There was a spring in Albert Bosma’s step on Sunday afternoon as he spent time outside exercising with his daughter during the COVID-19 lockdown in Auckland.
Bosma and his Go Racing Syndication team had just cause to celebrate after exciting four-year-old mare Atishu (NZ) (Savabeel) made a stunning winning debut over 1400m at Randwick, while stablemate Skyman (Mukhadram) went within inches of a fresh-up victory when narrowly defeated over 1500m at Moonee Valley.
For Bosma, the win by Atishu vindicated the potential he and former trainer Stephen Marsh saw in the daughter of Savabeel as she put together four wins on end to round out her three-year-old campaign in New Zealand before being transferred to the Chris Waller stable in Sydney.
“That was a hell of a lot of fun seeing her (Atishu) put in that sort of performance fresh-up as we have thought for the last nine months or so that she could be the best horse we have ever had,” Bosma said.
“I think quite a few Australian punters may have seen that she won her last three races at Riccarton and discarded that form, but that win on Saturday will have made them sit up and take notice.
“What she did in some of those Riccarton runs was phenomenal and the sectional times she ran suggested she is exceptional.
“She had never won first-up before and was at a distance we probably considered short of her best on Saturday and she pretty much won it on her ear.”
The win did provide a double-edged sword for Bosma and Waller as they plot a path during the spring for Atishu, with options that include the Gr.1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) and A$7.5million Golden Eagle (1500m) or a visit to Melbourne for the Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m).
“While it was something special to witness it gave us no clarity whatsoever moving forward,” Bosma joked.
“I did have a good chat with Chris afterwards and he was still in two minds, like I am, about where to go with her.
“Her pedigree says she will run 2400m, but she is running so well over shorter distances that we think she will be competitive between 1400m and 2400m no matter where she goes.
“I must say I am leaning towards the Golden Eagle as she is still only four and has plenty of time to consider a Caulfield Cup next season.
“At this stage I believe she will run at Randwick over 1500m next and if she performs to expectations there then we will make plans for the Golden Eagle, whereas if she proves a little dour in that second-up run then we can aim for the Caulfield Cup instead.”
That Bosma has had success with Waller is no coincidence as he has been in the ex-pat Kiwi’s camp since first establishing a friendship with him when he was operating out of his Foxton base during the 1990’s before making the move to the red-hot racing environment in Sydney.
“Back when my business partner Pat Vinaccia had horses with Chris in the 1990’s he encouraged me to send a horse to him,” Bosma said.
“When we bought Silky Red Boxer, we gave it to him and he did a fantastic job.
“When Chris moved to Sydney, we sent Silky over to him and ever since then we have had a horse or two with him.
“That has obviously ramped up in recent years and we are just thrilled with how he has done and the fantastic job he does with our horses.”
While Bosma and his Go Racing Syndicates are enjoying their Australian success, they are still a very large player in the New Zealand racing scene.
“We do have horses in Australia, but we have more here in New Zealand,” he said.
“This year has probably been the most successful we have had in terms of selling places in our syndicates and in a strange way the COVID situation has helped that.
“During the initial lockdown we froze a little and adopted a wait and see mentality.
“Luckily, we had already sold around 80 percent of the shares we had available in our yearling purchases at the time.
“Because racing was able to keep going in Australia it really provided a lift for people and once the lockdown eased, we sold the last of our shares very quickly.
“This year we sold all our shares in record time and when we have bought a few horses in Europe those syndicates have been filled in a matter of days.”
Bosma is currently working with trainer Stephen McKee to move the horses that Go Racing has with him to new homes after McKee announced his retirement from training earlier this month and expects that to be done in the next few weeks.
“At the moment the horses we have with Stephen will physically stay there until his last day training, but then they will move to different homes.
“Currently we have horses with Stephen Marsh, Lisa Latta and Andrew Carston in New Zealand and the horses will mainly be spread amongst them.
“We have also had Kylie Grass working on our younger horses for a while now and she will receive a couple as well to help boost her stable.
“One that will be going to Chris in Sydney is Lord Ardmore, who ran fourth in the 2000 Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m) last season.
“He will be nicely rated over there and I’d expect him to perform with credit when he settles in.”
