 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 1982
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Bonnie's Chance holds out Armalight |
Bonnie's Chance became the 20th horse, and the fifth in succession, to take out the NZ Cup - NZ Free-For-All double when she took out the 1982 Free-For-All. The Kerrytown queen's victory came after a hard-fought tussle with two previous double winners - Armalight and Hands Down - and was without question one of the most courageous efforts posted by the mare.
One of the first out, Bonnie's Chance became awkwardly placed as positions changed in the first 1200 metres, at which point trainer-driver Richard Brosnan had to push out three wide and set off after Hands Down, who was on a forward run up towards the pacemaker Zabadak. Hands Down was sitting on Zabadak's wheel from the 900 metres, leaving Bonnie's Chance parked three wide, but she dashed past Hands Down soon after straightening up.
Once clear, Bonnie's Chance had to find more reserves to hold of the rapidly improving Armalight, who had threaded her way forward from a second line draw to be in behind the leaders on the home turn. Armalight tried to overhaul Bonnie's Chance, but was forced wider on the track as the Cup winner drifted out in the run home, and was half a length back at the finish. Hands Down, who was left struggling when Bonnie's Chance dashed to the lead at the top of the straight, rallied again to get within three quarters of a length of Armalight, then there was a big gap to Remote, who lost her position with a round to go and had to battle on gamely from the back. Tarlad did best of the others.
Bonnie's Chance clocked an outstanding 2:28.5 for the mobile 2000 metres, a mile rate of 1:59.6. Considering the runners had to contend with a strong head wind twice down the Addington straight, it was a particularly meritorious performance.
Credit: Tony Williams writing in NZ Trotting Calendar