Anthony Bolden will be out to land the biggest win of his training career when Brookton Mist lines up in Saturday's Macdonald Steeplechase.The meeting has been transferred to Sandown from its original venue, Moonee Valley.Bolden, 38, is a committeeman of the Woolamai and District Racing Club and is based on a property at nearby Glen Forbes.Ably assisted by his wife Amanda, he works a 10-15 horse team on the beach at Western Port Bay.Bolden also has around the same number of horses in pre-trainin
Anthony Bolden will be out to land the biggest win of his training career when Brookton Mist lines up in Saturday's Macdonald Steeplechase.
The meeting has been transferred to Sandown from its original venue, Moonee Valley.
Bolden, 38, is a committeeman of the Woolamai and District Racing Club and is based on a property at nearby Glen Forbes.
Ably assisted by his wife Amanda, he works a 10-15 horse team on the beach at Western Port Bay.
Bolden also has around the same number of horses in pre-training for other stables and among his star boarders are the Tony Vasil-trained multiple Group winning sprinter Lucky Secret and the smart Tony Noonan-trained mare Soul Diva.
Like Lucky Secret and Soul Diva, Brookton Mist has thrived on being prepared at the beach and has won three races for Bolden since arriving at his property as a maiden after running a few placings for Robbie Laing.
"He fractured his elbow in a track accident when he was at Robbie Laing's and had 15 months off," Bolden said.
"I was doing a bit of pre-training for the owners and they and Robbie decided to hand him over to us to train him at the beach."
The Nothin' Leica Dane six-year-old broke through at his 15th career start with a win in a 2400m maiden at Bendigo in June 2008 and has since scored in a Moe jumpers' flat (3300m) four starts back on May 10 and in a Pakenham maiden steeplechase (3800m) two starts back on June 7.
But the highlight of the grey's 27 starts was his last-start three-quarter length second to Laing's star `chaser Mazzacano in the Australian Steeple (3900m) at Sandown on June 13.
"I was sitting next to Robbie in the stand and after the race he stood up and said to me `well done it took a champion to beat you'," said Bolden who learnt the ropes working as stable foreman for the now Singapore-based trainer Cliff Brown when the likes of Markham and Tarnpir Lane were racing.
"He's taken a long time to grow up and mature, he's been quite a project," Bolden said of Brookton Mist."
Bolden said the gelding would go on to the Hiskens Steeple and the Crisp Steeple with his main mission this winter the $200,000 Grand National Steeple (4530m) at Sandown on August 30.
"He's a good enough stayer to be competitive in all these events but the Grand National will be his grand final. He is really going to appreciate the 4,530 metres," he said.
Brookton Mist won't have to contend with the unbeaten fencer Mazzacano in the $100,000 Macdonald (3900m) which attracted 12 entries including St Steven Steeple winner Geeorb and Redditch Steeple winner Zagata.
There were 13 nominations for the Bob Barr Smith Hurdle (3300m) including Mosstrooper Hurdle runner-up Black And Bent, Ted Best Hurdle winner Destiny Calls, Pentiffic, Go And Get and Hasta Manana.
The MVRC meeting has been transferred to the Sandown Lakeside circuit as remedial work is being done on the Moonee Valley track ahead of the Hiskens Steeplechase meeting which will be run at the Valley on July 25.