BATHURST'S Inter Dominion Pacing Championship finalists Bundoran and Our Uncle Sam weren't able to feature in the finish of Saturday night's $500,000 decider at Menangle - which produced one of the most dramatic stories in the history of the event.
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Belinda McCarthy's new Bathurst Paceway track record holder Expensive Ego ($2.60, David Moran) found the winning post first but a protest from the connections of the second horse across the line, Boncel Benjamin ($51, Joshua Gallagher), saw the result put on hold.
A stewards enquiry found that McCarthy's runner had prevented Boncel Benjamin from making a run along the pegs when Expensive Ego cut back towards the inside of track inside the last 200m of the race.
It gave Boncel Benjamin's trainer Jason Grimson and driver Gallagher their first taste of Inter Dominion success, in remarkable circumstances.
Amanda Turnbull's Bundoran ran home for ninth and Chris and Anthony Frisby's Our Uncle Sam had too much work to do from out wide as he came home 11th.
Bundoran had to settle for being the last horse on the inside line during Saturday's final and did well to stay in the vicinity of the front runners when they turned the heat up on the last stretch.
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Turnbull said she was pleased by the effort Bundoran showed throughout the run.
"I was really happy with him and he probably made up a little bit of ground on them," she said.
"We probably ended up where we had to off that draw. There really was no other option for him.
"He'll probably keep racing on now. He's only just had a break before this so we'll keep finding some races for him."
Turnbull said she agreed with the result from the protest.
"I think it was the right decision," she said.
"If it was a normal race it would have gone that way, so no reason this should be any different."
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Alexander Grant
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
