A sublime exhibition of power and speed carried Bivouac to his greatest victory and earned him comparison with his sire Exceed And Excel by winning Saturday’s G1 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington.
Already a G1 winner against his own age last spring, Bivouac always had control of the race and when called on by jockey Glen Boss at the 200m he put two lengths on a high-class field.
Bivouac went on to increase his margin in the run to the line to beat Loving Gaby with Gytrash in third place.
The win was a repeat of that of Exceed And Excel as a three-year-old in the same race in 2004, and may also have earned the colt a trip to the UK.
Godolphin Australia managing director Vin Cox raised the prospect of a Royal Ascot appearance, but not before Bivouac continues his current preparation in Sydney over the next six weeks.
“We never make a decision on race day, but it would be something to think about, whether it’s this year or next,” Cox said.
Bivouac, already one of Exceed And Excel’s 15 G1 winners, will duly join his sire as a Darley stallion along with fellow G1-winning three-year-old Microphone.
The Newmarket was the second Stakes success on the Flemington card for Exceed And Excel following that of Minhaaj who became his 167th Stakes winner in the G3 Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes.
Exceed And Excel stood his most recent southern hemisphere season at Kelvinside, NSW, and shuttled to Kildangan Stud in Ireland for his latest northern hemisphere season.
