Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Hillview Bondi, the $1.60 favourite from the No. 1 barrier in the 1730m Hamilton Content Creators Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night, gave his supporters a scare when he was beaten for early speed by $13 chance Whos The Dad and $61 outsider Cheer The Major.
With Whos The Dad setting the pace after flying out from barrier seven, and with Cheer the Major working in the breeze Hillview Bondi was under lock and key behind the pacemaker.
However, Kyle Symington did not panic, and he waited until he got an opportunity to ease off the pegs 350m from home. Hillview Bondi then ran home determinedly to get up in the final stride to win by a nose from Whos The Dad, rating a smart 1.53.4, the fastest time of his 46-start career which now stands at ten wins and 18 placings for earnings of $84,079.
“It has happened before when he has drawn barrier one,” said Symington. “He’s away with the fairies a bit. He always gets away okay, though he gets away better with horses either side of him.
“When the breeze horse (Cheer The Major) dropped off a bit I was able to ease off, and then I was surprised that Hillview Bondi sprinted as good as he did. I don’t think he has ever won a race from behind. He has won most races either by leading or racing in the breeze. Initially, after getting into the clear, he laboured, but in the straight he got going again.”
Hillview Bondi, who is trained by Ryan Bell, is by Somebeachsomewhere, and is the twelfth and last foal out of the Safely Kept mare Maid For Life, who was retired after having three unplaced runs at the end of 2002.
Maid For Life, whose full brother Bank The Money raced 246 times for 31 wins, 68 placings and $152,969, produced seven winners, including Dredlock Rockstar, who earned $283,502 from his 22 wins and 50 placings from 171 starts. His final victory was as a 12-year-old when he defeated Patrickthepiranha at Gloucester Park in February 2021.