Evergreen Bulletproof Boy goes back-to-back in Bendigo Pacing Cup

BULLETPROOF Boy lived up to his name, unleashing an impregnable performance to claim back-to-back Group 2 Bendigo Pacing Cup wins for Cranbourne trainer Scott Ewen at Melton Entertainment Park last Saturday night.

Brilliantly driven by James Herbertson, the evergreen 11-year-old upset his more fancied rivals, including pacing sensation Kingman ($2.10 favourite), Petracca ($4.20) and Hi Manameisjeff ($3.40) for a breathtaking win in the $75,000 feature.

Bulletproof Boy – an $11 chance – again showed his versatility by winning over the 1720m trip and at Melton, with the cup meeting being transferred from Bendigo’s Lord’s Raceway to harness racing headquarters as a result of extreme weather, fire dangers and challenging road access conditions, after the State Government declared a state of disaster for the fire-affected City of Greater Bendigo on Saturday.

His 2025 Cup win was won over 2650m at Lord’s Raceway.

In a classic case of getting better with age, Bulletproof Boy won for the 51st time from 223 starts.

He has been placed on 52 occasions and has now banked more than $850,000 in prize money.

Herbertson settled Bulletproof Boy three-back on the outside and in what proved to be a pivotal move, opted to switch back to the pegs down the back straight.

Ready to pounce on the home turn, Bulletproof Boy used the sprint lane and charged home strongly for a 1.7 metre win over the Emma Stewart-trained Petracca.

The $2.10 favourite Kingman battled on gamely for third, but never looked like likely to threaten after being under pressure on the home turn.

Herbertson, who was in the sulky for both of Bulletproof Boy’s Bendigo Cup wins, said he was quietly confident approaching the home straight.

“I was quite happy with how he was travelling throughout and when we got to the 300 (metres) all the good horses were being tapped up and Bullet was still cruising along and happy to be there,” he said.

“It felt really easy for him and I’m just over the moon for the horse.”

Bulletproof Boy, by Art Official out of My Riviera Girl, put his connections in contention for a $1 million bonus.

He will need to win another three legs of the Summer of Glory series, including the $250,000 Group 1 A.G. Hunter Cup at Melton on 15 February.

Remarkably, for all his stunning performances, Bulletproof Boy is yet to win a Group 1 race – and a delighted Ewen admitted to having a slight concern over his race fitness before the race.

“I was a bit worried that it was three weeks since he’d had a run but I gave him a couple of runs this week and a canter on Thursday and he just went sensational,” he said.

Bulletproof Boy’s stunning defeat of Group 1 Victoria and New Zealand Cups winner Kingman was on a par with his shock victory at odds of 70-1 over Leap To Fame in the Smoken Up Sprint at Melton last October.