Photo: Race Images South
Respected Wanganui trainer Kevin Myers captured his fourth Gr.3 Martin Collins New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton on Saturday courtesy of a supreme staying performance by Bozo (Satono Aladdin).
An extraordinary storm in the early part of Saturday afternoon made the track a gruelling Heavy9 and turned the $450,000 staying showpiece into a case of survival of the fittest. Five-year-old mare Bozo, who was previously a five-time winner from 14 starts on heavy tracks, was the horse to fit that bill.
Bozo was ridden by Tina Comignaghi, who was happy to take up a position near the back of the field and wait for the energy-sapping track conditions to take their toll on the opposition. With a final race time of 3:33.05 – almost 16 seconds outside the race record of 3:17.22 set by Soundoration in 1990 – that was exactly what happened.
Bozo and Comignaghi began to improve their position through the pack coming up to the home turn, then angled to the outside to make their run down the straight. Bozo skipped through the sloppy ground and went past her labouring rivals like they were standing still, powering clear in the closing stages to win by three and a half lengths.
Saturday’s triumph brought a long-range plan to fruition with Bozo, whose five previous starts this season included a win and a placing on Heavy10 tracks at Riccarton and Wanganui in August, followed by a sixth at Trentham on October 18, an unplaced finish on a Good4 track in the Listed Spring Classic (2000m) on October 25 and an eye-catching run for third in the Feilding Cup (2050m) at Tauherenikau on November 1. That race proved to be a strong form reference on Saturday, with its winner Agera taking out the Gr.2 Tauranga Stakes (1530m).
Myers, who had previously won the New Zealand Cup with Spring Cheer (2013), Mondorani (2021) and Aljay (2022), was represented at Riccarton on Saturday by his son Jason.
“This is a special win,” he said. “We set horses for these races in November from as much as six or 12 months out.
“We scratched this horse on the middle day of the carnival on Wednesday to give her the best chance of winning this race today, once it looked like there would be some rain around. Our confidence kept growing, the more rain we got.
“Tina gave her a great ride. We thought, with a bit of pace in the race, they would end up going quite slow late in the race in these track conditions. We just wanted to get her to the outside and see if she could finish over the top of them.
“From the 1000m, once she started picking runs in between horses, I was starting to grow in confidence. She looked to be travelling pretty well, and then she was just too strong for them in the end.”
Bozo has now had 30 starts for seven wins, eight placings and $486,970. The daughter of Satono Aladdin was bred by Rick Hill, who shares ownership with Sandra and Anne Hill.
It was a second New Zealand Cup success for Comignaghi, who also teamed up with Myers to win the race with Aljay in 2022.
“This is amazing, I can’t believe it,” she said. “They kept saying she would run well today. I wasn’t quite so sure, but obviously they know better than me! She felt really good in that ground. She really relished the testing conditions.”
Notabadspillane was a gallant second under a ground-saving ride from apprentice jockey Elen Nicholas, while Canheroc crossed the line in third place in an exact repeat of his placing in last year’s edition of the time-honoured race.
