Ideal Agent claims Gr3 Mount Eden Sprint

Greg and Skye Bond are reaping the rewards of their hard work, with the harness racing training duo once again taking out WA’s Leading Trainer for 2023 on Saturday night at the annual Racing WA Harness Awards held at Crown Perth.

Attributing much of their success to their behind-the-scenes team of staff, stable foreperson Deni Roberts walked away with the 2023 Excellence Award in its first year running.

The success for Team Bond didn’t end on Saturday though, with in-form seven-year-old Ideal Agent NZ (American Ideal) taking out the Gr3 $50,000 Regency Foods Mount Eden Sprint (1684m) in an impressive 1:52:1 on Monday, March 18 at Pinjarra.

“We always had a lot of time for (him) but unfortunately he had a tendon injury and so we did a really long rehab process on that where we did stem cell,

“We have a program where we really take 12 months to get them back to the track, and incorporated into that where he spent time at a place called Peringa Equine which is an aqua treadmill which I think was really beneficial to him, and he still goes down there at least once a week for fitness and therapy,

“He’s very exciting, we’re just thrilled to see him get that win in that race on Monday.”

IDEAL AGENT REPLAY

With 14 days between runs, Ideal Agent NZ went into Monday’s race after a last start fourth in the Gr3 Pinjarra Cup, with yesterday’s win seeing the son of American Ideal USA take his earnings to just over $300,000.

Without being too confident, Skye Bond was hopeful going into Monday’s feature, making mention that the race had to be run to suit with Ideal Agent drawing barrier 8 on the frontline, going into 7 with the late scratching of Chal Patch in barrier 3.

“I thought the speed might be on which is what we needed because from our draw, we weren’t really in a position of strength to command what was happening,

“I always knew if he got a good run he would be in the finish.”

Recently announced Nullarbor runner Swingband was gallant in defeat when he braved it out in the breeze for the entire 1684m journey, going down by the smallest of margins, with connections sure to be impressed with the five-year-old heading towards the major feature in April.

Tenzing Bromac and Steel The Show also make their return this Friday night at Gloucester Park for the Bond stable.

“They’re working up really well, Steel The Show is a typical Bettors Delgiht where he only does what he needs to on the track but he looks really good and strong and they’ve both had a fair bit of work going into Friday,

“We should see a forward showing from both of them.”

At this stage, Team Bond haven’t made any definitive decision on their slot choice for the upcoming TABTouch Nullarbor, but hinted at the likelihood of Minstrel representing their team at the Awards night on Saturday March 16.

“We will probably leave it open; we don’t really have to make that decision until the Monday before the race so I guess we would be silly to lock something in and have an option and something go wrong,

“It will be interesting to see how Tenzing (Bromac) and Steel The Show come back this week,

“We will just keep that option open for now and decide what the best horse is for it then.”

Ideal Agent NZ will follow a similar pathway as Minstrel going forward, with Bond confirming that he will likely race in the FFA event a fortnight before the Nullarbor.

With around 40 horses in work, Team Bond have a few exciting propositions coming through, with 2023 New Zealand Oaks winner Arrdiebytheseaside only a couple of weeks away from making her debut for their stable.

For complete race results, click here.

by Ashleigh Paikos, for RWWA