THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN: CAN SKYE BOGENHUBER'S BIG WEEK GET EVEN BETTER?

By Graham Potter | Friday, June 8, 2018

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

With all of the on-going drama at the top of The Range surrounding the intricate investigation into the activities of the Ben Currie stable, the city of Toowoomba, in a racing context at least, has been in desperate need of a good news story … and last Saturday it arrived, some one hundred and forty kilometres from home base, courtesy of a result of a feature race run at the Sunshine Coast.

Skye Bogenhuber, a multiple Toowoomba Jockey’s Premiership winner, was having her first ride in a Group race when she went out to contest Group 2, Moreton Cup aboard the Brett Cavanough trained The Monstar.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Their victory was all the more satisfying because it was hard earned. The Monstar had to utilise his natural speed to forge to the head of affairs early on and then he had to call on all of his courage when asked to complete the job in a pressurised finish after looking to be under siege halfway up the straight.

It was a big seventy-three seconds (the race time) for Bogenhuber, The Monstar’s connections and for the Toowoomba racing community who immediately embraced Bogenhuber’s success with a fanfare that flowed through a flurry of positive posts on social media leaving nobody in any doubt that they now had something to celebrate and they were going to make the most of it.

“I know the horse inside out,” said Bogenhuber. “Knowing the horse was important. I went out there one hundred percent to ride the horse to suit him and not worry about the others so much.

“When they loomed up and nearly went past me I did think we were in trouble for a moment, but I know the Monstar does that … he hits a flat spot … and then he switches on again. It’s almost like he needs them to come up to him, or head him, and then he responds again.

"When he did respond I knew he was in for the dog-fight and he proved too strong for them.”

An absolute career highlight last Saturday. A birthday celebration on Wednesday. Could the week get any better for Bogenhuber?

Well, tomorrow The Monstar will take his place in Queensland’s richest race, the $1.5 million Stradbroke Handicap … and Bogenhuber will be in the saddle in her first Group 1 ride making it a landmark day for the rider whatever the outcome.

The final chapter of a big week for Bogenhuber is about to be written.

More articles