“It will be great to have him back,” says Bergerson, who has been friends with Bosson for decades.
“I reckon we have a chance together in the last race on Sunday, but regardless of how my horse goes, it is just good for the industry to have him back riding.”
Before punters jump on the Bosson train at Awapuni tomorrow, Bergerson will head to Riccarton today to try to win the Winter Cup that Bradman was double-nosed out of into third last year.
“I’d love him to win a Winter Cup,” Bergerson said.
“These older horses you have in the stable for a long time become like mates, and he is exactly that.
“He went so close last year and I think he is going at least as well.
“He has 58kg, which is not easy as so many horses win these big handicaps with 53kg or 54kg, but I couldn’t be happier with him.”
The Winter Cup is a regular August headache for punters, as so many big 1600m handicap are, with their divergent form lines and the added question of what version of winter heavy Riccarton will be by 4.07pm today.
Bradman at least has former Winter Cup winner Belardo Boy above him with 60kg in the Winter Cup, and neither is as disadvantaged in the weights today as the stablemate topweights in the Sydenham Hurdles or Koral Steeplechase.
Both Berry The Cash and West Coast are trained by Mark Oulaghan and have to carry 73kg in deep, strong races that are also still lead-ups to the richer Grand National Hurdles and Steeples next Saturday.
Berry The Cash is the TAB favourite for his Hurdles today but faces an almighty challenge from Dictation (R2, No 4), who was going to beat Berry The Cash in this race last season before he fell at the last fence.
With that in mind, the fact that Dictation won the Waikato Hurdles two starts ago and he gets 7kg from Berry The Cash, punters should expect favouritism to swing around by race start time.
West Coast faces the greater challenge of the two stablemates as he carries 73kg in the Koral on his way to trying to win the Grand National Steeplechase for the fourth straight year next Saturday.
He is so big and strong, with such an imposing record around Riccarton, that West Coast could still win, but today is the toughest Koral he has started in.
He meets emerging jumping star Jesko, who carries 7kg less but also carries West Coast’s usual jockey, Shaun Fannin.
And with Te Kahu, Captains Run, Call Me Jack, Waikato Steeples winner Afterallthistime and former hurdling star turned steeplechaser Nedwin also in the Koral, there are plenty in today’s 4250m feature good enough to make West Coast feel every gram of that 73kg in what could be the highlight of a tantalising winter’s raceday.
This weekend’s racing
Today
Riccarton: First race at 11.20am, featuring the Winter Cup, Sydenham Hurdle and Koral Steeplechase.
Ruakaka: First race at 12.45pm.
Tomorrow
Awapuni synthetic: First race at 12.12pm, featuring the $100,000 Polytrack Championship.
Winton harness: First race at 11.35am.
Addington harness: First race at 12.35pm.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
