The Phil Williamson trained-trotter was so weak after being born before his due date he could barely stand to suckle from his dam, meaning he was deprived of vital colostrum in his early hours of life.
So rough was his entry into the world, vets recommended the foal be euthanised as he also had crooked legs.
But junior driver Charlotte Purvis, who was still living in Christchurch at the time, was having absolutely none of that.
Instead, Purvis set about hand-rearing the foal bred by her father, John, and Harry Webber, also of Christchurch, and nursing him back to health.
"He was born quite early, so the mare was not even at the stud yet, and I went out to check on her and found him there," Purvis said.
"He was lying down and very weak so we had to milk the mare and feed him."
"The vet said because his legs were not that straight and because he had not been fed colostrum straight away, basically he wouldn't make a racehorse."
"But me being me, I told Dad he wouldn't be doing that and he ended up being my project horse."
Nevele R Stud took over care of the foal once he was on his feet and then, like Purvis, he made his way to Oamaru to the Williamson stables.
Despite starting life on the back foot, Oscar Bonavena has lept ahead of most of the horses his age, with Purvis' care.
Of about 410 trotting foals, only nine have won races this season and Oscar Bonavena has beaten the odds to become one of them.
But, despite her determined efforts with the horse, the humble Charlotte is crediting his racing success to to Williamson.
The Williamson stable has Monty Python and Alderbeck feature in a very even field for tonight's group 1 Rowe Cup.
The 3200m event is headed by Enghien and defending champion Temporale as well as recent feature winners Lemond and Speeding Spur.
