Bosson back after spring funk
Top jockey thought about quitting but is now ‘in a good place’
Opie Bosson can feel what punters already suspect: he is back. The evidence New Zealand’s best jockey was starting to hit his stride was there before he went to Riccarton 10 days ago to ride a stakes double including the 1000 Guineas on Kahma Lass.
Then, as tends to be the case when Bosson is in the zone, he backed it up with a group race double on Media Sensation ( Breeders Stakes) and In A Twinkling (Counties Cup) at Pukekohe on Saturday.
Both were Bosson at his manipulative best, jumping Media Sensation to the front, then slowing the tempo, knowing his key rivals were swoopers, while on In A Twinkling, he was aggressive early to keep his spot, conceded the lead to a freerunning rival and had the race shot to pieces at the 200m.
That is four stakes winners in seven days, something for Bosson to smile about as he sits out the next 11 days suspended, swapping the raceday saddle for the farm tractor.
The sight of Bosson dialled in, able to ride at 56.5kg yet hoping to make 54.5kg by Karaka Million night again, is a beautiful thing for punters.
He may never win another premiership but he is the strike rate
king, and when he and Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards join forces, the punters swarm.
It could be even more so this summer, as last season’s second most successful black type jockey Jason Waddell is gone for the foreseeable future, while Bosson’s good mate James McDonald won’t be making his
usual Christmas trip home because of quarantine, so Bosson has a mouthwatering Group 1 menu.
It all could have been so different, and a few months ago was.
Bosson had just turned 40, was going through his annual spring funk when the cold weather, average horses and extra kilos make race riding seem a less-than-attractive career choice.
“Yeah, I was down on the whole thing again,” admits Bosson. “It was hard coming back, with the wasting, and the cold never helps, especially with losing the weight.
“So I thought about giving up but I have got good people around me and David [Ellis, Te Akau boss] was very supportive when he didn’t have to be.
“When I did come back, it took a while to find my feet; little things like my timing being out and I kind of feel like you are going through the motions even though I don’t mean to.
“But I have turned that corner, and oddly the weather really helps.
“I find it a lot easier to keep my weight down when it is warm and I am out working around the farm. And then the good horses come and you remember what they feel like.
“I can tell I am riding well now and I’m in a good place. So I am looking forward to the summer.”
Bosson will resume on Captain Cook Stakes Day at Trentham on Saturday week, when he rides Prise De Fer in the Group 1 but the stable will be patient with In A Twinkling and allow the now two-time Counties Cup winner to bypass the Waikato Cup on December 12 after he ran off in the same race at Te Rapa last year.
“He will head to the Zabeel at Ellerslie on Boxing Day instead,” says Richards.
Te Akau are yet to work out their juvenile pecking order and therefore which horse will try and give them and Bosson a scarcely believable fifth straight Karaka Million come January 23.
But with Kahma Lass being aimed at the Karaka Classic the same night, a 54.5kg weight is Bosson’s summer target.
“I won’t be easy. I means missing a lot of meals and taking a lot of hot baths. But I know I can do it.”
So do the punters.