Body Bob ridden by Rhys McLeod wins the Bentley Group Maiden Plate at Warracknabeal Racecourse on April 08, 2023 in Warracknabeal, Australia. (Photo by Alice Miles/Racing Photos)
Body Bob might have been outclassed in the Doomben 10,000, but the experience of saddling up his first Group 1 runner is one country-based trainer Pat Murphy won’t forget.
A former jockey and the son of popular retired racetrack curator Lindsay, Murphy has a 14-horse barn at Goulburn and has been enjoying a great run of late with three winners from his past 10 starters.
He will be out to continue that momentum on Saturday at Rosehill where he has Body Bob, who drops back to benchmark 78 grade for the Rosehill Bowling Club Handicap (1200m), and Sass ‘N’ Cheek in the Highway Plate (1500m).
Body Bob was a last-minute inclusion in the Doomben 10,000 when Murphy noticed the nominations were light and while the gelding was no match for the likes of top sprinters Bella Nipotina and I Wish I Win, the trainer came away with nothing but positives.
“It was a really good experience for both myself and the horse and it’s a great ownership group,” Murphy said.
“We had fun doing it.”
Body Bob will carry 56.5kg on Saturday after the three-kilo claim of apprentice Hannah Williams, who will be having her first race ride on the four-year-old.
Williams has ridden 13 winners this season, two of them in town, and Murphy says it will be extra special if she can land another metropolitan victory aboard Body Bob, whose form prior to his Queensland trip included a competitive fifth in the Wagga Town Plate (1200m).
“Hannah actually rides him in a lot of his trackwork so it’s really good to be able to reward her with the ride,” he said.
“She would be happy for me to say he is her favourite horse, and she does a really good job with him.”
Sass ‘N’ Cheek will take her place in the Highway Handicap despite drawing barrier 19, the daughter of Xtravagant chasing her third win in a row after successes at Wagga and Goulburn.
Saturday’s race will be her ninth run in a campaign that kicked off in January with Murphy describing the mare as “a marvel”.
“I was looking for any reason to pull the pin and give her a break, but she has just shown me the opposite,” he said.
“I would have liked to draw softer, but we just need to get something to follow. She is just flying.”
Murphy said both his runners would appreciate any give in the ground and he could get his wish with rain forecast in Sydney on Saturday.