It was a rough ride for punters in the $200,000 Battle of the Bush Final at Eagle Farm where Roll Up ($18), Ka Bling ($26) and Esta Dia ($18) finished first, second and third respectively.
Roll Up is trained by the Charleville-based William Pugsley and was ridden by Luke Nolen … with the rider’s booking being by design more than accident after Pugsley had put in a call to Peter Moody, who was born in Charleville, seeking advice on who Moody thought should get the ride on Roll Up in the Battle of the Bush Final.
No surprise that Nolen, with whom Moody has had such a successful association, got the nod.
But there was still a job to be done, and Roll Up had to come to the party for Pugsley to claim the desired result and the six-year-old son of Zoustar did bring his A-Game – and he needed it, just getting the better of Ka Bling in the very last strides under strong riding from Nolen.
That, after Roll Up came from last place at the top of the straight, after racing in that position, some ten lengths off the lead all of the way to the home turn, meant that the win, while secured by the narrowest of margins, was emphatic in its own right … with Roll Up rightly being hailed as a worthy winner.
Ka Bling came within half-a-stride of earning the same accolade. Roma-based trainer Ben Waldron, as Pugsley did with Roll Up, had Ka Bling rock-hard fit and mentally ready for the fight as evidenced by the fact that the son of Capitalist also raced towards the rear of the field until the home turn, just a couple of lengths ahead of the trailing Roll Up.
In the home straight, while Nolen went in search of a run in the centre of the track on Roll Up, Scott Sweedman kept Ka Bling on the rail, saving ground, taking the shortest way home … and then making a telling forward move which had him three lengths ahead of Roll Up with 200m left to run.
At that stage both Roll Up and Ka Bling were chasing the free-running Este Dia … the Steven Hardy-trained, Montanna Savva-ridden runner … who had taken over at the head of affairs early in the home straight.
With 100m left to run Este Dia still held a narrow lead, but was now weakening and Ka Bling pounced and took over the lead, looking the likely winner until the Roll Up/Nolen charge arrived with a late flourish to snare Ka Bling in the shadow of the post.
It was a big win in more ways than one.
Ka Bling deserves every credit for a solid second place.
Este Dia, likewise, gave his all when coming home less than a length behind the winner. He was the only on-pace runner to feature in the finish.
The race favourite Odegaard ($3.20 according to leading betting apps Australia) was another who made up good ground from behind … threatening to range into contention mid-straight before seemingly peaking late on his run.
