BON BON goes bang bang - that was the call on Wednesday night as Steve Turnbull's filly Smooth Bon Bon proved that she can not only be a bridesmaid, but a winner as well.
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With four of her last five starts resulting in second placings, Turnbull knew his two-year-old filly was in good touch and a real chance of winning her 1,730 metres race at the Bathurst Paceway on Wednesday.
Punters knew it too as they backed her into $3.30 favouritism.
As she peeled four and five wide into the final bend then hit the front at the top of the straight, that elusive win looked in reach.
It was as she kicked away from her rivals to win by 6.7m in a finish which also included a dramatic crash as Carramar Times Up clipped the wheels of a rival, fell to the track and tossed driver Mitch Turnbull from the gig.
Fortunately Mitch Turnbull showed good reflexes to land on his feet, while Carramar Times Up was examined by a veterinarian post-race and stood down for seven days.
Steve Turnbull said he was unaware of the incident behind him.
"I didn't know until they pulled up what had happened," he said.
Turnbull, who now boasts 3,944 wins as a trainer, was pleased with the way Smooth Bon Bon found the line. He said he knew she was headed for the third win of her 13-start career when she surged to the lead.
"She's been a good, honest filly all her life, a bit below the good ones, but a good, honest filly," he said.
"She only just got beat last start and the same the start before, she was coming home, so she was doing it at the right end.
"She got away from them a bit and I thought she'd hang on then, once she got that good break. She wasn't pulling, she was racing nice, I was hoping that she had a good sprint left in her."
Smooth Bon Bon, from a barrier four draw, had initially found the one-one before being shuffled back to sit one out and three back as the bell sounded.
It was Jerula Josie who led the field through a steady 60.2 seconds first half, but as they reached the final bend the challenges came four and five wide.
Smooth Bon Bon came widest of all to find the front, going on to win in a career best 1:57.8 mile rate. Second belonged to Royalhotshot ($8) with Im Major Harry ($13) a further 3.5m back in third.
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