Bold Bastille bound for Bendigo in VOBIS Gold Rush

Lindsay Park two-year-old Bold Bastille has a couple of rich assignments ahead of her before she enjoys a break leading into the spring.

The first of those assignments for the Ben, Will and J D Hayes-trained filly is the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Rush (1000m) at Bendigo on Saturday which will be followed by the $1 million The Showdown (1200m) at Caulfield two weeks later.

Will Hayes said he and his brothers had decided to target those two races rather than send the filly to Sydney for a shot at the Group 2 Percy Sykes Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday.

“We wanted to keep her away from the wet, but there’s also great prize money on offer, so there was no reason to head to Sydney with The Showdown in our sights,” Hayes said.

“We can’t fault her, and she’s risen to every challenge we’ve given her.

“She had excuses in the Prelude but everything she’s done since then she hasn’t missed a beat.

“We’re very happy with her and we think she’s well placed in that race at Bendigo.

“We want to keep it simple, keep her happy, we’re happy and hopefully she will be able to keep the good times rolling.”

Bold Bastille has won three of her four starts.

A winner on debut at Moonee Valley, Bold Bastille was highly regarded in early Blue Diamond Stakes discussions, but a minor set-back put the Lindsay Park team on the backfoot.

Bold Bastille finished sixth in the Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m) at Caulfield before rebounding to score wins over 1000m at Flemington and over 1100m at Caulfield in the Listed Redoute’s Choice Stakes in her two most recent runs.

Hayes said Bold Bastille was learning to harness her speed and has no doubts the filly will stretch out in trip, especially as a three-year-old.

“From what she has shown us, I don’t think she is strictly a 1000-metre, 1100-metre filly, and in time she will get out to 1200 metres, no problem,” Hayes said.

“She has that electric turn of foot, so we’ve never held her up. We’ve always wanted to see that speed, so we’ve picked out the races that we’ve placed her in so far.”