3 minute read

The Shane Baertschiger trained Bold Thruster was the stand-out performance of the weekend when simply dominant on Sunday evening.

An ultra impressive maiden winner (6.3L) two back, Bold Thruster raised the bar again when far too good in the third event.

His second win from three starts, Bold Thruster's only blemish came when finishing unplaced on debut.

Sent out hard in the market ($4.00), Bold Thruster failed come into contention when finishing fifth behind Pennywise.

Fairly one-paced to the line, Bold Thruster was beaten 6.2L.

While disappointing on face value, his SP was the key as he had clearly shown good ability at home.

Following the event, Baertschiger trialled Bold Thruster in blinkers and he went like a rocket, coasting to the line to score by 11.5L and stopping the clock at 59.29 seconds.

Very few horses break the minute mark at the trials and he did so carrying 67kg.

No surprise then to see him sent out with the blinkers on for the first time ($2.20F).

Beginning fairly well, Bold Thruster quickly mustered speed to take up the running and lead comfortably under Vorster.

Under a good hold entering the straight, Bold Thruster quickly dropped his rivals and raced away to score effortlessly.

While it's never easy making the rise from maiden company, the market saw it is as no issue with Bold Thruster installed the $1.20 favourite on Sunday.

Leading comfortably from the wide draw, Bold Thruster again travelled strongly for Vorster and had the race well in his keeping a long way out.

Given a little shake up by Vorster he quickly put a gap on his rivals and went to the line to score by 4.5L eased down.

Marked only marginally outside standard (fast for the respective meeting), Bold Thruster took a good step forward and is clearly a 3YO heading the right way.

The time figures and beaten margins indicate it is a strong piece of form and a solid platform for Bold Thruster to build off.

The Group 3 Garden City Trophy [1200m] was a race Baertschiger mentioned post-race which gives him another push, as he clearly has him in very high regard.

Baertschiger won the feature event with Faaltless last year and it will be held on the 21st of October this year.

Expect to see Bold Thruster in a Class 3 event at his next start which should give us another guide as to where he sits.

On the bare form he is still a fair way off winning a Garden City Trophy, but it appears within his capabilities when assessing Timeform predictive ratings.