Star New Zealand jockey Opie Bosson added another Group 1 to his name when he piloted Avantage to victory in the Railway at Ellerslie but, while the glory was there, it was not all plain sailing for the rider when it came to interaction with the race meeting stewards.
Bosson came off second best with stewards in both races three and four, picking up two careless riding suspensions for his rides on Sword Of State (suspended from January 5 to January 15) and Illusion Of Paris (from January 15 to January 28).
Bosson also ended up NZ$1200 out of pocket getting fined as well as suspended for those indiscretions … those fines being a NZ$450 for his ride on Sword Of State and a NZ$750 fine for his ride on Illusion Of Paris.
Sword Of State, a $1.70 favourite, finished third behind his stable companion Imperatriz in the Group 2 Eclipse Stakes. Ironically enough, Imperatriz was one of the runners who had to be steadied and lost ground at the 1100m mark when Bosson and Sword Of State shifted inwards when not sufficiently clear of other runners.
Illusion Of Paris was not persevered with over the final 200m and finished last of the thirteen runners in the group 2 Valachi Downs Royal Stakes. Illusion Of Paris had caused significant interference to multiple runners when shifting in at the 1400m.
