Bold Soul's future may be over jumps after Flemington success

Connections have found Bold Soul, trained by Patrick Payne, to be a good earner on the flat, but his future might be better suited to hurdles.

Bold Soul secured the Deane Lester Flemington Cup 1849 (2800m) at Flemington on Saturday, adding to his seven prior wins from 33 starts and boosting his prize money to over $800,000.

With Jake Noonan in the saddle, Bold Soul ($5.50) edged out the $2.60 favourite Highland Blaze by a short head, while Tempesti ($16) was a further half-head back in third. The victory by Bold Soul was unexpected, according to leading Australian betting sites.

The rider of Tempesti, Harry Coffey, lodged a protest against the winner for alleged interference near the finish line. However, following a brief review, Racing Victoria stewards dismissed the protest.

Neal Greaves, speaking for trainer Patrick Payne, indicated that Bold Soul is expected to transition to jumps racing.

"I think the plan is, you might see a pretty nice jumper at Ballarat on August 16," Greaves said. "I think the intention is he will have a jumps run this season."

Greaves noted that Noonan has a particular knack for getting the best out of Bold Soul.

The gelding had been ridden by Billy Egan in his two most recent placings at Flemington over 2540m and 2600m.

Noonan had previously ridden Bold Soul to victory in the Tasmanian Derby and later in the Chairman's Stakes at Morphettville, marking his first association with the gelding since the Lord Reims Stakes in Adelaide earlier in the year.

"It's interesting, as some of the riders have not found him that easy to ride," Greaves commented. "If you can't get him to settle, and that's the case with a lot of horses, you're in a world of hurt, but for some reason Jake has been able to.

"We were concerned with the weight as when the weights first came out, Ciaron Maher had one (Smokin' Romans) in it with topweight of 60 kilos. We had 55-½ kilos, so we were a bit disappointed when Ciaron didn't accept with his, and they pushed the weights up, but it affected everyone else as well."

Considering the potential for Bold Soul to excel over jumps, explore the available betting markets for the upcoming races.