Godolphin colt Bivouac blows away rivals in G1 Newmarket Handicap

Bivouac has staked an emphatic claim to the title of Australia’s top three-year-old with an explosive victory in Saturday’s G1 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington that gave Godolphin it’s first success at the top-level in 2020.

A G1 winner in the spring and now in the autumn – and with more to come – Bivouac took control in the first 100m, allowing jockey Glen Boss the liberty of pressing the button whenever he wanted.

Boss chose the 200m mark to make his move and Bivouac put the result beyond doubt in a stride, racing to a two-length lead that he increased over the final stages to secure a win that earned him comparison to his sire Exceed And Excel who won the same race in 2004.

In a season of class three-year-olds, the James Cummings-trained Bivouac had already put himself among the best with a series of wins in the spring that culminated in his initial G1 success in the Golden Rose at Rosehill.

He returned this autumn with a luckless, unplaced effort in the G1 Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield, before asserting himself in Saturday’s time-honoured sprint.

The win prompted Godolphin Australia’s managing director Vin Cox to contemplate a Royal Ascot bid, but probably not this year.

“He’s one of three Group One-winning sons of Exceed And Excel in a very a good crop of three-year-olds. To win as dominantly as he has in a Newmarket Handicap, I think is very special,” Cox said.

Bivouac is likely to run next in the G1 TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick next month and would then be the nominal selection for Godolphin’s starting slot in next spring’s The Everest, the world’s richest turf race.

He would then go for a spell before beginning a Royal Ascot preparation.

“The T J is a weight-for-age six-furlong race and an obvious target for him, but we’ll sit down and have a talk about it,” Cox said.

Boss described his experience aboard Bivouac as “one of the moments we live for”.

“To be able to get myself on the back of this colt and feel the power and feel the speed, it was just immense,” Boss said.

“Thanks to James, we had a really good chat this morning, he put my mind at ease and these are the moments we live for.”

Bivouac also gave the global Godolphin operation it’s first G1 success for 2020 on a day when the Australian team also supplied Microphone to finish second in the G1 Randwick Guineas and Savatiano who filled the same position in the G1 Canterbury Stakes, both at Randwick.

Meanwhile, Tower Of London kept on in the closing stages to finish third on his first appearance for five months in the G3 Ocean Stakes over six furlongs at Nakayama, Japan, on Saturday.

Last season’s G1 Sprinters Stakes victor, trained by Kazuo Fujisawa, raced in mid-field on the inside of the 16 runners under Christophe Lemaire early on.

The Raven’s Pass entire quickened to take third just inside the final furlong but could not challenge the front two, going down by four and half-lengths in total behind impressive winner Danon Smash.

Harry Sweeney, President of Godolphin in Japan, said: “I am disappointed with Tower Of London. I was concerned before the race about his draw in stall one and having to concede 2kg to Danon Smash but in truth our horse was comprehensively beaten. He didn’t have an absolutely clear run home and the track surface was somewhat loose but, all that being said, Danon Smash was absolutely imperious in victory today.

“However, I felt very similar after Tower Of London’s first race last year, when he was beaten into fifth in a G3. He rallied on his next start to win a G2 in a new record time en route to a stellar year. Hopefully, Tower of London will rebound on his next start in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen in three weeks’ time.”