Bulletproof Boy earns Victoria Cup berth

A night of harness racing upsets continued at Melton when the nine-year-old Bulletproof Boy (Art Official) led all the way in the Smoken Up Sprint with the $1.90 favorite Catch A Wave missing a place. 

Catch A Wave settled second last from its inside second row draw before Kate Gath pulled out three wide with a lap to travel and was forced to work making ground three wide in a brutal 26.9 back straight quarter. 

The effort told in the concluding stages and it was Bulletproof Boy who kept finding to hold on courageously in the run to the line scoring by two metres from the fast finishing Triple Eight in a mile rate of 1:52.3. 

BULLETPROOF BOY SMOKES EM! ♨️

Scott Ewen has driven and trained Bulletproof Boy to fire home to win the TAB Smoken Up Sprint. Ewan and Bulletproof Boy combined to win the Sprint back in 2021. pic.twitter.com/MsuTS8AusQ

— The Trots (@TheTrotsComAu) October 7, 2023

Trainer driver Scott Ewen was delighted after securing a spot in next week’s Victoria Cup  

“He’s a freak this horse, he’s a nine-year-old and going as good as ever and to run a 54 half that’s what’s won him the race,” Ewen said.  

“I always had a plan that if I didn’t have to run a hard first quarter and then when Catch A Wave came I was going to start running and just hope that he would keep coming and he did,” he said.  

Ewen said Bulletproof Boy showed plenty of stamina in the concluding stages of the race. 

“I reined him up at the end and he just kept going, he’s just a little tiger,” he said. 

Catch A Wave’s trainer Andy Gath was philosophical after the race. 

“He was a long way off them after starting from the inside of the second row, I was still pretty happy with the performance and I don’t think he went badly,” Gath said.  

“He’s had a good blow so he’ll benefit off that run and I’m sure he’ll be spot on next week but he’s going to have to be as it will be a brutal field,” he said.  

For complete race results, click here.

by John Dunne, for Harnesslink