Racing: Bulginbaah back for fourth win

Photo / Thinkstock

If Bulginbaah wins tomorrow's $70,000 Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate at Te Rapa, the race should be renamed the Bulginbaah Stakes.

Any horse that can win a stakes race four times in six attempts like Bulginbaah will if he's successful tomorrow, deserves some recognition.

Bulginbaah won the Foxbridge Plate the first time when he defeated Don't Ya Lovett in 2006.

The next year he finished fourth to Baltain then, 12 months later, was beaten a short head by Jacowils.

In 2009, he scored by three lengths from Richard Beymer and, last year, beat the subsequent Railway winner Miss Raggedy Ann. It's one of the great modern-day records and to win the feature again as an 11-year-old will be something special.

Unquestionably Bulginbaah, like arch rival Fritzy Boy, is well suited to the set weight, weight-for-age scale after essentially carrying big weights in the handicaps.

His record of four wins from nine attempts at Te Rapa and 10 wins from 32 starts at the 1200m tells much of the story you need to know.

Last start, he finished fifth at New Plymouth, but many horses, including Fritzy Boy, failed to handle the conditions that day and that form can be ignored.

The old bloke will be ridden this time by Trudy Thornton, who was on his back for the 2009 and 2010 Foxbridge Plate victories.

Fritzy Boy left little doubt he was back to his best when he won twice before failing at New Plymouth.

The interesting runner is Katie Lee who, at her best, would be favourite for this.

She failed completely to find her form last campaign and hardly impressed when comprehensively beaten at last week's Te Teko barrier trials.

There is a fair bit of pressure on the high-class mare in this race.