Ballarat Slam Dunk For Bondarenko

A return to the left-handed way of going in Melbourne saw Bondarenko rediscover her best form yesterday. The Pins mare was having her first start from Troy Corstens, after a previous stint with Kris Lees in Sydney, at Ballarat and she posted a clear-cut win over 1600 metres in the hands of Glenn Boss.

The four-year-old had recorded a win and two placings in her first preparation last season from John Sadlers barn before she moved to New South Wales. She failed to show her true ability there and is back in familiar hands as Corstens purchased her for $40,000 from WS’s 2009 Premier Sale line-up at Karaka.

Bondarenko is out of the unraced Zabeel mare Match Point, who is a half-sister to the Chittick family’s Gr 1 Otaki-Maori WFA winner Critic (Centaine). It is also the family of the Gr 2 Great Northern Guineas winner and Gr 1 New Zealand Derby runner-up, Prince Kaapstad.