After seven placings in his last eight starts, Bunker Hut broke through with a dominant return to winning form in Saturday’s A$160,000 Captivant @ Kia Ora Handicap (1350m) at Rosehill.
The Savabeel gelding has rarely run a bad race in his career, but he went into Saturday’s Benchmark 78 handicap with a win drought dating back to September of 2023.
Bunker Hut’s connections kept the faith, however, and their patience was rewarded with an emphatic performance on Saturday.
After taking up a handy position in third along the rails, Bunker Hut and jockey Chad Schofield cruised up behind the leader but briefly found themselves boxed in at the home turn and had nowhere to go.
Schofield found some room to angle his mount off the heels of the front-running Infatuation and into clear air. Bunker Hut produced a turn of foot that belied his 60.5kg weight, bounding to the lead in the final 100m to win going away by a length and three-quarters.
“He rarely runs a bad race and this prep he has been in super form without winning,” trainer Michael Freedman said.
“It has been frustrating more than anything, because you see what he can do at home, then you come here race day.
“The way Chad rode him today, with that nice ‘suck’ run up behind the leader, it worked out perfectly for him. When he has that one sharp dash at them, it's when he races best.”
Bunker Hut was originally raced by a China Horse Club and Newgate Farm syndicate, having been sold at the Easter Yearling Sale, where he was offered by Sledmere Stud on behalf of breeders Waikato Stud, for A$520,000.
Bunker Hut posted two wins and four placings from 10 appearances before he was secured by Darby Racing for A$155,000 through Inglis Digital . His career now spans 24 starts for four wins, 11 placings and A$374,450.
Bunker Hut is out of the Pins mare Pretty and is a half-brother to seven winners including stakes winners Bonny O’Reilly and Pretty To Sea. Another half-sister, Dahooil, is the dam of Group One winner Espiona. – NZ Racing Desk.
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