{"id":166833,"date":"2025-06-08T05:36:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T05:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/166833\/"},"modified":"2025-06-08T05:36:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T05:36:21","slug":"zac-booked-for-mission-to-score-consecutive-stradbroke-handicaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/166833\/","title":{"rendered":"Zac booked for mission to score consecutive Stradbroke Handicaps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young Sydney riding gun Zac Lloyd<\/a> has a golden opportunity to become the first jockey since the great Jimmy Cassidy more than three decades ago to win back-to-back Stradbroke Handicaps.<\/p>\n

But Lloyd, who scored his first Group 1 when pinching last year’s Stradbroke on Stefi Magnetica<\/a>, must help haul three-year-old colt Bosustow<\/a> back to the imposing form which saw him be a six-length winner two starts ago.<\/p>\n

Bosustow, the three-year-old colt who destroyed his opposition in the Gold Coast Guineas, was single figure odds in Stradbroke betting markets before he was well beaten in the rescheduled Group 3 Fred Best Classic at Doomben last Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Bosustow started the $2.45 Fred Best favourite but finished sixth, 1-1\/2 lengths behind the Toby Edmonds and Stephen McLean<\/a>-trained filly Spicy Martini<\/a> which qualified for the Stradbroke with the win.<\/p>\n

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Time to celebrate! That’s a spicy win for Spicy Martini in the G3 Fred Best Classic at Doomben ???? ????\ufe0f@CWilliamsJockey<\/a> | @EdmondsRacing<\/a> | @BrisRacingClub<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/dotBPdx9tH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Annabel and Rob Archibald are pushing on with Stradbroke plans for Bosustow which has now drifted to be a $15 chance in Queensland’s greatest race next Saturday.<\/p>\n

Managing owner Anthony Mithen points out that Bosustow was beaten about the same margin in the Fred Best as Stefi Magnetica was a year earlier, before that horse came out and won the Stradbroke with Lloyd on board.<\/p>\n

Lloyd has been booked for Bosustow and now gets a chance to be the first jockey since Cassidy won the Stradbroke on the mighty Rough Habit in 1991 and 1992 to score consecutive Stradbroke triumphs.<\/p>\n

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Rough Habit’s win in the 1992 Stradbroke was ???? pic.twitter.com\/DA8ONfuMIt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Punters+ (@Punters) June 5, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Lloyd will link with Bosustow for the first time and Rob Archibald remains convinced the colt can be a major player in the Stradbroke.<\/p>\n

“Maybe the Fred Best run was just a little bit below what we expected, but we weren’t too disappointed,” Archibald said.<\/p>\n

“He was a month between runs and the race was rescheduled and things were mucked around a little bit.<\/p>\n

“He may have been just a touch underdone second-up, but he can certainly bounce back third-up in the Stradbroke. <\/p>\n

“He gets into the Stradbroke with a nice weight (51.5kg) although it’s all relative I suppose.<\/p>\n

“Zac hasn’t ridden him before, but he did win the Stradbroke last year and we are really happy to have him on.” <\/p>\n

\"Supplied<\/p>\n

Bosustow wins the Gold Coast Guineas. Picture: Bethany Allday\/Trackside Photography.<\/p>\n

Lloyd will jet into Brisbane on Tuesday morning and give Bosustow a spin around Eagle Farm at the Stradbroke \u2018Breakfast With The Stars’ trackwork session.<\/p>\n

There is a week of fine weather forecast for Brisbane and the prospects of a rain-affected Eagle Farm track on Stradbroke day look slim.<\/p>\n

Bosustow was dominant in the Gold Coast Guineas on a heavy (9) track but the camp say he is much more than just a wet tracker.<\/p>\n

On the morning of the Guineas, they had even been considering scratching Bosustow because they weren’t convinced he would handle the sloppy surface.<\/p>\n

“He ended up handling the wet track on the Gold Coast really well,” Archibald said.<\/p>\n

“But I don’t think we can really say yet what his preferred track conditions are, because he is fairly lightly raced.”<\/p>\n