BOHEMIAN LAD AND RYAN MALONEY KEEP THEIR UNBEATEN RECORD INTACT

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, June 26, 2024

The lightly raced Bohemian Lad maintained his exemplary formline when he gained his third win from only five starts when he saluted in a QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap over 1200m at Doomben on June 26.

In truth, Bohemian Lad has yet to run a bad race.

Bohemian Lad had two starts as a two-year-old, winning comfortable on debut, before finishing second in his follow-up start.

The son of Better Than ready was then away from race action for a full eight months before resuming with another first-up win in the first outing of his second preparation.

This time the win was in a Three-Year-Old BM62 Handicap over 1000m.

Again, a runner-up result was to follow second-up ... it is worth noting that in the two runs in which he was defeated, Bohemian Lad only went down by margins of a length and 0.20 lengths ... and then it was on to this latest assignment, this time with Ryan Maloney aboard.

Going into the race Maloney and Bohemian Lad were unbeaten as a horse/rider combination ... being two from two ...and they would come away with that record intact.
Bohemian Lad jumped as the $3.10 race favourite, but he did have a market rival in the form of the Heyoka whose starting price was $3.50.

Bohemian Lad was well away at the break, but he ultimately settled in fourth place, one off the rail, racing right alongside Heyoka, just a couple of lengths off the lead in a fairly bunched field in the first half of the race and through the sweep to the home turn.

With the field becoming even more tightly bunched approaching the home turn, Bohemian Lad was momentarily trapped behind and in-between runners on straightening, but that situation resolved itself soon enough with Bohemian Lad finding clear running early in the home straight at which stage the Vandyke trained runner was left with a little over two lengths to make up on the leader.

The Inflictor ($15) was the horse to get to in the straight, and Maloney wasted little time in starting to push Bohemian Lad out strongly, hands and heels, and the gap between these two runners gradually began to come down ... but only gradually, as The Inflictor kicked on strongly.

Bohemian Lad too was strong though.

His run to the line was a sustained one and, in the end, it proved good enough to reel in The Inflictor, inside the final 100m, and to then hold the persistent challenge of The Inflictor at bay ... he just would not go away ... to win by a narrow margin.

This third win brought up the $100 000 prize-money mark for Bohemian Lad, in only his fifth start.

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