PRINCESS BOJACK ... NEVER IN DOUBT

By Graham Potter | Sunday, August 15, 2021

Princess Bojack arrived Eagle Farm on August 14 for her first run as a three-year-old having concluded her two-year-old campaign with a consistent run of results behind her name.

A win at Ipswich on a heavy 10 on July 2 was followed by two third placings, firstly behind Release The Beans … who has won three out of his four career starts … and then behind Alpine Edge … the Listed Phelan Ready and the Group 2 Bruce McLachlan winner who also ran second behind Shaquero in the $2 million Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic.

Those third placings were both over 1200m and, not only did that form stack up really well going into the race, but the fact that Princess Bojack was coming back to 1000m here also looked to play to her advantage.

Punters seemingly were not convinced though, with Princess Bojack easy to back at $7.

That reluctance was to prove to be their loss as Princess Bojack and jockey Jim Byrne basically had their race under control throughout.

They jumped in the lead but then settled, comfortably tracking the speed as She’s Heavenly ($15) took up the running. Turning for home Princess Bojack had the leader firmly in her sights and she began to close steadily on She’s Heavenly.

She’s Heavenly stuck to her task gamely enough, but Princess Bojack was always going to take her measure, which she did inside the final 150m to win by a clear-cut 1.50 lengths.

The $3.50 favourite Glorious Ruby ran on to snatch second place away from She’s Heavenly without ever looking likely to trouble Princess Bojack while the race’s other main fancy Secret Tales never flattered at any stage and failed to beat a runner home.

“She is one of my favourite’s … probably because she is so little,” said Michael Nolan.

“We tried her a couple of times here over 1200m and it was a bridge too far … that last 100m … on those occasions, but that was behind some pretty good horses so, even though she wasn’t in the market today, Jimmy (Byrne) was pretty confident and when I spoke to him pre-race I was pretty confident.

“I knew the other day that we just ran into a better horse with Alpine Edge and that result would be a good formline.

“This was the first time that Princess Bojack had only raced against females and I just thought it was the right sort of race for her. I thought she was silly odds.”

And the result from Jim Byrne’s point of view?

“I actually said to Michael that her last start (against Alpine Edge), while it was a great effort, that the six furlongs was a bridge too far … but I’ve got a different opinion of her after today.

“She was going to win soft, and it was going to be pretty effortless but, coming up to the 50, she just starts winding off and I thought, hang on, it’s not over yet.

“I’m thinking now that she may get the six furlongs if you put the blinkers on … she is not fading, she is just winding off and doesn’t really know how to compete. I don’t think the blinkers will fire her up because she is very professional … but I think the blinkers will make her a racehorse.”

Princess Bojack is now a three-time winner from nine starts and she also has three minor placings to her credit.
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While Princess Bojack topped the honour roll for the Nolan stable results on August 14, Puckish and Twilight Boom also did good work on the day.

Puckish finished second in a BM78 contest over 2400m at Eagle Farm, meaning that he has now finished in the first two places in four out of his last five starts. Puckish raced towards the rear of the field for much of the race and he was still well out of his ground when swinging five wide for home, but he kept coming … and kept coming … and his perseverance paid off when he managed to snare second place in the very last stride

For his part, Twilight Boom made it back-to-back runner-up finishes at Toowoomba and his third successive placing from three starts since resuming from a five month spell. Twilight Boom looked to have been produced at the perfect time, hitting the front in the straight straight only to be run down late by Mishani Untamed with just 0.40 lengths ultimately separating Twilight Boom from what would have been his first career victory.

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