Comic Strikes in Classic with Winning Punchline

Sunshine Coast trainer Garnett Taylor and owners Graham and Robin Cleary unearthed another young star after Bold Comic laughed all the way to the bank with a powerhouse win in the $100,000 Saturday’s Lawrence & Hanson 2YO Classic at Cluden Park.

The win gave Taylor, the Clearys and gun jockey Ryan Wiggins their second win in the north’s biggest juvenile race and left bookmakers licking their wounds.

Taylor was super confident the Whittington gelding, bred by the Clearys, could repeat their success with Bold Eos in 2019 and his judgement was spot on.

“I think he’s a very good horse. I reckon let the carnival (Brisbane) go, and later on we can win in town. This is town money, today’s race. Robin still lives here and Graham is in Charters Towers - it’s a big drive for us but it’s a good thing to win in their home town,” Taylor said.

“I don’t really know how long it’s been but it would have to be 12 or 14 years I’ve trained for Graham. He’s a great owner, a great bloke, he’s won a lot of races, and he breeds them all and hardly buys anything.

“He’s got a property at Peaks Crossing (20km south of Ipswich), he selects all of his own sires. He does it all, he’s very astute and I just get them to the races.

“We have anywhere from 10 to 12 sometimes 14 in work, whatever he breeds, and they seem to pay their way.”

Bold Comic, a full brother to multiple metro winner Bold Style, is the latest in a long line of home bred Cleary/Taylor winners.

The gelding went into the Classic with two wins from three starts and was backed in from as much as 8.5 in early markets to start 3.8.

Bold Comic was given a beautiful run by Ryan Wiggins in third to the corner before pouncing on the leaders and stretching clear to win by two lengths from the Rockhampton-trained Shamedy with home town favourite Roweiner’s Dance a nose away third after leading.

For Wiggins the victory was just another highlight in a season that is already a career best.

The Brisbane-based hoop has ridden 124 winners across the State so far this season, even with a five week break with injury.

“The most winners I’ve ridden in a year is 107 so it’s been a big season,” Wiggins said.

“I always set a target of 100 which is pretty attainable and I ride a fair bit, but you still have to ride winners week in week out and then obviously allow for time off for injuries and stuff like that.

“But I’ve definitely surpassed my targets this year.

“It’s always great to get a big win for Garnett and The Clearys.

“I’ve probably been riding for them for about five years and we’ve had a lot of luck. I’ve been winning on horses that Bold Comic had beaten so the form lines were pretty good for this.

“And I’m always grateful to get these opportunities.”

Wiggins, whose career highlight was a Group 1 win on Famous Seamus in the 2014 BTC Cup at Doomben, hasn’t lost the ambition to break back into the competitive city ranks but is more than content with plying his trade at the provincials.

Now 40, Wiggins rides at up to five meetings a week in search of winners from the Gold Coast to Cairns.

“Over the last few years I’ve struck up good relationships with a few good trainers up this way and had good luck, and pretty much stayed injury free,” Wiggins said.

“The lightest I’ve ridden is 55kg once or twice so I’ve done well.

“It’s been really helpful that we can ride overweight – it really helps us jockeys that are on that scale where we can probably only ride 56 or 57kg.

“So this is really good for me. I make good money, I still waste but not as hard.

“I don’t have to ride 55kg or under that sort of situation so it helps me a lot and it gives me more time with my family, even though I do travel a lot.

“When you weigh things up sometimes, I could try and stay in town riding on Saturdays and have to ride 55kg or maybe even lighter and push around roughies and I’d just get sick of it.

“I much prefer to ride winners so I’ve just adapted to be honest and adapted to what’s available to me and what’s good for me money wise and family wise.

“If I can stay like I am now, and I don’t feel like I’m 40, I could ride for another 10 years and maybe one day move on to training.”

While Wiggins snared the Classic, heavyweight jockey Ashley Butler produced two cracking rides to land wins on Arctic Wolf and the progressive Cudyado for the Georgie Holt stable.

Pictured: Bold Comic and connections after taking out Saturday's $100,000 Lawrence & Hanson 2YO Classic.

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