Star Victorian pacer Bay Of Biscay has earned at least one more season in the big league after an encouraging but luckless Brisbane Inter Dominion campaign.
The five-year-old, who already boasts 14 wins and more than $1.9 million in prize money, will be set for a string of major races, starting with the $250,000 Group 1 Victoria Cup at Melton on October 17.
“We took a lot of positives out of Brisbane,” managing owner Tim Bunning said. “He showed the only time he drew well (gate two) in the first round of heats, that’s he’s right up with them with a good run when he won that heat.
“He then drew out the back the next two runs and we were all really pleased with his effort to finish sixth in the final after getting so far back in a race dominated from the front.
“Physically, he’s the best he’s been. He’s fully matured now and I said when I saw him up there, that’s what a Grand Circuit horse looks like.
“He’ll also be better for the experience up there, he’s still quite new to Grand Circuit racing.”
Bay Of Biscay, who won the huge TAB Eureka/Chariots Of Fire double last year, only tried Grand Circuit racing for the first time when fourth in last year’s Victoria Cup.
A niggle hoof issue sidelined him for races like the Hunter Cup and Miracle Mile earlier this year.
“He’s been so well looked after and lightly raced, he’s only had 35 starts,” Bunning said. “He’s right at his peak now and it’s time to open up a bit with him.
“We’ll race him for another 12 months, through until at least next year’s Brisbane Inter Dominion, then decide if he goes to stud after that.”
Bay Of Biscay, a regally bred son of Somebeachsomewhere out of Nike Franco, has huge stallion potential. He was a joint sale-topper at $150,000 in the 2022 Nutrien Sydney Yearling Sale.
But racing remains the focus.
“After the Victoria Cup, a good option is the (Group 1) Len Smith Mile at Menangle on the same night as the TAB Eureka (November 21),” Bunning said. “He loves Menangle as his form shows (winning the Chariots Of Fire and Eureka at the track).
“Beyond that, there are lots of good options next year.
“As well as the Hunter Cup in February (at Melton), there are those big country cups like Bendigo, Ballarat, Kilmore and Cranbourne.
“Then there’s the Miracle Mile at Menangle in March.
“The ownership group has also talked about a possible Perth trip with him, too. There’s the Nullarbor and Fremantle Cup just a week apart in April.”
Bay Of Biscay’s Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin-trained stablemate War Dan Buddy, who ran well below his best when 12th in the Inter Dominion final, is also back in work and being set for the Victoria Cup.
That’s also the plan with the only other Victorian-trained Inter Dominion finalist, Fighter Command, who ran a fantastic fifth for trainer Jess Tubbs.
“He exceeded my expectations in Brisbane, which I really used the trip as a stepping stone for him,” Tubbs said. “The Victoria Cup is an obvious next target for him being close to home.
“I’d like to have raced him this week, but there was nothing he could run in (at Melton).”
