Self-imposed Lockdown over for Bondi, Dunn as Vic Cup looms

Aaron Dunn and his multiple Group 1 winning pacer Bondi Lockdown are primed to emerge from the winter blues when they team in the TAB Gammalite Free For All at Tabcorp Park on Saturday.

Bondi Lockdown hasn’t been seen since finishing third in the Preux Chevalier Free For All at Cranbourne in early July, his only outing since contesting the Miracle Mile in March.

Dunn, who has slowly recovered from injuries received in a horrific fall at Mildura, revealed his stable star wasn’t at his best for the Cranbourne assignment.

“His work tapered off a bit but he worked well just before Cranbourne, so I decided to run him," Dunn said.

"However, he just wasn’t himself and we found he had a stomach issue. And then I got pretty banged up in that fall at Mildura, so I turned him out while I took a fair while to recover and I’m still a bit sore in a few places. It feels like we have both been in hibernation in the past couple of months.”

Bondi Lockdown trialled at Melton last week but Dunn admitted the hit out didn’t exactly go as planned.

“The trial wasn’t ideal - they went too slow,” he said.

Nevertheless, Dunn is confident the son of Somebeachsomewhere is fit enough to run a forward race and take on proven Group 1 performers Lochinvar Art and Copy That on Saturday night.

“He has done a fair bit of work on the track at home and I reckon I’ve got him about 95 per cent fit and his weight is down to where it should be,” he said.

“But he is in the top league now and there are no easy races for him.”

Bondi Lockdown’s first foray into the big league was in the Miracle Mile on the back of his phenomenal effort in finishing runner up in the Chariots Of Fire when he sat parked in a mile rate of 1:47.6.

“He wasn’t right in the Miracle Mile,” was Dunn’s take on the pacer’s down-the-track finish at the rear of the field.

While next month’s Pryde's EasiFeed Victoria Cup is high on Bondi Lockdown’s racing itinerary, not so the following month’s Inter Dominion carnival.

“From my base in Horsham it’s a lot of travel getting around to the heats throughout various parts of Victoria, but all going well we will definitely be in Brisbane to contest the series next year,” he said.