Shea made it very clear that he put a line through Ocular’s last run at Flemington as he didn’t handle the straight and felt the firm track. His view was sensationally vindicated yesterday when he bounced back at Bendigo in the strong BM70 1100. Jumping fairly from the wide gate Ben Allen allowed him to drift back and settle towards the rear and was probably a length or two further back than anticipated particularly when the winners were all coming from on pace or leading and the track was deteriorating as the rain settled in. At the 600 Ocular was standing up the dangers in the race a good six lengths and he had the job ahead of him. As they straightened Ben Allen got him to the outside of the big Bendigo straight and at the 100 he appeared to have them however Jye McNeil’s mount The Gauch fought back and got almost a neck in front as they got close to home however the horse showed great quality and grit for an impressive win. What made the win even better was his time on the soft 5/6 track was half a second above standard time for a good track. He has been very impressive in several other runs in his short career but arguably yesterday was his best win under the circumstances
Congratulations to all his owners who are enjoying the ride and thanks and well done to Jamie all the Eden Racing team for their continued hard work and the victory maintains Shea’s great season with his 13th winner.