Group One winning New Zealand mare Boundless has staved off retirement with victory in the Group Two Counties Cup.Her win in Saturday's 2100m Pukekohe feature capped a great day for trainer Stephen McKee who sent Culminate out earlier to win the other major race on the program, the Group Two Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1400m).Boundless, who won the 2008 New Zealand Oaks and ran second to Heavenly Glow in the AJC Australian Oaks, had not won for more than a year and part-owner Cherry

Group One winning New Zealand mare Boundless has staved off retirement with victory in the Group Two Counties Cup.

Her win in Saturday's 2100m Pukekohe feature capped a great day for trainer Stephen McKee who sent Culminate out earlier to win the other major race on the program, the Group Two Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1400m).

Boundless, who won the 2008 New Zealand Oaks and ran second to Heavenly Glow in the AJC Australian Oaks, had not won for more than a year and part-owner Cherry Taylor thought the mare had hit rock bottom when she finished third last in a race at Ellerslie on September 5.

Taylor made her thoughts known at the time to trainer Stephen McKee and there was no disagreement.

"She wouldn't go out of the birdcage, played up really badly. She just wasn't herself," Taylor told NZPA.

McKee wondered if Boundless was being troubled by an old injury which required the removal of bone chips from a leg but veterinary checks proved otherwise, Taylor said.

"Stephen had had the vets go over her where the bone chips had been removed but they seemed to be 100 per cent clear," she said.

"They just couldn't seem to get her right. Obviously it was pain but they couldn't work out where the pain was."

Taylor said she raised the subject of sending Boundless to stud with majority owner Trevor McKee, father of the horse's trainer, before departing on a holiday to Fiji.

"We actually talked about stallions for her to go to," she said.

"Trevor said he would have a think about it and would talk about it when we got back from Fiji."

There was good news for Taylor on her return from holiday.

"When we got back there was a note on my email to say Stephen had had the equine chiropractor to her. He found that her back was out and had literally fixed her."

Boundless has since turned her form around with Saturday's win coming on the heels of victory in a Group Three 2000m weight-for-age race at Ellerslie on November 3.

Boundless was bred by Taylor and her husband Brent who operates Trelawney Stud in Cambridge where the mare's sire Van Nistelrooy used to stand.

They sold Boundless for $80,000 at the National Yearling Sales with Taylor buying back a 20 per cent share and McKee holding 40 per cent.

Boundless is to continue on a Cups' path with possible targets Group Two Avondale Gold Cup (2200m) on December 2 or the Waikato Cup (2400m) on December 12.

Culminate finished second to Typhoon Tracy in the Coolmore Classic during the Sydney autumn and was a half head winner over Ruud Van Slaats in the Breeders Stakes.