The omens weren’t particularly good for local-related entries in the staying test as Paul Theobald’s galloper Bathurstian was scratched behind the gates after pulling up lame moments before the race was due to start.

It left Kevin Higgins’ Irishlady Millions ($28.60) as the sole local entry.

Nonetheless, there was plenty of Bathurst in the winner due to Bowman’s past in the area as well as trainer Bjorn Baker being another expat from the region.

“Bathurst is pretty close to home for me and it is always nice to come back, particularly riding a distance event like this,” said Bowman, whose thrilling win 12 months ago wasn’t nearly as comfortable as his victory today.

There wasn’t a lot happening early on as Love These Legs ($26) initially had front spot and Fuerza, almost unbackable at $1.30, settled in fourth. 

It didn’t change much during the first few hundred metres before Sacred Dream ($6.60) took command. With 1200m gone, the seasoned mare was leading comfortably by a couple of lengths.

As they came past the post the first time, she maintained her lead ahead of Declasse ($11.30), with Love These Legs third and Fuerza poised ominously in fourth, having barely gotten out of first gear up until that point.

Finally, with around 800m to race, Grant Buckley eased off on the leader to try to have a quick spell and the field bunched markedly, leaving only five lengths to cover the group as they hit the last bend.

Honours Essential ($17.60) had done even less work than the favourite to that point, but improved sharply once they hit the straight as Sacred Dream tried to hang on, but once Bowman hit the gas it was as good as over.

Perched three-wide momentarily, Fuerza hit the front, put a couple of lengths on the rest of the field and, with 300m still to race, it was as good as over.

Honours Essential finished an encouraging run in second, 2.5 lengths behind, with Declasse another 1.75 lengths away in third.

“I didn’t want to worry too much about position early on; it was all about just getting him into the race and finding his rhythm,” Bowman said.

“It all sort of fell into place for him really. 

“He caught them around the bend and got to the front very comfortably. He’s a little bit inclined to have a look around at them once he gets to the lead sometimes, but he was pretty good today and ran it out well.”

The victory, as Fuerza’s quote suggests, was not entirely unexpected and he was back in grade considerably, having already raced at Group 1 level during his career.

The win was his fourth, and elevated his earnings above the $325,000 mark.

Theobald will be hoping to get to the bottom of Bathurstian’s problem as soon as possible.

“He pulled up lame before the start. I really don’t know what happened. He was fine when we got here,” he said after the race.