BOHEMIAN LAD WINS LIKE ANY $1.12 FAVOURITE SHOULD

By Graham Potter | Sunday, February 4, 2024

Trainer David Vandyke has always been a fan of the progeny of the sire Better Than Ready and his enthusiasm for the breed would only have become further entrenched following Bohemian Lad’s demolition job on the opposition in a QTIS Three-Year-Old BM62Handicap over 1000m at the Sunshine Coast on February 4.

“This (Bohemian Lad) is getting down to Winx and Black Caviar odds,” said commentator Josh Fleming as the field started loading and the Vandyke trainer runner’s price shortened from $1.30 to $1.12 ... and in the run itself, there was never a moments doubt about the fact that Bohemian Lad fully justified his price with a care-free romp that carried him to a facile second career victory from only three starts.

Ryan Maloney jumped Bohemian Lad on terms with the field before being happy to take a trail in second spot as The Lucky Alien ... at $6.50 the only runner bar Bohemian Lad to be quoted at less than $14 ... sped away up front trying to make every post a winning one.
Maloney kept Bohemian Lad holding a watching brief some two lengths back until the field straightened for home but, when Maloney gave the Vandyke trained runner a flick of the wrists approaching the 300m mark, Bohemian Lad responded on cue, quickly striding to the lead with a minimum of fuss ... before franking his superiority by reigning supreme all the way to the line without ever being asked to get out of second gear.

The $14 chance Alloutoftime did run on the finish within two lengths of the Vandyke trained winner but, in truth, Bohemian Lad won more easily than that official winning margin suggests.

Previously, Bohemian Lad had secured an impressive, three-length debut win over 1000m back in May 2023. He followed that up with a runner-up finish which brought his two-year-old campaign to an end.

Vandyke then allowed Bohemian Lad a full eight-and-a-half month break from race action before sending him out here, fresh, first-up, back over 1000m, for his first start as a three-year-old.

It was all too easy ... in fact, you could argue that Vandyke is also making this training gig look easy recently with Bohemian Lad being his seventh winner in the last fourteen days from only twelve runners.

Adding to the stable confidence at this time is the fact that Vandyke’s last three winners have come from his last three starters.

Vandyke has shared this recent stable success around in the jockey ranks with these seven winners being ridden by Ryan Maloney (2), Ben Thompson, Cejay Graham, Kyle Wilson-Taylor, Michael Rodd and Jimmy Orman.

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