Following the mare’s below-par run for sixth in Saturday’s Caulfield Stakes, Australian media reported Bonneval was lame and in doubt for next weekend’s $A3 million race.
But Baker, who trains the glamour mare in partnership with Andrew Forsman, had rather different news for punters.
"There is nothing wrong with her this morning,’’ Baker said yesterday.
"We trotted her up at 8am and she was as good as gold. The vets inspected her after the race and have taken the precaution of telling us we need a veterinary clearance for Saturday’s race and that will not be an issue."
Stewards said Bonneval’s post-race examination revealed the mare had sustained a small wound on her off hind pastern and was lame in the near foreleg.
Baker described the injury as "a little nick and absolutely nothing". It could have occurred as rider Damian Lane tried to weave a clear path for the mare after she got too far back in the race.
"She ran super. The barrier killed her — I had to go back five or six spots further back than I would have liked," Lane said.
"I couldn’t win looping the field so I rode her for luck and didn’t get much."
The Baker and Forsman-trained Jon Snow and rider Stephen Baster made their own luck racing on the speed before fighting on for third.
The race was won by Gailo Chop, who trainer Darren Weir confirmed would be among Winx’s Cox Plate rivals in two weekends’ time.
Ex-pat New Zealand jockey Michael Walker delivered a knockout blow for punters when he rode the Mick Price-trained Mighty Boss to victory in the $A3 million-dollar Caulfield Guineas at $101 odds.
- Jonny Turner and Mike Dillon
