Bush has sights on another country Cup

By Glenn Davis

Every win is a big win for North Queensland hobby trainer Stephen Bush.

Bush is a relative newcomer to the training ranks in Townsville after moving from Yass in NSW.

He has a long background with horses in the rodeo and polocrosse circuits and is still actively involved in rodeo in Townsville.

“I still do a bit of rodeo and my wife still does her barrel races,” Bush said.

Bush and his family found their way to Townsville once a year for rodeo while residing at Yass before eventually relocating on a permanent basis several years ago.

The 60-year-old now combines training a team of eight horses on his 57-acre property, just outside Townsville, with a full-time job driving a truck for a Townsville skip bin company.

Although he’s only been training for a short time, Bush has already exceeded his expectations by winning six country Cup features during his time in the north.

“I’ve won the Bowen Cup twice, the Ewan Cup three times and a Home Hill Cup,” Bush said.

On Saturday, Bush will chase another country Cup when he heads to Innisfail with Medal for the Banana Cup over 1800 metres.

Medal, a seven-year-old son of Savabeel, is coming off a dominant win over the Matthew McGuire-trained Mission House in a 1470 metre Benchmark race at Bowen earlier this month.

“It was a good win and he went really well at Bowen,” Bush said.

“They went a bit too quick for him early on and he got well back, but he wound up and hit the line strongly.”

Bush is not concerned with Medal handling the step up in distance.

“I want to run him in the Ewan Cup again this year,” Bush said.

“Medal won it last year and I’ve won the Ewan Cup three times in the past four years.

"Every win is a big win for me.”

Bush believes Medal - a Graham Kliese mount - will be competitive in the Banana Cup.

“I’ve been using former Melbourne jockey Ivo Fry on him lately, but he was suspended for his last run when Chris Whiteley won on him,” Bush said.

“Graham does a lot of riding for me, so I’ve booked him this time.”