliantly on Tuesday and Cahill advised it was worth a crack at the big time, even if only as a lead-up to the Stradbroke.
But that lead-up turned into the richest win by a New Zealand-trained galloper in over two years, since Bonneval won the ATC Oaks in 2017.
Bonneval went on to win a Group 1 in October that year but since then New Zealand victories at the absolute highest level in Australia have dried up, with none in 18 months.
So to have that change in a serious, open age sprint race is one of the most unexpected results of the transtasman racing season as it was only the third 1200m win at the highest level by a flying Kiwi this century.
"We all know how hard it is to win their big sprints so you can never go into these races confident," said Pike.
"And the ride helped, it was a beauty from Michael.
"But he still had to win and it goes to show what a good horse he is and how much he loves this time of year and racing there [Queensland]."
The 10,000 may not have the absolute glamour of the major sprints at Flemington or Randwick but Bostonian still had to beat some of Australia's sprinting elite.
Runner-up Osborne Bulls is very good at finishing second — he has been placed in the TJ Smith, Newmarket and Everest — while Saturday's fourth-placed Nature Strip won the Galaxy two starts ago.
Trainer Tony Pike. Photo / Trish Dunell
Now Bostonian, by a Derby winner (albeit one who went on to run second in a Cox Plate) in Jimmy Choux out of a mare who only won one race, he now finds himself a $15 chance to win the Stradbroke.
"I think the step up to 1400m will suit him even better, that is his pet distance," says Pike.
Bostonian also gave Pike the richest win of his career, with the NZ Derby worth $750,000, not its current $1 million, when he trained Rangipo to win it three years ago.
The 50-1 win was Bostonian's fourth from as many starts in Queensland, with Pike having also won a Queensland Oaks (Provocative) and Atkins (Sacred Elixir) there in recent years.
The carnival has become far more fertile ground for New Zealand-trained horses in the last couple of seasons than the Melbourne spring or Sydney autumn, with the latter two providing plenty of staying race placings and the occasional 3-year-old classic win but the sub-1600m ranks have been far harder Group 1 nuts to crack.
Pike says regardless of how Bostonian fares in the Stradbroke he has probably earned himself a shot at Melbourne or Sydney in the future.
With an incredibly rare Australian Group 1 1200m in his trophy cabinet now, Bostonian could even enter the conversation for New Zealand sprinter-miler of the year.
Santa Monica (Railway) and Enzo's Lad (Telegraph) beat him in our best sprint races but the clubhouse leader for that title must be Melody Belle, courtesy of four Group 1 wins at 1400m to 1600m (two at each) at home.
She beat Bostonian by just a head in one of those, the BCD Sprint at Te Rapa, but if Bostonian can take the next step up in the Stradbroke next month he will make a late-season surge.
And for those who believe in miracles there is always Enzo's Lad's bid for King's Stand glory at Royal Ascot on June 18 as the other incredibly unlikely curve ball.
Special sprinters
NZ's modern day group one sprint winners in Australia
