Bandi’s Boy in doubt for the Country Championships Final

Trainer Danny Williams is confident he is winning the battle to have Bandi’s Boy fit to line up in the Country Championships Final.

The horse was found to be mildly lame in his near foreleg after winning the Star Kingdom Stakes at Rosehill last weekend and will need to pass an inspection by Racing NSW vets on Friday if he is to back-up at Randwick.

Williams and his staff have been working around the clock to get on top of the issue and the Goulburn horseman is happy with how the horse is responding.

“We are happy with the horse and the progress of his treatment….and are confident he is on track to take his place in the Final,” Williams said on X, formerly known as Twitter, this week.

It is the latest setback for Bandi’s Boy, who has been lightly raced since making his debut in the Kindergarten Stakes at the corresponding meeting two years ago.

A start later, he defeated subsequent Group 1 winner Zougotcha on a heavy track at Randwick then had one more run before spending more than a year on the sidelines with injury.

Williams got the four-year-old back to the races last spring and set a long-term goal to target Saturday’s Country Championships Final (1400m), but his plans were almost derailed again when Bandi’s Boy suffered a deep leg wound in February.

“I honestly thought the horse’s preparation was over,” Williams said.

“It was quite a nasty looking injury, you could see the vein in the leg.

“That was two weeks before his run in the Championships (qualifier).”

Williams tried to ring the horse’s owner and breeder, John Woods, to update him on Bandi’s Boy injury but there was no answer.

A few days later came the tragic news that Woods had died while working with cattle on his rural NSW property.

Williams had no doubt there was some divine intervention when Bandi’s Boy recovered to win the Championships qualifier at Moruya on March 3.

“It was a bit of a sad moment because we also lost one of our staff members on the Monday prior to that and that was quite stressful,” Williams said.

“I’m sure John is looking down.”

Bandi’s Boy hadn’t raced since his Moruya win when he stormed down the outside to claim some high-profile scalps in the Star Kingdom Stakes (1200m).

Having seen the forecast for heavy rain this week, Williams was keen to top up the gelding’s fitness levels ahead his grand final and collected a bonus victory along the way.

He says the four-year-old will appreciate the step up to 1400m on Saturday and Williams is hoping Bandi’s Boy can deliver him a first Country Championships win, his previous best result a second with Don’t Give A Damn in 2018.

“It has been a bit of a curse for us, this race,” Williams said.

“But the horse just keeps going to another level. He keeps lifting the bar.

“He’s got so much upside, and he is only going to improve.”

Jay Ford has partnered Bandi’s Boy at his past seven starts and will again be in the saddle from barrier one.