Bill The Boxer makes it 5 from 6
Like a successful human fighter, the thoroughbred Bill The Boxer continues to go through his “weight” divisions in impressive style.
At Sandown Lakeside on Wednesday, June 29, the Tony & Calvin McEvoy-trained four-year-old gained a “unanimous points decision” from the judge in the Ladbrokes Mates Mode Benchmark 70 Handicap (1200m).
Bill The Boxer ($4 equal fav) was allowed to cruise across to the early lead by apprentice jockey Alana Kelly who then rated the gelding perfectly.
Asked to extend turning for home, Bill The Boxer quickly “knocked out” his rivals dashing away to win by 2-1/2 lengths from So Risque ($4.40) with Princess Annalise ($4 equal fav), a further two lengths away third.
He has now won five of his six starts and has stepped up each time challenged by the trainers to take on tougher opposition.
Trainer Calvin McEvoy was delighted that Bill The Boxer had won again.
“He’s a beauty,” McEvoy said.
“He definitely has been flying under the radar.
“From the time we put him in training we knew he could gallop, but I never would have picked that he would give of his first six starts.
“And incredibly, there has been a different jockey aboard for each win.
“Madison Lloyd was aboard when he won at Swan Hill, Barend (Vorster) at Morphettville, Mitch Aitken on the Ballarat Synthetic, Blaike McDougall at Mildura, and now Alana (Kelly) today.
“There have been reasons why we had to change riders for him with weight being a key reason.
“Today, we used Alana’s 2kg claim to reduce his weight to 60kg.”
McEvoy said earlier today he had been looking at the calendar as a possible next race for Bill The Boxer.
“I couldn’t actually find a suitable event but was thinking of stepping him up to 1400 metres.
“However, seeing the ease of today’s win I can’t see any reason not to keep him at 1200 metres.
“The way he accelerated away from his rivals at the 300-metre mark was impressive.
“Perhaps we might freshen him for the early spring races. I’ll have a talk with Dad (Tony) and work out a suitable program.”